Section 03
The Salons
The recurring fairs — their founding years, their grounds and the logic that kept them running.
A horse presented to three judges in a sand ring.Photo: Tom Fisk / Pexels
The recurring fairs — their founding years, their grounds and the logic that kept them running. 6 pages.
The Oldest Motor Show in the World, by One Disputed YearThe Salon de l'Automobile has run, with interruptions for two world wars, since 1898. Whether that makes it the world's first is a question of one year and how you define a motor show.594 words
Le Bourget Since 1909: the Show That Runs on the Oldest Aviation Ground in the WorldThe Paris Air Show began indoors. What it became outdoors — on one of the oldest continuously used aerodromes in the world — is a study in how a working airfield absorbs a biennial spectacle and then refuses to let it go.638 words
The Foire de Paris: a General Fair in an Age of SpecialistsThe oldest surviving general fair in France has outlasted dozens of rivals by refusing to specialise.436 words
The Salon Where a Cow Is Always the PosterThe Salon International de l'Agriculture brings the farmyard to the Porte de Versailles each February — live animals, champion judging and all.340 words
Boats Indoors: the Salon Nautique and the Problem of ScaleThe Paris boat show has run for over a century. The engineering challenge is not the boats — it is the building.368 words
Vinexpo and the Case for Bordeaux Over ParisThe wine trade went to the wine. Not every French fair belongs in the capital.400 words