Walking in Paris - Street Sign Edition

I have been a font and design slut since my days as a typographer. Well executed typography gives me an aesthetic erection (not to be confused with a culinary boner). Paris, not surprisingly, has an abundance of beautiful signs.

Some of the signs I've included are here only for their content and/or snarky commentary, not necessarily because of their intrinsic design appeal.


Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a new tab.

Sign on a building in the Latin Quarter. Verlaine died here, probably of a broken heart (but the drugs and absinthe may have helped). This was also Hemingway's first apartment.




Found in the window of a tattoo shop and it is the very same image I have tattooed on my chest.




Not a sign, but a French Tardis.



We found an understated use of neon in old Paris, not everything blares out like the Vegas Strip as signs tend to do in the States. This tobacconist had a delightful double cone wrapped in a spiral of neon.




The optometrist sign was perfect.






In movable type, each character is called a sort. Here is a storefront sign in Montmartre that nearly broke my typographer's heart as it is made up of antique wooden sorts. The 'T' and the 'A' are about 20 inches tall.






Run left if you are on fire..




...otherwise go right.




In printing, recto and verso mean front and reverse, to indicate printing on both sides. In French, the phrase also means two sides of the same thing.





It's always nice when the name of place tells you exactly what the place is; this is a strip club down the street from the Moulin Rouge:




and this says...




...'PUSH' in French, you pervert.


This is the original typeface designed for the Paris subway in 1902. I would marry this font if I could.




Apparently, you can't get a martini at the pharmacy, despite appearances to the contrary:



A hardware store, specializing in paint:



While we tend to think of hurling as something we do after the pub, it is also a sport from Ireland, which closely resembles polo without the horses.. If you look closely at the front of the awning, you will note that the Hurling Pub also has a 'hoegaarden,' insert your own pun here.




All this time I thought that song was just a bad metaphor:



They must get some kick ass storms:




Yes, friction can be dangerous, as the sign announces, but without friction we would not have had fire or procreation. In fact, I imagine it was not terribly long after the first fire was built that a woman sidled up to the fire maker to show her appreciation.

NB to all the femistas out there: Yes, it was probably a woman who first made fire and a man took credit for it. I'm sorry.




The French are kind and generous: free rain coats




Even the French are not immune to the lure of fast food:





Le Boudubar (cheesy youtube ad here!) Alas we did not have time to go in, perhaps next visit.





This sign is around the block from Notre Dame. Given the proximity to the famous cathedral, I can only assume it means that you should not let your children go off with clergymen. Thank you, French people, for keeping our children safe!





World's best bathroom sign, found in a bar around the corner from our hotel: