Observations · Society · Paris · Nature · Humour

Even the Paris City Hall Is Now Asking: Girls, Please Stop Behaving Like This

On the fence of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, as at other historic monuments, there are posters with the plea "Stop the rats!" and an explanation: waste left on the ground attracts rodents. On the whole, it is just like private life: the more waste you leave behind, the

NB! · Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Paris

Notre-Dame, beloved, still in its scaffolding frock

Black and white pen drawing of a slender woman with a full hairstyle and closed eyes, holding a cigarette, with Hirschfeld's signature below.

NB! · Art · Observations · New York · People

Portrait of Maggie Smith by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, 1971

Portrait of Maggie Smith by the Broadway caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. 1971: so in more than 50 years she has scarcely changed

NB! · Art · Observations · Paris · Pop Culture

The Best Fashion Find in Paris Today Is a Children's Version of the Dress from the Portrait of Caroline Murat

Monarchies · Museums · Observations

Napoleon's Cot, Hat, Writing Desk and Dressing Gown from Saint Helena

Note the dimensions: truly very piccolo

Art · Observations · People

I assumed it was perfectly obvious that everyone must share my love of a sky thick with clouds

I assumed it was perfectly obvious that everyone must share my love of a sky thick with clouds. And it came as a positive shock to discover that some people prefer sunny weather. Even now I cannot understand it. But that is another story altogether… Glenn Gould, 1979 Illustration: CLOUDS

In a gallery with a stucco ceiling, two large paintings of miniature houses hang on white walls: a yellow house by a fence and a house on a table tennis table.

Art · Observations · Paris · Society Pages

The author visited two exhibitions on the way to dinner and described their atmosphere

I like that at many galleries in Paris anyone can look in on a private view: there is simply a sign on the door, "we're open! welcome!" On my way to dinner I visited two very charming exhibitions. No doormen, everyone in a good mood, standing

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations

In the Environs of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery

In the environs of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. A painting by Levitan and my own recent photograph

Architecture · Faith · Cinema · Moscow · Observations

Kofemania founder Igor Zhuravlev and the Church of St Blaise in Old Konyushennaya Sloboda

From a new film about Kofemania I learned that its founder, Igor Zhuravlev, who attended the Church of the Hieromartyr Blaise in the Old Stable Settlement, considers the rector of that church, Archpriest Alexei Novikov, the man who determined his fate. Hence the actual icons that hang in all of

Archive · Art · Books · Observations · Humour

Raise your hand if you, too, can account for your early-morning awakening only by an assault of demonic swine hordes

Illustration from the 1463 book Speculum Historiale [The Mirror of History] by the medieval French chronicler Vincent of Beauvais

Architecture · Faith · Monarchies · Observations · Heritage

History of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery near Moscow from its founding in 1398 to today

Not far from Moscow stands one of the foremost Orthodox monasteries, Savvino-Storozhevsky, founded in 1398 by the Venerable Sabbas, the Wonderworker of Zvenigorod. Sabbas was one of the first disciples of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh. Prince Yury Dmitrievich revered the Venerable Sabbas and extended his patronage to the

Books · Observations

I urgently need this book

upd. Thanks to my subscribers, the book was sent to me within 15 minutes. The Russian edition has a different cover, but the contents have lost nothing by it