Paris History
Every city has a unique history and it contributes to the magic of the location and the people.
Back to the Seventies: Oui or Non!
Yes or Non. Even the Chartres cathedral town is not immune to tagging. Whether or not you agree that tagging should be considered as an art form of the era, there is no doubt that ‘tagging’ or ‘graffitti’ creates the anchor for this seventies vintage photo.
Regarding the sheepskin coat. The coat went the way of Good Will. I can only hope that it kept somebody as warm as it kept me during my brief sojourn in an unheated cold water student flat in Paris.
If you are curious to know more …
Date: October 8th, 2007 |
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American Embassy in Paris: Embarrassing Address!
Levi Morton US Ambassador to Paris 1881
So what do you do when you’re invited to set up your legation at a new address in the venerable City of Lights and the address you’re proffered for your legation is, well, a little embarrassing?
Such was the situation in 1881 when US Minister Levi Morton arrived in Paris and discovered that his new addess that he’d have to print up on all his calling cards and stationery would be: Place de la Bitsche.
Of course Place de la Bitsche was named for the heroic town in …
Date: August 29th, 2007 |
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Liberation of Paris
The last week of August is a great time to be in Paris - to remember the liberation of the city at the end of World War II (August 25, 1944). Today’s Le Parisien treats us to a video of the liberation.
It’s impossible, unless you had been living in Paris at the time of the German occupation to truly understand the meaning of that day. Imagine that for the past few years, Parisian residents had to watch German soldiers march each day from one end of the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde - finishing up within view of the Commanding officer’s window at the Hotel Meurice.
Date: August 24th, 2007 |
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Hotels with a History
The first time I heard about the Hotel Lutetia was when Eva and Werner Bernstein came to Paris. Werner and Eva met in Rochester, New York. She was a dentist and he showed up in her office just as she was getting ready to finish up for the day. As he sat in her dentist chair, he looked up at Eva and decided on the spot - love at first sight! Eva and Werner had much in common - they were both Jewish refugees from Europe during World War II.
Date: August 8th, 2007 |
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Paris’s Piaf: Slice of Post World War I Paris
There are plenty of good reasons to see Olivier Dahan’s film “La Vie en Rose” a biography of singer Edith Piaf. She was born in Paris in 1915. She lived in the Belleville district of Paris (in the northeast which remains to this day a working class neighborhood). If director Martin Scorsese still plans on making a film about Paris between the two World Wars, he will do well to study the brilliant portrayal of this era in Dahan’s “La Mome” as La Vie en Rose is called in the French version.
Edith Piaf trivia: Did you know that some performers consider it bad luck to sing an Edith Piaf song? Although it was true that Piaf suffered many losses - one of her greatest loves, Marcel Cerdan, the boxer died in a plane crash, certainly her success as a performer and her rise to stardom from such modest beginnings had to include a little bit of good luck.
Date: July 5th, 2007 |
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Sebastien Chabal - Vercingetorix Reincarnated?
He’s been nicknamed ‘The Cave Man’ but maybe Vercingetorix might not be a bad comparison either. Vercingetorix is known by practically all French school kids as the fearless leader of the Celts (or the Gauls) as the Romans called the Celts
In two major battles Vercingetorix faced off with the Romans (52BC). At Gergovie, he gave Julius Caesar a run for his money, however at the Battle of Alesia, having been cut off from part of his forces, the valiant leader was unable to defeat Caesar a second time. …
Date: August 31st, 2007 |
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La Poste, Culturally Speaking
In France, La Poste or The Post Office is much more than just a place to buy stamps. You can also do your banking at the post office, and before the days of mobile phones and phone cards, foreign students used to go to the post office to make their long distance phone calls.
But today, I’m extending a ‘merci infiniment!’ a la Poste upon receiving the news that one jolly old fellow, Bejamin Franklin, will be back in town on December 12 at Chateau de Vincennes, thanks to La Poste who will be underwriting his visit to participate in a celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette’s birthday.
If you’d like to know more about the history of the postal
Date: August 27th, 2007 |
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Paris Sculpture & Architecture: Free to View 24/24
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
You don’t have to go to a single museum when you’re in Paris. The street is your museum. Walk in Paris’s old neighborhoods like the Marais on Paris’s Right Bank, Metro: St. Paul or the Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis in the middle of the Seine River and you are bound to stumble upon some sculptured figures known as ‘mascarons’ such as this fellow in the Marais.
Date: August 17th, 2007 |
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Confessions of a Montparnasse Model: Or How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Cite Fleurie
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
Armand LaCroix in his atelier at Cite Fleurie, 1977
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
I’d like to say I did it for art. Or quite simply, to become part of Montparnasse history.The truth is, for students in Paris,finding a summer job is no easy task. That was true in the 1970s and it certainly holds true today. Back in the days when the Cartier Museum was still the American Center on Boulevard Raspail, the front lawn and sculpture garden appeared slightly scruffy and untended. But it was also a place where students could drop in, free of charge, and check out the bulletin board for posted job offers.
Date: July 26th, 2007 |
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A Plea from Ben Franklin
Is it possible that the French government has greater esteem for the venerable ole Ben Franklin than our very own US of A? I just received a note from ‘Ben’ even though it was not written with a quill pen. Apparently the French embassy is flying Ben to Paris for a special event sponsored by the French American Foundation this December at the Chateau de Vincennes. To date, Ben hasn’t heard word from the American Embassy in Paris, so he’s not sure how he will be able to afford his daily meals while staying in this …
Date: June 10th, 2007 |
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