When I first saw the announcement for this concert in 2008, I must admit I was a bit suspicious. It said in large letters: “HOMMAGE à MARIA CALLAS” followed in smaller letters by the name of a soprano I had never heard of, who was said to be “from La Read More …
The ancient Roman arena on this site was destroyed by the Barbarians in the year 280. The foundations were rediscovered during various building projects in the nineteenth century and were (partly) preserved on the initiative of a committee led by the author Victor Hugo (1802–1885). One of the minor mysteries Read More …
This “Institute of the Arab World” was built in the 1980s and was inaugurated on November 30, 1987 by the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand. The institute is intended as a “cultural bridge” between France and twenty-two Arab countries. From the top (ninth) floor there is a fine Read More …
The name “Sorbonne” originally referred to a college created in 1253 by Robert de Sorbon, the chaplain and confessor of King Louis IX of France — the king who is now better known as Saint Louis because he killed so many infidels in the Crusades. Later the word “Sorbonne” came Read More …
Universities in France are often known by their initials. A student who was enrolled at the UPMC between 1974 and 2017 would have called it exactly that, “UPMC”, and would have assumed that you knew what the initials meant. Such a student would also have expected you to be duly Read More …
When I was staying in a studio apartment on Rue Broca, in the Croulebarbe quarter of the 13th arrondissement, I decided to take a walk up the street to see what there was to see. Rue Broca is not a very long street, only four blocks, but it used to Read More …
Every time I ride past the Panthéon in Paris I am reminded of a man I met in Berkeley, California when I was living there in 1967. I was working at that time as News Director of a non-commercial radio station. In the mornings I always walked to work, and one Read More …
On the left bank of the Seine at Quai Saint-Bernard between the Sully and Austerlitz bridges there is a park named after the Corsican singer and movie star Tino Rossi (1907-1983). Unlike most Paris parks, which close at sunset, this one stays open all night and has developed into a Read More …
In August 2013 I went on another guided walking tour (in French) that I found listed in the back pages of the now-defunct weekly magazine Pariscope. This was mainly a tour of the Île Saint-Louis, but since that island has no Métro stations, we met at the kiosk by the Read More …
The Austerlitz Bridge is a stone bridge with five arches. It was originally built from 1801 to 1805, but it was widened and strengthened twice during the nineteenth century. The bridge was named after the Battle of Austerlitz, a French victory under the command of Emperor Napoléon I in 1805. Read More …