Mystery Visits in the Paris suburbs

Last week I was invited to take part in the first of the ‘visites mystères’ organised by the tourism office of the Seine Saint-Denis department to the north-east of Paris. Although the clue given beforehand was short on mystery, the tour that followed – of the Saint Denis basilica - was an exceptional opportunity to discover the unknown and unseen. 

The visit organised in Saint Denis on a Friday evening promised ‘contact avec les âmes millénaires qui peuplent ce royaume’ (contact with thousand-year old souls who people this kingdom). This could describe only one location – the Saint Denis basilica – the ancient resting place of the French royal family, and it was no surprise when we were led in that direction.

The landscapes of an invisible town

A photographic promenade in the south-western suburb of Vélizy, a transitory territory of anonymous destinations and invisible architecture. At first sight at least…
 
For most Parisians, Vélizy is synonymous with two things; a sprawling shopping mall and a procession of office blocks and industrial units. This double axis of work and consumption could seemingly provide the town’s maxim.

Le Marché aux Puces

A winter’s day at the Saint Ouen flea market inspired writer and amateur anthropologist Blyth Brentnall to ask herself an important question; are we looking in the right places when we visit touristic sites?

A banquet for the eyes: antiquated furniture, crate-loads of jewellery, sacred artifacts from across the world, ritzy vintage and couture clothing; marvels that once belonged to another person, another era. These are the sights at the heart of Le Marché aux Puces, a popular flea market located in the poorer area of Northern central Paris. The objects here beg the question, ‘what is their story?’

New year, new projects

After running the Invisible Paris blog for over six years, 2015 will mark an important turning point, both for me and for the blog. I have a new – and incredibly time-consuming – project to work on this year, which I hope I will be able to share with you before 2016 begins.
 

At the end of 2014 I signed a contract with a publisher to write a book on Paris. It is not a paper version of Invisible Paris, but I hope I will be able to incorporate a little of the blog’s spirit and vision of the city. Instead, the book will feature a full (although necessarily incomplete) history of Paris, along with several essays on today’s city - and lots of illustrations and photos!

The birth of a new République?

Paris changed last week, perhaps forever. The city I have called home for nearly 20 years was hit hard, but has rebounded spectacularly. As the reverberations continue to be felt, nobody seems sure what will be left standing and what will topple over, whether Paris will become place of new found respect and civility or flatten back out into a city of dislocation, distrust and mutual misunderstandings. Only one thing is certain; a number of new dates, names and places have sadly been written into the city’s history books.