Time Travel in Paris

[osprey_archer]

Via sartorias: The Paris Time Capsule Apartment. (My friend Emma tells me that this whole website is full of secret Paris things and urban exploring in general. Clearly I should poke through its nooks and crannies.)

But this article in particular is so cool: an apartment in Paris, which the owner shut up when she fled at the beginning of World War II, was only recently reopened. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to walk into it? Like stepping into the past. I wonder why the owner never returned.

It’s like the beginning of a mystery novel, especially when you factor in the forgotten painting that they found! What kept her away? The owner paid the rent punctually till she died, so she hadn't forgotten about it... it haunted her, perhaps; it holds ghosts, literal or figurative.

If I had any gift for mystery plotting, I would try my hand at it.

Comments

[silverusagi]

I saw that on tumblr. Interesting. Especially the part about how it was abandoned in one sense, but not in the other, since rent was paid.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes, that especially is what makes it some like there must be some epic Casablanca-style story behind it: she couldn't bear to go back, but she couldn't bear to let it go.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It really is remarkable! A careful look at the contents of that room will tell people so much about the daily life of the bohemian class at that time. Apparently Mickey Mouse was a thing!

I was saying on sartorias's page that if they can find the person who paid the rent, that should set them well on the way to figuring out the mystery of why the woman up and left like that.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! Clearly you have the mind of detective. And if it wasn't her paying it, then there are so many possibilities...

Maybe someone was trying to keep something hidden? Maybe we have unleashed something in reopening that apartment...

Not necessarily something bad. The last thing out of Pandora's box was hope, after all.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Now there's an idea that's pregnant with story-ness: the room as a historical Pandora's box.

[poeticknowledge.livejournal.com]

How fascinating! <3 Thank you so much for sharing this link! :) I am now exploring the site more extensively and have come across a growing number of other fascinating articles -- can't wait to read more! <3

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

If you see any you particularly like, send me the link! I mean to look through the site, but there's so much stuff there, we might end up going through it on completely different paths.