Oct

Is Paris Disappearing?

by Meredith Mullins on October 7, 2019

Let’s not lose the magic of Paris life.
© Meredith Mullins

Change Comes to Four Cultural Icons

“Panta Rhei” wrote the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. “Life is flux.”

This prescient philosophy, from more than 2000 years ago, is more commonly known as “Change is the only constant.” A truth in 500 BCE and a truth today.

In a city like Paris, the process of change can affect the visible cityscape, as well as its cultural icons. We are the witnesses as we go about our daily rhythms of sitting in our beloved cafés, taking the bus, getting the news, and, yes, finding a restroom.

In quotidian life, we face the modern renditions of places that were once part of the cultural heritage of Paris—transitions from the past to the future.

Layers of history
© Meredith Mullins

I feel nostalgia for bygone eras, even as I continue to walk on cobblestone streets and admire the buildings and bridges of past centuries.

And that makes me ask, “Is Paris disappearing?”—a question worth contemplating as I sit for a while in a sidewalk café.

Paris Cafés: A tribute to a slower pace of life
© Meredith Mullins

Leisurely Café Sitting or Fast Food?

Paris is not Paris without its iconic cafés. Parisians and visitors will never give up sitting on the rattan chairs, sipping an espresso or verre de vin, and watching the passing parade or talking with friends. Café sitting is the ultimate way to embrace a slower pace of life.

McDonald’s takes over a 19th century Haussmann building.
© Meredith Mullins

However, it is easy to notice that fast food has taken hold in the City of Light. From McDonald’s to Subway to Chipotle to Bagelstein to Burger King to Starbucks, a different kind of cuisine and culture is gaining popularity. It seems that some folks cannot get enough of America’s fast-paced habits.

The McCafé is not quite the same as the classic sidewalk gems.

Thank goodness, President Macron has recently allocated funds to keep the traditional cafés alive. It would be sad to see these testaments to the spirit of community disappear.

Is a Starbuck’s coffee really as good as an espresso at a sidewalk café?
© Meredith Mullins

A Bus Stop is a Bus Stop is a Bus Stop . . . Not

The Paris bus stops are a welcome sight, some so conveniently close to each other that you can see the next one from the one you’re standing in.

But, as with many things, modernization came to the Paris bus stops. In 2015, the shelters were converted to a futuristic design, complete with streamlined roof (some with solar panels and some with planted greenery), charger stations, and a goal of energy efficiency.

Sleek new bus stop design
© Meredith Mullins

In addition, the city added exterior signposts that indicate the buses that serve the stop and show how many minutes until the next bus. You know from a distance whether you have to pick up the pace or be prepared for some Godot-like waiting. The signs are illuminated at night, which makes them easy to see.

Form did not exactly follow function, however, as the new roof design does not protect bus patrons from the elements. You can get rained on, snowed on, or gusted by wind.

The new bus stop design provides little protection against wind-blown elements.
© Meredith Mullins

The old bus stops were a homey little cocoon with three sides—such an inviting shelter that many a vagabond called them “home.”

The city promotes the new “open” design, however, as more accessible for people with prams and for people with disabilities.

There’s more to come. The “Bus Stop of the Future” is in development. As new “community spaces,” these shelters will offer bus ticket sales, coffee, music, book borrowing, information on the neighborhood, bike rentals, and more. The RATP (Paris Transportation Administration) will begin to introduce these structures soon.

The legendary news kiosks, brimming with print material and souvenirs of Paris
© Meredith Mullins

All the News that Fits

The newspaper kiosks of Paris are legendary. The dark green color and the carved metallic dome with a delicate spire make us sure we are in Paris (or, at least, watching a Paris film). Newspapers, magazines, and postcards burst forth from the tiny doors and spill onto the street.

Where else but here would you buy your Le Monde for the day’s news or your L’Officiel des Spectacles for all the events in Paris for the week.

Now, one by one, these traditional kiosks are being replaced by structures made of recycled glass and aluminum. The green color is similar to the legendary green, but the domes are a thing of the past, leading critics to call the new design a soulless “sardine can.”

The change is primarily to improve the working conditions of the news vendors and to allow more walk-in space for the patrons.

It’s a new world.
© Meredith Mullins

The structure can be heated. The enclosed space protects the vendor (and the merchandise) from the elements. It’s more like a shop, with shelves, so vendors don’t have to unpack their magazines and papers every day and repack them at night when they leave.

Many of the kiosks will have refrigerators so they can sell cold drinks, and some will have bathrooms for the vendors.

What will happen to the old kiosks? You can buy one if you want to own a little bit of Paris. Contact edouard.rayer@mediakiosk.fr for details.

Kiosk for sale?
© Meredith Mullins

It’s also nice to know that a few of the old-style kiosks will remain in place—preserved for history (and for filmmakers and tourists seeking selfies).

The Last Pissotière

Paris is famous for its elegance and style, but it must also be noted for the practical transition that has taken place in the development of public restrooms.

For many years, the public pissotières were a staple on the streets and boulevards, from three-stall rotundas to monolithic solo spaces. All were deftly designed to ensure the privacy of key body parts.

They were as much a part of the Paris landscape as the cafés and news kiosks. (Women, of course, were more discreet, using the toilettes in cafés.)

Now, the pissotières have been replaced by stainless steel ovals, with a forceful gush of water to clean them after each use. They are omnipresent (and free) . . . and a bit frightening if you have a fear of being flushed into oblivion.

The modern Paris public restrooms
© Meredith Mullins

The last pissotière on the rue Arago is the lone survivor, a functioning, gurgling reminder of a bygone era.

The last surviving pissotière, fondly called a “battered rattle-trap” by writer Henry Miller
© Meredith Mullins

The Future of Change

More Paris changes are coming, especially as the city prepares for the 2024 Olympics. But, as some of the critics of past and present cultural changes have voiced: The city needs progress but also needs “guardians of the spirit of Paris of days past.” A disappearing Paris, erasing history and customs, is not the goal.

Long live the spirit of Paris.
© Meredith Mullins

My “Oh, I See” moment: Let’s move forward, but let’s treasure the past and those cultural icons that are rooted deeply in heritage and customs.

Vive les cafés, les kiosks, les arrêts d’autobus, et la dernière pissotière.

Thank you to MessyNessyChic for information about how to buy a news kiosk.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 8 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Cultural Symbols/France (Paris)

Sep

Growing Up “TWA”

by Joyce McGreevy on September 30, 2019

A vintage TWA poster about aviation heritage evokes travel inspiration. (Image in the public domain)

Originating as a mail carrier, Trans World Airlines became a global passenger service.
(public domain)

When Travel Inspiration Took Flight

There once was a boy named Wally and an airline called TWA. The boy and the airline are gone now. But just as a jet leaves behind a contrail, a bright cloud-path that draws your gaze across the sky, the boy and the airline left a legacy.

Oh, I see: This is about a different kind of travel inspiration. The way our journeys influence the journeys of others, helping them navigate their way.

Overcoming Strong Headwinds

One day the boy looked skyward and imagined what it would be like to fly. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, seeing the world, learning other languages.

This was during the Great Depression. Nobody he knew in Ohio was doing such things, and even his teacher doubted the value of learning other languages.

But the boy held fast to his dreams.

A young man at a piano will one day become a TWA pilot and a source of travel inspiration to his children. (Image © McGreevy archives)

Portrait of a young man with big dreams
© McGreevy archives

By 19, Wally was a B-24 captain in World War II. The B-24 had a tendency to blow up and it happened to him over the Pacific. Treading shark-infested water all night, the young man held fast to dreams.

He survived and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Kindred Navigators

Meanwhile in Arizona, a young woman held fast to dreams. Growing up, she traveled the world—through the pages of books.

