September 2016 ~ Invisible Paris

The Morrison Hotel Mystery

The death of Jim Morrison is not the only mystery in the Rue Beautreillis. On this street where the leader of The Doors spent the last few months of his life and where he (probably) died, another door stands curiously alone. But what is it?

The last bastion standing

Today only one significant element of the city’s 19th century fortifications remains standing. Where is the Bastion n°1 and what purpose does it serve today?

The World's Oldest Surviving Basketball Court

How did a game invented by the YMCA in America cross the Atlantic in the late 19th century, and why has this Paris court survived so long?

The Longest Street in Paris

An attempt to find the soul of the city's longest thoroughfare.

Belgium by the Seine

A trip to Elisabethville on the trace of old postcard locations leads me to abandoned beach resorts and experimental 1950s architecture.

Friday, 23 September 2016

Welcome to Pantin, the new Paris

Everybody is talking about the future Grand Paris but nobody seems quite sure what this label represents. Through its move from Paris to Pantin, could a major advertising agency be pointing the way forward?

A mile or so beyond the Paris city limits, unofficially defined by the winding périphérique motorway, stands an imposing concrete and glass edifice. Although softened by the canal that runs alongside, the robust industrial origins of the building remain written large. This structure – the Magasins Généraux - was originally built in the 1930s as a grain warehouse before being taken over by French Customs. It was finally abandoned in the early 1990s.

Ten suggestions for the Journées du Patrimoine

In France, the third weekend in September is synonymous with the Journées du Patrimoine (heritage days), which offer free access to culturally or historically significant buildings and sites that are generally off limits or off the radar.

Typically this can mean long queues outside the various hôtels particuliers that are used today as ministerial offices, but you needn't waste your weekend this way. Instead, you can whizz between the following queue-free locations!