Scootoir, that 2cv represents the one I loved in '66 that belonged to a co-worker. I swore I'd get one one day. Well, I haven't, but still love them.

Ms_go, so many passages, so little time.

Lovely stories and photos MmePerdu. Thank you for sharing them. How exciting that must have been to be a dancer in Paris.

Many years ago I was driven around Reading, England in a 2cv while trying to arrange a job exchange that ultimately fell through. Loved that car and the gear shift coming straight out of the dash.

My friend's 2cv had no back on the passenger seat, just the metal frame so was torture. But I loved it anyway. That must say something, not sure what.

I enjoyed your photos very much.. often they would make me sigh.. just the memories they can evoke..

MmePerdu:
The magic began in the walk down the Passage Jouffroy all the way to the rear where the entrance to Hotel Chopin is. Stepping up and into the minuscule lobby with that piano gave me an other worldly sensation of stepping back in time.

Then it was up the winding stairs with Sandrine the Receptionist who welcomed me so warmly and carried my luggage, down the hall to the tiny elevator, up to the fourth floor, around a corner, down four steps and up another four steps before arriving at the room I had requested with the red toile de juoy wallpaper and window overlooking the rooftops.

Add to all this the antique orange juice machine chugging away each morning in the tiny breakfast room as a backdrop to gentle conversation in several languages and there you have it - the quintessential French experience which I call magic!

I've stayed at many hotels in Paris starting with our first one in Pigalle on Blvd. Rochechouart in 1969 to the Intercontinental Opera most recently, but the Hotel Chopin is in its own unique category - that being quite simply - magic.

Travelchat, thanks for that, I'll try again next visit. Time to escape old habits.

I think sometimes, justineparis, the memories can be better than in the moment, distilled.

Thanks for jogging memories of my first visit to Paris a bit after yours- ah the Deux Chevaux was everywhere -now a collector's item.

I loved your report. We will be back in Paris for 12 nights in June and plan to explore the passages. Merci Bien!

Thanks PQ & Irock. It makes me happy people enjoy it.

Wow, Madame. I'm just catching up reading here and so enjoyed your beautiful reminiscences about your adventure in Paris fifty years ago. My first visit to Paris was in 1962. We were treated to a show at the Lido where Line Renaud was performing. It must have been very exciting to work at the Casino de Paris. And thank you also for your pieces on the passages which I still have on my "Paris Next Time" list. Your photos are wonderful too. Merci!

I didn't know Line was at the Lido. She was in Las Vegas at the Dunes for a couple of years prior to the '66 Casino show. Very interesting. She has a website, should it interest you.

A lovely reason to return to this beautiful city and a wonderfully documented memoire. Your photographs are very nice, and having just returned from Paris a month ago after my 6th visit (the first was when I was 13), I can completely relate to the images and sentiments you've shared with us.

Nicely done and thank you.

Thanks so much, Mathieu. Paris isn't a place one tires of, is it. I know that if I'm not enjoying myself on any given day, it's me, not the city.

It certainly isn't a place one tires of easily, MmePerdu. Even after spending long stretches of time there, I still find neighbourhoods that are new to me, or ones I've visited that have experienced interesting transformations to make them different and even new to me.

I recently saw the (wonderful) movie "Arrival" which challenges our ability to think in non-linear terms as a way of altering our experiences and perceptions. I think that if we can even slightly apply that kind of thinking to our travel expectations, we can visit the same place many times and yet each experience will be quite different. Sometimes I think of Paris that way.
Turning the popular saying on its head: "Plus c'est la meme chose, plus ca change.." ;)

Thanks for the movie tip, Mathieu. I've added it to my Netflix queue.