Category: Paris

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The First Celebrity Photographer

I am going to begin writing some blogs on individuals we plan to feature in the seventh and last volume of the series on Paris. Once we publish the two volumes of Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris (1940-1944) later this year, we will begin Where Did They Bury Jim Morrison, the Lizard King?.  It is a walking tour of curious Paris cemeteries. While there are many books on Paris cemeteries (Père Lachaise in particular), they all seem to have one thing in common: they highlight or take you to the same famous occupants (e.g., Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, and yes, even Jim Morrison). In other words, the authors don’t seem to differentiate their books. So, I decided our book will be different. We will introduce you to people you’ve likely never heard about. These are people with very interesting accomplishments and life stories but like much of history today, they are now forgotten.

Self-portrait of Félix Nadar. Photo by Félix Nadar (c. 1860). Bibliotheque nationales, Paris, France. PD-100+. Wikimedia Commons.
Self-portrait of Félix Nadar. Photo by Félix Nadar (c. 1860). Bibliotheque nationales, Paris, France. PD-100+. Wikimedia Commons.

Our subject today was a narcissist, self-confident, and self-promoting artist who led an extremely interesting and exciting life. Packed into his ninety-years, Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (1820-1910) hosted the first impressionist art show, took the world’s first aerial photograph (and first underwater photo), embarked on daring balloon rides, built a huge glowing (red gas) sign across the front of his Parisian studio, co-founded a luxury literary journal at the age of nineteen (he persuaded Alexandre Dumas and Honoré de Balzac to contribute), wrote literary articles, began the first airmail service, and became a sought after illustrator/caricaturist. However, his international fame both then and now is based on the legacy of being the world’s first celebrity photographer.

Did You Know?

Did you know that King James VI of Scotland (as well as being James I of England) was the most prolific witch-hunting monarch in history? He even wrote a book, Daemonologie, to convince people that witches were real and to vigorously pursue their persecution. He claimed a witch’s crime to be “high treason against God.” Between 1450 and 1750, more than 100,000 people (mostly women) were tried as witches with about half of them were put to death. Scotland arrested and tried around 4,000 suspected witches. King James personally sat in on many of the “interrogations” where the women would ultimately confess under torture. After he called Agnes Sampson a liar during an interrogation session, she went up to him and whispered in his ear exactly what he had discussed with the queen while in bed the prior evening. Up to that point, the king had not been convinced of her guilt but being that she was correct, he pronounced her guilty. As to Agnes’s fate, she was burned at the stake.

Let’s Meet Nadar

Félix Tournachon and his younger brother, Adrien (1825-1903), were born in Paris where their father, Victor Tournachon, was a printer and bookseller. Félix studied medicine but after his father died, Félix quit and joined the bohemian crowd. However, he had developed a love for reading and his favorite authors were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. His first jobs were as a journalist and caricaturist. Félix was given his nickname, “Nadar”, by a friend in 1839 and he immediately began using it as his pen name for the articles he wrote for newspapers and magazines. Nadar married Ernestine (1836-1909) in 1854 and they had one son, Paul (1856-1939). Read More The First Celebrity Photographer

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The Bookstalls of Paris

You are likely one of three types of people when it comes to Paris: A first time visitor, someone who loves the city and returns multiple times, or a person who has never been to Paris and probably never will. For those folks who return time and time again, they quickly determine it’s not necessary to re-visit the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, or any of the other well-known icons of Paris (in all fairness, I could visit the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay on each visit). What they begin to discover is a city full of French uniqueness that many first-time tourists never experience. Just by walking and keeping your eyes open, you’ll find the Wallace Fountains (read Wallace Fountains here), the remaining pissoirs (read Please, No Pissoirs in Public! here), medieval carvings on the sides of buildings (read One-Eyed Kate here), the small shops, talk with the “pee ladies” (read The Pee Ladies of Paris here), the city’s original Roman amphitheater, and medallions imbedded in the concrete marking the location of a hidden river flowing below your feet (read A River Runs Through It and Under It here). They also learn to look up at the buildings so as not to miss the plaques, reliefs, and other unique aspects of the architecture.

Wallace fountain outside the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore on the Left Bank (4e). Photo by Sandy Ross (2017).
Arènes de Lutèce
Arènes de Lutèce (5e), a Roman amphitheater. Photo by Sandy Ross (2015).

One of the cultural icons you can’t miss if you walk along the Seine River are the bouquinistes (boo-keen-eest) or bookstalls where you can buy second-hand books, engravings, prints, magazines, collector’s stamps, and antique postcards.

Did You Know?

I’ve said this over and over. The world’s largest museum is likely twelve feet below the streets of Paris. Well, here’s another example. A medieval crypt has been discovered below an underground parking garage in the Latin Quartier. It is located on Rue Pierre-Nicole (I’m attempting to confirm the street number but I think it is either no. 14 bis or no. 11). The crypt is all that remains of the 7th-century church built by Saint Eloi—Église Sainte-Marie-des-Champs. It was here that the remains of the French kings were interred until that tradition shifted to the Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis. Unfortunately, the medieval church was destroyed during the French Revolution. The recent floods have damaged the crypt and the city would like to begin restoration and then open the crypt up to the public. They are in negotiations now with the property owner. Let’s hope an agreement can be reached so that another excellent example of medieval Paris becomes available to us. Learn more here.

Inside the crypt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Inside the crypt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Medieval Origins: True or False?

The story has it that a ship carrying books sank in the Seine as it passed through the heart of the city. The books were recovered, taken onshore to be dried out, and then sold on the quais above the river. These books became known as bouquins or, small old bashed books. The name was derived from buch or, the German word for book (some think it originated from the Dutch word meaning small book, boeckin). Reportedly, this happened in the late 15th-century.

The bouquinistes established themselves on the Pont Neuf until they got kicked off the bridge (the established bookstores complained) and relocated to either side of the river where they were allowed to sell their books on holidays and hours when the bookstores were closed. Read More The Bookstalls of Paris