Author Archives: Carina Stoop
Train station named after American civil rights activist Rosa Parks
Exactly sixty years and 12 days after refusing to give her seat to a white woman on a bus, a brand new train station named after Rosa Parks opened December 13, 2015. It is a nice symbolic gesture to name … Continue reading
Paris still alive and kicking: Fluctuat nec mergitur
The Latin phrase FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR meaning: IT IS TOSSED BY THE WAVES, BUT DOES NOT SINK, is the ancient motto placed on the city coat of arms of Paris. Continue reading
The Bièvre: the river that disappeared in Paris
In Nobody’s Boy, Hector Malot already had his Rémi walk along its banks. Victor Hugo also described the Bièvre in his poetry collection Atumn Leaves . These idyllic stories from the 19th century are like echoes of a bygone era. Continue reading
Rimbaud on a Parisian wall
Since 2012, you can read Arthur Rimbaud’s famous poem Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat) on a Parisian wall.
After six years of preparation, consultation, campaigning and fundraising, Dutch foundation TEGEN-BEELD from Leiden Continue reading
Paris discovers community gardening
The colourful wall painting is one of the first things that grabs your intention. Then you discover the trays with tomato plants, Chinese cabbage and chard Continue reading
Les Berges de Seine: from motorway to chill boulevard
Once again Paris has managed to diddle motorists out of their driving zones. For more than a year the left bank motorway of the Seine has been transformed into a domain for hikers and bikers: a 2.3 kilometer long promenade, called Les Berges Continue reading
The concierge at Rue de Grenelle 7
Her name is Renee and she works at a swanky apartment building in the 6th arrondissement Continue reading
Water network from 1860 ensures clean streets
Every day, Paris consumes about 170,000 m³ of non-potable water through a system from the period of Haussmann’s city improvements Continue reading
Women in cheese
They are called Marie, Marie-Anne as well as Sanae and Betty. These are names of professional women in the fascinating world of cheese: the so-called fromagers-affineurs Continue reading
Montaigne’s magic
Who can help you go through your exams with relative ease? For years now, Parisian students think they know it. Opposite the Sorbonne, the oldest university in Paris, the bronze statue of writer-philosopher Michel de Montaigne Continue reading