16.35 - Paris Wasn’t Always Like This
Tomas k - News Writer and Moderator 
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Bonjour mes ami(e)s !
It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today. Bienvenue !
In this newsletter, you’ll find these wonderful fresh articles taking you to France beyond the cliché.
Don’t miss the PAID subscriber edition of le Bulletin in your inbox: “16.35.a - A Perfume, a Poem, a City That Started Running - It’s not too late to upgrade & read it←
À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy
5.9.2026
1. MyFrenchLife™ Magazine new articles
“There are many talented contributors to MyFrenchLife Magazine and I thank all of you for sharing your experiences with us in such an engaging manner.
You take us right across France & deep into many worm-holes. We delight in discovering
and learning more about France beyond the cliché”
Merci
Judy
Our list of valued Contributors →
A reminder that ‘The Writers Room’ now resides here →
a) From Fringe to Favorite: How Paris Turned into a City of Runners
by Marie Gundersen
Take a stroll along the Seine, and there is one thing I can guarantee you’ll see. Regardless of season or time of day, there will be people running by the river, in the streets, and in the parks. This is a striking contrast to how it used to be. Only ten years ago, a jogger in Paris was more of a curiosity.”
In general, exercising in public was a rare activity – and likely to be frowned upon.”
Running in the city centre, or even showing yourself outdoors in a sports outfit, used to be seen as a “faux-pas” – something that wasn’t socially acceptable. I assume the reason was partly related to tradition – it was just how it was, and partly to the norm of looking, dressing, and smelling good in the presence of others…” writes Marie.
b) I Lived Beside the Drunken Boat
by Patricia Russo
My first apartment in Paris was on rue Servandoni, a narrow seventeenth-century street running alongside Saint Sulpice in the sixth arrondissement. I knew almost nothing then about the literary ghosts of my neighborhood. I knew the church bells, the curve of the streets around the Luxembourg Garden, the particular pleasure of coming home through this old quarter of Paris. I was beginning a life in the city without yet understanding how many lives had already been lived beneath my feet.”
Only a few steps from my front door, on rue Férou, an entire poem spills down the wall of a building in enormous black letters…” writes Patricia.
c) Rue Soufflot: A Grand Approach to the Panthéon
by Pierre Guernier
A street built to point at a dome, and to carry the dead who earned it — Rue Soufflot: The Street Paris Built to Look Up
Welcome to the 20 Streets of Paris Series - Episode #8
Rue Soufflot is situated in the Latin Quarter and links the area around Boulevard Saint-Michel to the Panthéon. It runs east to west. It is about thirty metres wide and nearly three hundred metres long.
It is precisely the street’s slope that gives it its iconic view of the Panthéon. This beautiful vista was, in fact, designed to showcase the Parisian monument…” writes Pierre.
2. Merci mille fois
“Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’, the newsletter of MyFrenchLife™ Magazine.”
Judy MacMahon
Merci mille fois d’être ici, mes ami(e)s. Thanks for being here.
I love what Marie, Patricia and Pierre have done to Paris for me this week. Marie had me thinking about something as ordinary as seeing runners everywhere and remembering that, actually, it wasn’t always ordinary at all. Patricia took us to a wall I could so easily have walked past without knowing what was spilling down it. And Pierre made me look up Rue Soufflot rather differently.
That, I think, is one of my favourite things about our Contributors. They keep nudging me to look again at things I thought I knew.
And in about 15 hours, I’ll be taking paid readers somewhere rather different. To Versailles, in fact, in pursuit of something from 1919. There’s oakmoss involved. EU regulation. And, rather unexpectedly, Camembert.
Yes, Camembert. You’ll see.
FRANCE AS IT MEANS:→ If you’re a free subscriber, now might be the time to consider upgrading
À bientôt,
Judy
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