Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 1838

Today, a small Dabbler tribute to the endurance of Paris. Nige celebrates an extraordinary photograph... The Parisian street scene above dates from 1838, and was captured by Louis Daguerre, who was born this week (18 November) in 1787. Daguerre, who achieved worldwide fame with his Daguerrotype process, began his photographic researches with ... Read More...

A Trip to Dieppe

Nige visits the French town of Dieppe, once home to Oscar Wilde, Frits Thaulow and a society of Anglophile artists... About this time last year I headed for Dieppe to spend a few days as a summer flaneur, a thoroughly restorative trip. Dieppe retains its unique, slightly faded charm, and its ... Read More...

A rum do in Cognac

Crumbling châteaux and closet gay Counts - here's Gaw's terrific tale of some strange lodgings he took whilst playing rugby in South-West France.... Being a professional sportsman isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's actually very boring. Training isn't mentally stimulating and professional sportsmen tend not to be that interesting; ... Read More...

Lord Uxbridge’s leg

The above photo shows Lord Uxbridge recovering from the shock of losing his leg - a leg which later went on to become a celebrity in its own right. And so begins another strange Wikipedia article... Lord Uxbridge's leg was shattered by a cannon shot at the Battle of Waterloo and ... Read More...

‘Pataphysics

The more I read this unusual wikipedia article, the less I understand. It seems to be some sort of situationist dadaesque wheeze for frenchmen who like to think that they're a bit 'kraaaazy'... 'Pataphysics is a philosophy or media theory dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. The ... Read More...

Charles Domery – Polyphage

I'm guessing that the gentleman described below probably wouldn't have had any problems with a British Rail sandwich... Charles Domery (c. 1778 – after 1800), was a Polish soldier noted for his unusually large appetite. Serving in the Prussian Army against France during the War of the First Coalition, he found that the ... Read More...

The Snail Telegraph

Here we are with our smart phones and our ipads looking all cool on the internet, when all along we could have been connecting via a snail-based social media... The pasilalinic-sympathetic compass, also referred to as the snail telegraph, was a contraption built in an attempt to prove the misguided hypothesis ... Read More...

Feeling, flying and fashion

It's London Fashion week, voluptuous mutations and pilots who sound like Roger Moore for Susan this week... Perhaps you can help me? I am trying to think of a suitable caption for this photograph. Incidentally, the logo on the front of the man’s sweatshirt says ‘Dope Chef’. I love living in the swirling ... Read More...

Hard Times in France

This week Susan has been battling the snow, a cold, and the French - but all in her usual stylish way... “If Britain leaves the European Union, the other members will be cheering,” whispered Lolo in her throaty southern French tones.  We were at the launch party for a new Zumba academy. I’d ... Read More...