Paris is like a mille-feuille pastry with layers and layers of history. If you look closely, you can evidence of the past everywhere and deepen your understanding of Paris.
Amongst the free eye candy visible to anyone strolling the streets of Paris are doors of astounding beauty and history. No need to stand in a long museum line or shell out a fistful of euros to view this spectacle. The only requirement: slow down and look around!...
Do you read historical plaques while in Paris? If so, I have a surprise for you at the end of this post. It seems you can't pass a block without coming across a plaque affixed to a building or a Histoire de Paris marker. These markers are often called Pelles Starck or...
Angelina's Tearoom on rue de Rivoli across the street from the Tuileries is a Paris institution dating back to the Belle Époque when Austrian Antoine Rumpelmayer opened it in 1903. Initially it was called Rumpelmayer's and you'll see it mentioned in many biographies...
Ever since I first saw this oddly-shaped, oddly-named pastry in the local pâtisseries, I’ve been curious about it. There are several versions of its history on the internet and I'd be interested if you’ve heard of any others. Version #1. It was created by Stohrer’s, a...
Humor me. Try this experiment: Close your eyes and think of a building in Paris. * * C,mon, give it a go. I'll wait. * * * What did your building look like?. * Here's my favorite building: I can hear you thinking: "Sure, it's okay, but..." Wait. You have to...
We don't do a very good job in the United States of remembering, especially wartime events. It's a different story in France which was devastated by both world wars.There are memorials everywhere. Most small towns have a monument in their center square listing the...
Have you noticed any of these markers on Paris buildings? Une crue is a flood and these carvings and plaques found around Paris reference the Great Flood of the Seine River in 1910. Une inondation is another word for a flood or a deluge, but...
Eight mass graves have been discovered under a Monoprix store in Paris (Monoprix is very much like Target in the US). There is more to this story than that covered in most press accounts. But first a little recap: Monoprix was remodeling this branch, specifically the...
This building (53 rue de la Grange aux Belles) in the 10th arrondissement may not seem frightening at first glance, but it's built on the site of the famous Gibet de Montfaucon in Paris (Gallows of Montfaucon). According to the official Paris historical plaque, "Here...
I walked by this creperie: and then doubled back... what was down that alleyway? Is that a horse's head on the building? Yes indeed-y! But this doesn't look like the usual horse butcher shop (boucherie chevaline), so what's the story? A little research reveals that...