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January 29 2012
Montaigne, the lucky charm...
Let me share with you a real Paris insider story. This statue is the one of Montaigne, a very famous French author and public figure from the French Renaissance era (1533-1592). It's located at rue des Ecoles, right in front of the entrance of La Sorbonne university. The statue is stunning (it was made by Paul Landowski during the 20th century), but it's got a funny story too; if you look carefully at his right foot, you'll see that his shoe is exceptionally shiny... Why? Because students believe that touching it before an exam will bear them luck!
January 18 2012
Paris, the city of Love
Sweet graffito today... I found it at rue Monge and thought it was cute. They I thought of the common saying "Paris, ville de l'amour" (Paris, the city of love) and I started wondering why? I even searched on the web! And did not find anything relevant really. Why on earth would Paris be anymore the city of love than any of these cities?! I wonder...
January 11 2012
Street sign thief!
Yes it's a one way street sign. Yes it's pretty dirty. But look more closely... Something should put a smile on your face, like it did on mine... Yes, the little guy that looks like he's stealing the white rectangle inside this street sign! I have no idea who did this, but apparently there as several ones in Paris and I find it quite amusing. that's all for today ;-)
November 26 2011
The big mosque of Paris
I've showed you many churches on this blog, but I never showed you any mosque. And though we have several in Paris, including THE big Mosque of Paris, a unique monument built in 1916 in honor of the 70 000 Muslims who died soldiers for France during the first World war. The place is a definite must see for it's not only a mosque, but also an ideal place to relax ( at the hammam) and have a tea - or a meal - in the restaurant/tea room. It's located in the 5th arrondissement not far from Le jardin des plantes. More on the website.
April 15 2011
Fontaine Saint-Michel
I already posted a photo of the Fontaine Saint-Michel here a few years ago, mentioning that it's a very common meeting point in Paris (especially for students), but I never posted a close up. Recently I went back there (yes, to meet someone!) and took this photo (not easy to take actually, because of the light - the fountain being always in the shade). For the record, this fountain was completed around 1860, it was made by Gabriel Davioud, a pretty famous architect who lived under the reign of Napoleon the 3rd, and its main purpose is... to hide a facade! More on Wikipedia, of course!
Playing music on the sidewalk
I know you're going to say this past week has mostly been about cars and graffiti! Well, yes... So ?! LOL Look at these two ones that I found in the 5th (I don't remember the street name). Cool aren't they ? Two old fashion turntables with a cool shadow effect (I had to kneel a little to keep the effect). I did not find who the artist was (it says Vanuf Vanof, somewhere, but I did not find much about him/her). Anyway, have a nice Friday, I'm really glad the week is almost over...
April 12 2011
Old cars pollute too much
Look at this car. Beautiful isn't? It's an old Citroën Traction Avant, a very famous French car that was built between 1934 à 1957. There are still a few ones running in France (and everywhere apparently!) including Paris. But pretty soon, they might disappear from our scenery, as the French Ecology Minister is planning to ban all cars that were manufactured before 1997 from getting into Paris and 7 other big cities in France. The goal being to drop the level of pollution. Probably a good idea, but I will regret these old cars.
Another great graffito
I did not see any name anywhere near this graffito, but I knew right away who made it: drew this: Jeff Aerosol. In fact, among the many graffiti artists that we have in Paris, Jeff Aerosol is probably the most famous one. I found this cute little scene at the entrance of in La rue du chat qui pêche, the smallest street in Paris, I already talked about here in 2008. update. MY MISTAKE : this piece of art does not belong to Jeff Aerosol but to Nemo of Belleville (who does not seem to have a web site...)
April 09 2011
Dinner out!
I was having a drink at a terrace near the Saint Michel area last evening, when this all dressed up couple in this shiny original Fiat 500 pop out from nowhere. No doubt they were heading to a chic dinner party somewhere in Paris. I could not help but taking a photo. Aren't they cute? FYI, the (original) Fiat 500 is one of the tiniest cars you can find (length: 2.97 m (116.9 in) - width: 1.32 m (52.0 in) and height 1.32 m (52.0 in)), it was made in Italy between 1957 and 1975 and you can still see several in Paris (more about it on Wikipedia).
November 08 2010
Endangered spieces?