After the war, these kindred spirits met. Two weeks later, they married. Wally became a pilot for TWA. Forty years later, Helen and Wally had traveled the world and navigated life’s challenges together.

Among their fellow passengers were my siblings and me.

A Trans World Airlines pilot in the cockpit evokes travel inspiration. (Image © McGreevy archives)

Dad flew everything from early Martin aircraft to 747s.
© McGreevy archives

This Is Your Captain Speaking

The stereotype about parents who are pilots is that they’re never home.

In reality, pilots’ hours were strictly limited so Dad was home a lot. And I don’t mean presiding from an armchair like the all-knowing, do-little dads on ’50s TV. Our dad was “all in.”

In postwar America, Dad also eschewed macho stereotypes at work. Unlike the godlike pilots of Hollywood movies—men who uttered lines like I run a tight ship!—Captain “Mac” McGreevy was proud to part of a crew.

Back then, we could tag along behind the scenes, meeting everyone who kept TWA planes in the air: mechanics, meteorologists, flight dispatchers, gate agents, baggage handlers, maintenance workers, flight attendants, and engineers.

Each worked with wide-awake focus so airline passengers could sleep peacefully at 30,000 feet.

The wallet I.D. card of a TWA pilot displays the qualities that made Trans World Airlines popular with passengers and beloved by TWA alumni and families. (Image © McGreevy archives)

“The On-Time Airline,” TWA made flying a special experience, regardless of where one sat.
© McGreevy archives

A Storied Airline

Growing up as part of the TWA experience was special. This was a storied airline that achieved many firsts. First coast-to-coast scheduled flights, first transcontinental non-stops, first airline to have pilots file a flight plan, first to trade piston aircraft for smoother, quieter, roomier, all-weather jets. Even the first to offer fresh coffee and in-flight movies.

TWA was glamorous, too. Your chances of sitting beside a movie legend, even in Economy, were good.

A 1970 photo of Cary Grant, shown with the writer Joyce McGreevy at age 15 on a Trans World Airlines flight, evokes TWA’s golden age as a nexus of travel inspiration and glamour. (Image © McGreevy archives)

Cary Grant and other screen legends flew TWA and were usually happy to chat.
© McGreevy archives

Hub, Sweet Hub

Every TWA hub was home.

Home, because whatever the airport call letters, wherever the country, Dad had flown there and made friends. Home, because the TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) felt like an extension of our house. Home, because everyone in TWA uniform was a role model, such was the bond we shared and the example they set.

Imagine having family in every city of the world.

Up, Up, and Away!

Each TWA terminal was also a portal to new worlds. The “flight path” of Dad’s TWA years literally broadened our horizons.

A 1960s photo of travelers, including the writer’s family, at Versailles evokes travel inspiration and memories of TWA’s golden age. (Image © McGreevy archives)

France, 196os: traveling with kids was uncommon. Can you spot my family?
© McGreevy archives

Just don’t call it free travel. I did that once.

“No,” Dad said gently, “Your mother and I earned it.” In an era when homemaking went largely unrecognized as work, it was a telling comment: In every endeavor, Dad saw himself as a partner or crew member, never solo.

That perspective traveled with him. Dad related to every culture he visited. He and Mom introduced us to new languages, foods, and friends, to multifaceted ways of looking at life.

Hard Landings

Dad passed away in 1996. The airline outlived him by only five years. The beautiful TWA Terminal at JFK became an abandoned shell. Each loss amplified our grief.

Oh, but the legacy.

Two generations have followed Dad’s flight path of inspiration—they included pilots, an aviation photographer, a flight attendant, a NASA engineer. Some have pursued international studies and travel writing. Many are connected by friendship or marriage to families around the world.

TWA Today

TWA lives in memory, too. On aviation websites and private Facebook groups, TWA alumni worldwide post about their years of service to “a wonderful airline, where every cabin was first class.” They share TWA stories, post vintage TWA commercials, discuss aircraft, and support a TWA Museum.

How many defunct companies do you know that still inspire such love?

