Last year, Untapped New York explored the public bathroom situation in New York City. In Paris, the options are much more plentiful thanks to the widespread installation of free-standing toilet kiosks called sanisettes by JCDecaux. But one vintage possoir still exists!
Reserving train tickets in France can be daunting due to lack of information on the internet and supply-based pricing on the SNCF and TGV. But follow these basic rules and you'll be fine.
I recently needed to rent a cello to play with the Brooklyn-based band, Laura Stevenson and the Cans on their European tour. Music stores tend to cluster together in cities. A Googlemap search of "luthier" in Paris shows just how many there are, completely overlapping on the map.
You might recognize this mosque from the film Paris Je t’aime. A Parisian teenager, Franà§ois, develops a crush on a girl and waits for her outside a mosque. She sees him across the road when she opens the large entrance doors at the intersection of two streets.
I've walked and drove past the Arc de Triomphe countless times, fearing for my life while traversing the roundabout by motorcycle. On June 18th, I took the walk up the famous arch, coincidentally on the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's BBC radio appeal marking the founding act of French resistance against the Nazi regime.
Not many metropolitan cities can boast a vineyard, but it seems only fitting that one exists on the bucolic hills of Montmartre. The area was once covered with vineyards, but like the urbanization of all cities, real estate and other forces transformed agricultural land into residential property.
The W train will die on the night of June 25th, just short of its 9th birthday. To memorialize its passing, join some local organizations on the last car of the W train at Times Square Station at 7:30pm for the W train funeral, ending at Astoria Blvd Station for food and drinks at Astoria's Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden.
Untapped New York took a trip to the Empire Diner, a month after it closed. Brooklyn-based writer Amanda Chatel and our photographer for this post reports that it looked "sad and desolate. The boarded up windows made it feel cold and lonely. The liveliness and energy was gone."
The Dîner en Blanc (White Dinner) did not disappoint this year, with the Carrousel du Louvre as the top-secret location. Approximately 12,000 people descended on the museum courtyard just before 9:30pm.
The Passage du Prado is unlike any other arcade in Paris. It’s not perfect, not museumified and it’s not trying to recreate the ambience of another century. It’s grungy, a little run-down and filled with restaurants and shops.