Left: Van Gogh, Jardin sur la Butte Montmartre, 1887, oil on canvas, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, (left). Van Gogh arrived in Paris last year and is staying with his brother. There are several interesting things about this painting. It shows Montmartre as a relatively rural area, even though it is in one of the Paris arrondissements. It also reflects a changing style of painting, a variation on pointillism that is developing. This image is from Duby, L'Histoire de Paris par la Peinture.

Van Gogh, Les Tournesols (The Sunflowers), 1887, Right.

Guy de Maupassant writes Le Horla. (AF)

Construction on the Eiffel Tower starts. (AF)

Andre Antoine opens the Theatre-Libre in Paris. This becomes the Theatre Antoine in 1897. (AF)

Wagner's Lohengrin premiers, to a scandalous reception. (AF)

The Astronomical Society of France is created. (AF)

The canal de Tancarville opens between Paris and Le Harve. (AF)

The arrest of general Caffarel for the trafficking in military decorations. (AF)

More broadly:

The first balloon flight from Marseilles to Corsica. (CHF)

The first bridge with a mechanical opening mechanism becomes operational at Neuilly near Versailles. (AF)

US vine stock is introduced to help in the recovery from phylloxera. This is a disease that struck French wine grape vines. (AF)

The repeating rifle is introduced into the French army. (AF)

France gets it first cog railway, from the gare de Langres to a community on a plateau above the gare (station). (AF)