A collection of Trans World Airlines memorabilia is a source of travel inspiration and happy memories for the daughter of a TWA pilot. (Image © Margie McGreevy)

Many TWA alumni and their families collect memorabilia.
© courtesy of Margie McGreevy

Purpose of Visit: Celebration!

And the abandoned terminal at JFK? Saved from the wrecking ball, gloriously restored, and given new purpose.

Soon four McGreevy sisters will return home—to the new TWA Hotel at JFK. There we’ll raise a glass to our favorite TWA captain. Given the upcoming TWA Employee Reunion, we plan to share stories with TWA alumni and will then update readers on OIC Moments. Stay tuned.

Until then, “Thank you for flying,” TWA. Your travel inspiration takes flight within me still and helps me navigate my way.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 14 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Travels to the Past/Worldwide Sites

Sep

Italy Without a Suitcase

by Joyce McGreevy on September 16, 2019

People gather at Caffe Cagliostro in the Italian Quarter, Dublin, Ireland, one of many Little Italy enclaves around the world that celebrate Italian culture. Image © Andrea Romano

Conversation flows at Caffe’ Cagliostro in Dublin’s Italian Quarter.
Ireland is home to 9,000 Irlandiani, Irish of Italian ancestry.
© Andrea Romano/ Caffè Cagliostro

Italian Culture, Around the Corner

Dreaming of Italy? It may be closer than you think. From 1880 to 1980, 15 million Italians migrated to other countries. Today, across five continents, over 60 neighborhoods claim the moniker Little Italy.

Several U.S. and Canadian cities boast a Little Italy. So do pockets of Australia, Brazil, and Mexico. There’s a Little Milano in Gothenburg, Sweden, a Little Rome in Asmara, Eritrea, a Piccola Italia in Malindi, Kenya.

Oh, I see: Celebrating Italian culture is a global experience.

Italian TAYLOR-ing

In Chicagoland, a dozen Italian enclaves formed after 1850. The best known is West Taylor Street, historically Chicago’s largest community of mostly Southern Italians.

At Scafuri Bakery, employee Aria Davis beams as she serves macchiato and lemon ricotta cake.

“We’ve been here since 1904,” says Aria, 21, whose passion for Italian culture led her to live in Sardinia for a year. She points to a vintage family portrait above the counter.

“See how there’s almost an aura around one woman? That’s Annette Mategrano. She was absolutely amazing, a successful businesswoman back when that was uncommon.”

Staff at Scafuri Bakery take pride in the Italian culture of Chicago’s Little Italy, West Taylor Street. Image © Joyce McGreevy

Framed by images of the Scafuri-Mategrano family, co-workers Doriann, Aria, and Ben
share a love of Italian culture.
© Joyce McGreevy

Annette’s parents emigrated from Calabria, opened the bakery, and sustained it through tough times. During the Depression they gave away bread to families who couldn’t afford the 3-cent cost. In 1955, the torch passed to Annette. She also opened a restaurant, working double shifts until she retired—at 90. Today, great-nieces Michelle and Kelly continue her legacy.

Ron Onesti, Marie De Marinis, and Demond Moore help Chicagoans celebrate the Italian culture of Little Italy, West Taylor Street. Image © Joyce McGreevy

Faces of Little Italy (L to R): Director of Chicago’s Italian festivals, Ron Onesti was born on
Taylor Street. Marie De Marinis and Demond Moore delight diners at Davanti Enoteca.
© Joyce McGreevy

When you’re around West Taylor Street, be sure to…

Buy panini and vini at Conte Di Savoia.
Eat pappardelle at the original Rosebud.
Sip lemon ice at Mario’s.

Where Pasta Meets Present

Two miles and many nostalgic decades away, lies “Heart of Italy,” known for its Tuscan families. In the 1900s, many new arrivals traded farming for farm-equipment factory work at McCormick Reaper, “McComio,” as Chicago’s Italians called it.

