I had a déclic—a realization—recently, while riding the 92 bus home from my weekly doubles tennis game: An amazing proportion of my Paris life, and Charlie’s, has happened within eyeshot of this line. My association began in the summer of 1977, when I had a journalism...
I just proved it’s possible to walk through a large section of Paris without seeing a single Haussmanian building. That is, the architectural style that embodies the city: cream-colored stone, grilled balcony railings, ornate decorations. This wasn’t Francie’s and my...
In these dark times, I decided to visit a lighthouse. Like most of us, I needed a beacon of hope. And what a lighthouse it was. I chose Cordouan mainly because it was easier to reach from Paris than the lighthouses around Brittany. I didn’t realize at first that it...
He sleeps surrounded by gilded artwork. The remnants of his power are all around: his minions nearby, the names of the battles he fought posted everywhere. A golden statue, right arm raised, depicts him in regal fashion. An enormous triumphal arch commissioned by him...
I like to explore the outer edges of Paris to see the new, the modern, the unexpected. Walking along the Canal de l’Ourcq gave me that, and also some Paris history. The canal starts in the 19th arrondissement at Bassin de la Villette, which collected water from the...
On a lovely fall day, I set out from my 17th-arrondissement apartment and headed north. It’s a walk I’ve done many times before. This is where Paris ends and another world begins—of low-income housing mixed in with glass office buildings, of covered markets and...
