Archive · Monarchies · Paris

Napoleon's return from Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and how contemporaries reacted

19 March 1815: French army officers salute King Louis XVIII. 20 March 1815: the same officers fall on their knees before Napoleon. Napoleon's return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris was a veritable triumph. The newspapers modestly saw off the king, who had left the

Aristocracy · Paris · People · Humour

Lady Diana Cooper, silent film actress and one of the celebrated society ladies of her day, hostess of legendary balls in Paris, wife of the British ambassador to France Duff Cooper, when he was granted the title of Viscount Norwich, expressed the utmost…

Lady Diana Cooper, silent film actress and one of the celebrated society ladies of her day, hostess of legendary balls in Paris, wife of the British ambassador to France Duff Cooper, when he was granted the title of Viscount Norwich, expressed the utmost displeasure, for "Norwich" sounds like

Black-and-white photograph of a soot-darkened vaulted room where a man in an apron, a woman and a girl stand by a stove with large pots.

Archive · Architecture · Faith · Paris

Chapel on Rue Barre in Paris turned into a confectionery in 1917

Did Someone Send for Elena the Flying? The year is 1917, the First World War at its height. In France, empty churches are turned into workshops, parish buildings into homes, and chapels are fitted out as kitchens. The chapel on the rue des Barres in the Fourth Arrondissement of Paris

Art · Museums · Paris · Pop Culture

At the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, the master's designs are displayed beside works that inspired, or might have inspired, their creation, as in the case of this black-and-white satin crêpe dress from…

Black-and-white photograph of an elderly man in a coat and a woman in a fur coat, seen from behind, crossing a Paris street at a pedestrian crossing.

NB! · Archive · Paris

Photograph by François-Marie Banier of Boulevard Raspail in Paris, January 2005

Boulevard Raspail, Paris, January 2005. Photo by François-Marie Banier

Cinema · Museums · Observations · Paris

This week the Louvre hosted the filming of several scenes from The Three Musketeers, directed by Martin Bourboulon

This week the Louvre hosted the filming of several scenes from The Three Musketeers, directed by Martin Bourboulon. A few dozen horsemen are riding about the museum's inner courtyard; let us hope that during production someone remembers to photoshop out the blue bins in the background. The film

Watercolour of the Parthenon façade restored in colour, with a statue of Athena holding a spear, shield and serpent at the centre.

NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · Museums · Paris

Colour restoration of the Parthenon at the Paris-Athens exhibition at the Louvre

The Parthenon in colour. From the “Paris-Athens” exhibition at the Louvre

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · Paris

The Building of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, Paris, 1895

NB! · Cinema · Paris · People

On this day ten years ago, at only 58, the beauty Maria Schneider died, famed for her roles in "Last Tango in Paris" with Marlon Brando and "The Passenger" with Jack Nicholson

NB! · Books · Education · Paris

The Library of the Sorbonne

Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Mores · Paris

Marie Antoinette's knitting needles are kept at the Conciergerie museum in Paris

Marie Antoinette's knitting needles in the Conciergerie museum, a former prison in the very heart of Paris. Marie Antoinette was fond of various kinds of needlework, knitting among them. It is known that, while in confinement, the Queen of France tried to carry on with her knitting in

Three models in white and black jackets and headpieces of flowers and beads against a red curtain.

NB! · Coming Up · Observations · Paris · Pop Culture

Ulyana Sergeenko Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2022 online show on the Fédération de la Haute Couture platform

It is very beautiful! The online presentation of the Ulyana Sergeenko Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2022 collection can be viewed on the website of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. I remind you that the House of Ulyana Sergeenko is the only Russian fashion house to