Book 55, 2023: A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm. I get why this has been so popular. An open look at the grim underbelly of being a waiter in the French capital. Full of filth, booze, violence, and despair. But it's well written, and cracks along.
Meanwhile in #Paris..... having been subjected to a #bedbug infestation & a #sewage problem in the #Seine, now the #Olympics organisers are picking a fight with Paris' riverside #book stalls that they want to absent themselves from the banks while the opening ceremony as their stock boxes are apparently a security risk...
How this will play out for the Paris mayor & Olympics management remains to be seen
Today in Labor History November 17, 1947: Revolutionary and author Victor Serge died. Serge lived in Paris in the early 20th century, where he was loosely associated with the Bonnot gang of anarchist bank robbers, and where he collaborated with Raymond Callemin on the newspaper L’anarchie. He was in Barcelona during their anarchist uprising and contributed to the CNT’s newspaper, “Tierra y Libertad.” He went to Russia in 1918, initially in support of the communists. However, he quickly became disillusioned with the repressive, autocratic rule, criticized the party and was imprisoned. He wrote numerous books, including the classic “Birth of Our Power” and his autobiographical “Memoirs of a Revolutionist.”
Exquisite gold offering bowl engraved with the drinking contest between #Bacchus and #Hercules. We know this story from art but no written account of this myth has survived.
🏛️ #Dionysos and #Herakles, Drinking Contest Detail, Patera of Rennes, Roman bowl, ca 210 CE. Today in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, #Paris.
#OnThisDay in #history - in 1789, a group of market-women in #Paris , upset about the shortage and high price of bread, began to march toward Versailles. They gathered weapons and allies on the way, marching about six hours (church bells ringing all along the way in solidarity) and ending up over ten thousand supporters strong. By the time the royal family were escorted back to Paris, the crowd was at least sixty thousand. #OTD#histodons#France#FrenchRevolution@histodons
I am finishing reading this delicious historical novel that will go directly in the #littlefreelibrary afterwards. If you love stories with strong women, generational drama, the fresh smell of bread and the Parisian atmosphere, you will surely love it as much as me !
I am also happy to share some information and pictures from last week. We held our annual conference on "#urbanity. History, Concept, Uses" at Ettersburg Castle near Weimar. https://urbrel.hypotheses.org/3319