Colour Photos of the Legendary Parisian Food Market, Les Halles in 1956

It was known as the “Belly of Paris”, as famously christened by the French novelist Émile Zola; Les Halles was the food market of 19th century Paris, the hub of all food distribution in the city and one of the true wonders of working class Paris. These photographs taken by American Life photographer Thomas Mcavoy in 1956 were taken in the…

Presenting the Pussycar, the Maddest Cars to ever Hit the Streets of Paris

“In this world where everything is banal and ugly, we must know how to create the beautiful and unusual.” These are the words of Jean Pierre Ponthieu, quite possibly the maddest French inventor of the 20th century. In the 1960s, Ponthieu embarked on a new career in car design and created more than 200 small cars, given the highly unfortunate…

What Paris Metro Workmen Found Sealed behind the Walls

When your walls start to look outdated, there’s always the option of just painting over them, which is a little bit like what the Parisian metro has done over the years to update its stations. When the old white tiling of yesteryear needed a revamp, they simply covered them up with more modern materials. A quick…

Paris, the Film Set

So you want to see Paris, just like she is in the movies. Of course it’s no wonder why cinema so often chooses Paris as its leading lady, the Audrey Hepburn of film sets, but what if it really became one? Imagine all those facades were fake and when the cameras stopped rolling, all the actors and…

Where the Statues of Paris were sent to Die

The stony gaze of the statue upon his executor says it all. Most of the bronze “men” that once watched over Parisian streets and public squares of the French Third Republic met a most undignified end many years ago, snatched from their pedestals and erased from the history books. During the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, the…

Skiing in Montmartre, Paris

It’s become a bit of a tradition every time it snows in Paris, that you’ll see a group of ski-crazy Parisians boarding the gondola up to the Sacré Coeur with skis and ski boots in tow. It’s not exactly the Alps, but see how they get on… [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GkLRgbNIr8]

For Sale: Legendary Pre-Ban Absinthe Bottles of the Belle Epoque

When Parisians used to call it “la fée verte” (the green fairy), the custom of drinking absinthe had became so popular in bars, bistros, cafés, and cabarets that, by the 1860s, the hour of 5 p.m. was called l’heure verte (“the green hour”). It was a green and ghoulish drink traditionally served by placing a sugar cube on a…

You’re Invited to a Secret Venetian Ball in the Underground Canals of Paris

It’s only going to be the party of the century, a once in a lifetime thing, no biggie. They’re the most unique underground party organisers in the world, who surfaced in the French capital in recent years throwing unprecedented soirées for Parisians looking to let loose somewhere a little more off the grid. You’ve heard what these…

Your Office on Cloud 9 in Paris

I remember moving to Paris and not really knowing where to start. In fact, I probably took a lot longer than I should have to rev my engines because I just didn’t have a place to go and plan world domination where the environment inspired me, the wi-fi was reliable, the chairs were comfy and the kitchen was accessible for…

The Memoirs of a Model in 1960s Paris

Anyone that saw the September Issue will know who Grace Coddington is and probably fell in love with her just like I did. The Vogue Creative Director has penned a memoir, simply titled Grace, and it hits stores this November. In an excerpt published by Vogue online, Grace talks about her early modeling career when…