A little thing for those familar with Paris

[onlyMark]

See where you can recognise -

[kerouac2]

Obviously, no problem for me to recognise any of those places, but I am always amazed how so many of these streets have not changed one iota since back then, only the vehicles. The very first scene of Notre Dame sends me back to my early childhood. When I was little, all of the monuments were black from soot. It was De Gaulle's Minister of Culture André Malraux who launched the clean-up of monuments. He was the first Minister of Culture, but is has become one of the most important ministries over the years, even though it has a relatively small budget. Strangely enough, even cleaning the monuments was not met with unanimous approval. Even my mother said things like "they don't look normal anymore." But her opinion changed over the years.

Naturally, the moving walkway is the most incredible sight -- so far ahead of its time. I have no idea how many years passed from this first display to the actual time that moving walkways came into service. The first ones that I remember date from about 1964.

[lagatta]

I recognised everything but noted how dirty Notre-Dame had been come, after its Viollet-le-Duc restoration. I loved the little safety bicycles - such a pleasure after the dangerous velocipedes with huge front wheels, and of course the moving walkway.

Class differences were glaring -utterly different wardrobes for working men and women. Women weren't invisible, rich or poor, but little sight of small girls, unlike the boys with their boats.

The fire brigade was brilliant.

[mich64]

That was really enjoyable to watch! My goodness some of those carriages were quite large and high/tall (?). Also one segment most of the carriages were open, as if on a social parade perhaps? and then when the location changed, they were all contained carriages which I assume were the practical day to day option?

I wondered if the moving walkway was part of a Exposition and when I searched it, it does appear in photos for the Paris World Fair in 1900. Fascinating.

I agree with Lagatta, the fire brigade was brilliant.

[lagatta]

I must see the animated film Dilili à Paris (K2 has mentioned it) which is set in this period. It is showing here now, pas loin de chez moi, and I'm inclined to miss things like that.

[casimira]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this despite my total lack of familiarity with most of the locales.

Thanks for posting this Mark.

I love vintage photos from anywhere.