The Paris Apartment

10/09/2026

Mary Cassatt spent nearly 60 years in France, but no French national museum has ever given her a major exhibition until now. This fall, the Musée d’Orsay is changing that with Mary Cassatt: Being Independent, opening October 6. It also comes exactly 100 years after her death in 1926.

There will be nearly 80 paintings, pastels, and prints covering her whole career, including works from American collections that are rarely shown outside the United States. Cassatt was an American through and through, but she became an important member of the Impressionist group in France and took part in four of their exhibitions, starting in 1879.

What I find particularly interesting is the focus on her independence. Cassatt had her own studio, paid her models, built her career in a largely male art scene, and later supported women’s suffrage. So there’s quite a bit more to her story than the mother and child paintings many of us know her for.

The exhibition runs from October 6, 2026, through January 31, 2027, so if you’re heading to Paris this fall or winter, I’d put this one on the list. Would you like to see it?

📍 Paris / 7th Arrondissement, Île de France

09/09/2026

And we’ll be out of town.

This week end, the streets near the Panthéon will jump between centuries every few minutes.

That is Paris's Grande Parade Historique, the flagship event of La Fête de Paris (the city's own annual festival). A thousand costumed reenactors walk through 15 centuries of French history in a single afternoon, and it is completely free to watch.

The route runs 1.1 miles (1.8 kilometers), from the Panthéon through the Latin Quarter to the Jardins de l'Observatoire (Observatory Gardens), with three official stops along the way. The full walk takes about 25 minutes, though most spectators just claim one spot and let history come to them.

The lineup covers more ground than a single afternoon should be able to hold. Vikings face off against Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. Louis IX and Napoleon both make an appearance. So does Josephine Baker.

The Grande Parade itself happens on Sunday, September 13, 2026, five days from today.

09/09/2026

From 🇫🇷 President Emmanuel Macron.

08/09/2026

Love this place.

Paris is full of architectural treats, but for me, there is one style that stands out, and that’s Art Nouveau. (see comment👇)

06/09/2026

Some of the classics

06/09/2026

A few of my own pix

04/09/2026

Beautiful

This is the oldest public clock in Paris, running since 1371. Most people walk past it on Boulevard du Palais without ever looking up, which is wild when you realise it was the city’s first public timekeeper. It once told Parisians when to work, pray, and stop for the day.

Up close, you really see the story it’s been carrying for centuries. The gold sunburst, the royal emblems, the two figures on each side reminding everyone of justice and law. It’s one of those details of Paris that looks decorative until you know it was a symbol of power long before the Revolution.

If you’re heading to the Conciergerie, stop for two minutes before you go in. Morning light hits the gold beautifully, and you finally understand why this clock mattered so much to the city.

📍 Paris 1st Arrondissement, Île de la Cité

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03/09/2026

Been there.

There’s something inside Saint Étienne du Mont that you won’t find in any other church in Paris. Its incredible 16th century rood screen, known as a jubé, is the only surviving one in the city. And considering how many historic churches Paris has, that’s quite a claim to fame.

Construction of the church we see today began in 1492 and took more than a century, which explains why the architecture is such an interesting mix. Look up and you’ll see Gothic ribbed vaults, but then there are Renaissance columns, decoration and details appearing alongside them. It’s one of those places where you can actually see architectural tastes changing as the building went up.

But it’s the jubé that I’d head straight for. Built around 1530, it stretches across the church between the nave and choir, with two beautiful stone staircases curling up either side. Rood screens were once common in French churches, but many disappeared over the centuries, particularly as church interiors changed.

You’ll find Saint Étienne du Mont beside the Panthéon in the 5th arrondissement, yet I think it’s very easy to walk straight past when you’re concentrating on its much more famous neighbor. Next time you’re in the Latin Quarter, pop inside and take a look at that screen. Have you been inside this one?

📍 5th Arrondissement, Paris

02/09/2026

Came across it on a walk one afternoon.

At 57 rue de Turbigo in Paris, an enormous stone angel has stretched across the corner of a building since 1860. Rising three stories high, with her wings spread across the façade, she's surprisingly easy to miss if you don't think to look up.

The figure is actually a caryatid, a sculpted female figure used as an architectural support. She was designed by Émile-Auguste Delange, who had sketched a similar angel for a student lighthouse competition in the early 1850s.

The lighthouse was never built, but the idea eventually found a home here. The angel wasn't purely decorative, either. Rue de Turbigo bends at this corner, and architect Eugène Demangeat used the figure to help resolve the unusual angle, with her outstretched wings concealing the supports for the balcony above.

You'll find the so-called Secret Angel of Rue de Turbigo in the 3rd arrondissement, just around the corner from the Musée des Arts et Métiers. It's a fun detail to look for if you're already exploring the neighborhood.

01/09/2026

We visited just a few days ago.

Paris has a version most visitors never find, and it costs nothing to get in.

The Petit Palais. Free, every day. One of the great collections in Europe, and half the tourists walk right past it hunting for the Louvre.

What's your best accidental Paris discovery?

Link in comments 👇