Today Heart of Italy still beats with pride. It’s a neighborhood where many have been friends since childhood, where locals share anecdotes that go back five generations.

You needn’t be Italian to feel like a local. At Ignotz Ristorante, owner Roger Wroblewski and bartender Candy Minx welcome you like a favorite cousin who’s here for the family reunion.

It’s one of those cozy places you could dine alone without feeling like a loner, a convivial joint where every story at the bar is worth remembering. Ask Roger about the night Frankie Avalon dropped by.

Roger Wroblewski is proud that Ignotz Ristorante celebrates Italian culture in Chicago’s Heart of Italy. Image © Joyce McGreevy

Like Heart of Italy, Ignotz is rooted in love of family, regard for the past,
and appreciation of everyday pleasures.
© Joyce McGreevy

Here, food is for eating, not Instagramming. Pastas are hearty and soul-satisfying. Well, as the Italians say, Esse nufesso qui dice male di macaroni: “Only an idiot speaks badly of macaroni.”

If you must go “keto,” tuck into Ignotz’s lemony, succulent chicken a la tippi. Then ditch the diet and dive into the chocolate spumoni.

To fall in love with Chicago’s Heart of Italy, be sure to…

Nibble carcio al forno at La Fontanel la.
Enjoy fettucine and friendly banter at Bacchanalia.
Winterize yourself with a bowl of ribollita at Bruna’s.

Italia alla Francese

In Montréal, lively Petite-Italie combines the Québécois love of festival with a daily dose of dolce vita.

There’s something for everyone—music of the Italian Baroque, frescoes in a Romanesque church, summer cinema in the park, and the most authentic Italian food this side of l’Atlantico, from cinghiale (wild boar) to handmade pasta al nero di seppia infused with cuttlefish ink.

Backyards give way to grape arbors, flowers cascade from balconies, and the street scene hums. Soccer mania lives on at Bar Sportivo as do sociable games of bocce in Dante Park.

Food products at Milano, a grocery store in Petite-Italy, the Little Italy of Montréal, reflect its Italian culture. Image © Joyce McGreevy

When visiting Montréal’s Petite-Italie, be sure to…

Get your heart racing at Caffè Italia or just race in summer’s Vivere Grand Prix.
See a pasta factory in action at Pastificio Sacchetto.
Take cooking classes at Mezza Luna.
Read locally-launched Panoram Italia.

San Diego Serenissimo

In Southern California, la passeggiata, or pre-dinner stroll, begins as the sun sets over San Diego Bay. Here, generations of Italians once made their living on the sea.

Sailboats evoke the Italian families who made their living from the sea in San Diego, California, where Italian culture is celebrated in the city’s Little Italy. Image © SanDiego.org

Families from Sicily and Italy’s Riviera founded the fishing fleet and canning industry
that made San Diego the tuna capital of the West.
© Courtesy SanDiego.org

Today, Little Italy is a vibrant neighborhood with outdoor cafés, wineries, shops, and boutique hotels.

People line up at Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in San Diego’s Little Italy, a hub of Italian culture. Image © Joanne DiBona/ SanDiego.org

Piazza Della Famiglia is a gathering place for concerts and cultural events. Piazza Basilone and other San Diego piazze commemorate Italian-American history. Amici Park and Waterfront Park reflect the importance of beautiful public spaces to the Italian lifestyle. Little Italy Food Hall offers a variety of food stations, cooking demos, and wine tastings.

When you’re in San Diego’s Little Italy, be sure to…

Witness its past, present, and future.
Browse farmers markets, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
See the summer Italian Film Festival.

E Tu?

Where is your Little Italy? San Francisco’s North Beach or Boston’s North End? Hidden in Clerkenwell, London or in Italian-influenced Malta? Is it molto Manhattan or completamente Bronx?

To share your hidden gems with the OIC community, just leave a Comment and tell us why the Little Italy you like is so special.

Note: The author accepted no freebies and is solely responsible for any pounds gained.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 5 Comments