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January 25 2012
Difficult times...
France is not exactly doing too well at the moment (highest unemployment rate since 1999, a 2012 yearly budget short of 81,7 billion €, terrible perspectives...). It's very unlikely that President Sarkozy will be reelected in May, when we're going to have new elections. Who will be in his shoes in May? It's hard to tell for sure, but most likely François Hollande, the former head of the Socialist party. The extreme right or left parties may also play a large role as people don't know who to turn to to escape this very grey times that we're going through...
January 24 2012
Spooky!
I had to quickly go to Lille this morning (a large city in the North of France) and took the train to go there. Prior to taking the train (which was delayed because of a copper cable robbery along the line, a pretty common robbery these days...) I noticed these weird poles, around which people would stick together! Why, well quite simply, because, as you probably guessed, these are heaters! No very eco friendly I must say, but interesting for a photographer!
September 14 2011
Porte Saint Denis
The big arch in the middle of l'Etoile, on top of the Champs Elysées is not the only one in Paris. There are many other arches, like this one I photographed in the 10th arrondissement at the crossing of rue Saint-Denis and Boulevard Bonne-nouvelle. It was built in 1672 in replacement for a medieval gate in the city walls built by Charles V in the 14th century (read the whole story here if you're interested). It's a stunning monument, and the blue/cloudy sky makes it even more beautiful.
May 20 2011
Train Control Tower
With roughly 32 000 kilometers (19 884 miles) of tracks, France has one of the densest train networks in the world. The traffic is of course very important (132 millions passengers in 2010!) and needs to be regulated by controllers. Precisely, this morning I was scheduled to visit the CNOF (Centre national des opérations ferroviaires), that is the equivalent to the air control tower in an airport. Unfortunately I arrived too late (my fault!) and they would not let me in. I still got to photograph their stunning, just renovated building with its "vertical garden" or "planted wall" (on the left, in the photo). Better than nothing I guess. If you're interested, speak French and... are able to arrive on time, you can visit it too. Check here.
May 19 2011
The French and the Law
The DSK affair is not the only legal case that points out the differences between the US and France. The whole respect of the Law in itself is also very different... Hence this little story: due to the number of deaths on the road, the government started installing automatic radars in 2003. But since they are very unpopular, they put a warning sign (like this one I photographed at rue de Maubeuge) a few meters before each of them and allowed GPS to map them! It worked in the beginning, but now the number of deaths is increasing again. The Government then decided to remove the signs and to prohibit radar maps... And this started a nuclear war! Why? Because it is hard for the French to understand that if you don't want to get caught, you just need to respect the law...
May 18 2011
Music!
Let's take a little musical break today... Until the end of May, there is a music show at Le Cabaret Sauvage in Parc de la Villette, called Barbès Café (after Barbès, the area I posted about a few days ago which is known for being the hub of immigrants from North Africa). The show is actually a musical that features North African songs (mostly Algerian) written by artists that started immigrating to France in the 40's. It also seems to have a little political claim, if you look carefully at the posters that I photographed, you'll see two mentions "100% made by immigrants" and "Made in France" ;-). Take a look at the rehearsal here.
May 09 2011
Roller Skater
Surfboarding has become so popular along the past decade or so that the Paris town hall had to dedicate spaces to this sport, like they do with tennis, basket ball or football for instance. Thus, if I counted them well on the map, there are 14 roller skate and skate board training facilities throughout Paris and they are rarely empty, especially when it's sunny outside, like at the moment. I took this shot at one of them, at Quai de Jemmapes in the 10th arrondissement, by the Canal Saint Martin. I wish I were a little younger; I would give it a try ;-)
April 13 2011
Karl Lagerfeld likes Coke!
Look what I found on the way back from a dinner party at friends' last night: a bunch of diet coke (Coca "light" in France) bottles "trapped" into an ad in a bus stop. They are not just any coke bottles, but ones designed by his highness Karl Lagerfeld, the famous fashion designer of Chanel (among others...). Funny. And probably expensive too, as they are only on sale at specific stores: Bert's, Lafayette Gourmet, La Grande Epicerie du Bon Marché and Colette. