Welcome to Stories Under Paris

There are more than 300 stations in the Paris Métro. They are named for artists, writers, battles, châteaux, bridges, politicians, and events. But that’s just in the real world… Enter Stories Under Paris to discover the untold tales that dwell beneath the surface of Paris – one story for every Métro Station.

Click on a line number to start your journey…

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July 7, 2019

At last, another story!  I was beginning to think I’d forgotten how to write one.  Today’s story is called The Fisherwoman and the Golden Ring, and is for Poissonnière station. It’s a riff on all the fairy tales and legends and plays in which someone loses a very important ring and it shows up in a fish at the high table during a feast to save the day.  As with so many of my fairytales, it went kind of feminist and subversive.

If that’s the sort of thing you like, you’re in luck, because I write a LOT of somewhat subversive and feminist fairy tales.  The Un-Drowned Princess plays with the story of Ys and takes a look at what it means to be truly transparent; The Last Wish wonders whether a sausage attached to the nose is actually that much of a barrier to one’s ambitions; The Frog Girl tells the story of the sister who annoyed a fairy in the woods and wound up spitting frogs and toads; Still Waking is the story of the sister who guarded Sleeping Beauty’s sleep (and quite a bit of guarding was needed – this story is triggery in ways which are pretty much inevitable if you’ve read the original tale); or if you want something a bit kinder and sweeter, The Lion, the Witch and the Railway is a bit of a sequel to Beauty and the Beast, except for the parts where it isn’t.  And there are quite a few more – my Index page will help you find them.

I do hope to start writing more regularly, now that the drought has been broken, but I’m also about to be out of the country for a few weeks.  I do have some exciting news, however, which I will try to post on the appropriate day while I am travelling, so keep an eye out for that!

Wait, I want the actual Paris Metro…

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