These two guys are "bouquinistes", that is shopkeepers that have been granted the right to own a little box by the Seine banks to store and sell old books to the passers-by. Problem: people buy less and less books from little shop owners, they prefer to go on line or to larger stores... Consequently the bouquinistes started selling other stuff than books, souvenirs for instance, to make the ends meet. The problem is that their contract specifies that they must sell books and nothing else and the Paris town hall has started chasing those who don't play by the rules. It is also trying to find a solution to boost their income, like a Fête des bouquinistes, for instance. I doubt this will be enough.... How about selling kindles?!
November 07 2010
More Love locks!
Do you remember the photo of the "love locks" that I took on the Pont des Arts and that I posted last June. Well today I found more! On the Pont de l'Archevêché, behind Notre Dame. I waited for some time (in the rain and the cold, thank you very much!) to get a Péniche - a flat boat that runs on the Seine - in the background, so that it would complete the perfect romantic shot ;-) Cheesy? Well yes, a little bit!
August 31 2010
Market
Today is the 1st day of the month, therefore a theme day within the City Daily Photo community. Today's theme is pretty easy, as we have plenty of those in Paris: open air markets (check here for a complete listing and here for a map). Instead of showing you a colorful fruit and vegetable display, I chose this "sauerkraut", a typical dish of Alsace (a region in the East of France, close to Germany) that we call in French Choucroute. I took this photo at the Place Monge market in the 5th on the stand of a pork butcher... . See here, what the markets in London, Dubai, Moscow, Tokyo... and all the other cities part of the City Daily Photo community have to offer.
August 29 2010
Medecine History Museum
If you come to Paris, do pay a visit to "Le musée de l'histoire de la médecine" a very interesting museum you can find in the former Medicine Faculty, in the heart of Le Quartier Latin. It's fascinating to see the old instruments, the dummies and the odd tools they have used to cure people throughout the ages. One thing I can tell is that I'm happy to live in the 2000's (mind you in a 100 years, somebody will probably write the same caption saying "I can't believe they had to operate on people to remove the appendix in the 2000's!"). By the way, here is a little Animoto I made after the photos I took there.
June 28 2010
Funny ball game
I don't think there will ever be a world cup of this ball game(!), but if there was, I'm sure Jérôme Mesnager (the artist of this graffiti) would be the champion! I've shown several samples of his work on PDP over the past 5 years, but I could not help but stopping and pulling my trigger when I saw this one at rue Lhomond in the 5th arrondissement. Really creative. Check out his site and you'll see many other ones in the little video he posted.
June 26 2010
Gay Pride 2010
See, I wanted to make it up for yesterday's photo which I really think I does not meet the standards I want to have here! But I'm afraid this one is going to freak you out too LOL! Sorry, though, I had to stick to the news and the news on Saturday in Paris was... the annual Gay Pride. I will spare you the zillion photos I always take there for they really look like the ones of last year, the one of the year before and the one of the year even before. I just thought this one was funny in its own way... And, did I mention the weather is gorgeous in Paris at the moment?!
May 14 2010
Stop staring at me!
This animal escaped from the Gallery of comparative anatomy, near the natural history museum! As you all know(!) comparative anatomy is "the study of the differences and similarities allowing us to distinguish and classify species or larger groups (orders, families, etc)." Well if you want to see for yourself, pay a visit to the Jardin des plantes , which is where the museum is located. In the meantime, you can also visit the website, which is not only very nice but also entirely in English). BTW, did you notice the Mc Donald's sign in the back?!
May 06 2010
Concert at Fontaine Saint Michel
No Paris was not invaded by Aliens overnight, this is just a concert by Hit Machin (no, I did not forget the "e" at the end Machin!) that I photographed in front of the Saint Michel Fountain a few days ago. Don't ask me to judge the music, I did not have the time to stay... You can check their MySpace (and see their video too).
April 20 2010
New telephone booth
If I tell you that Orange (ex France Telecom) is currently installing new public phones in the street (see a broader view on the making of), I'm sure you're going to laugh at me... And though that is what they are doing in some specific, touristic areas as an experiment. Why? Because these telephone booths have nothing to do with what the good old pay phones of "the past" used to be (including the first one, that was presented at the electricity exhibit in 1881!). This new model allows you to call, of course, but also to surf the web, find a restaurant/shop/theater... around the booth. Check this little video to see a demo. It's probably a good idea, but now that almost everyone has a mobile phone with Internet access I don't really think there will be much demand.
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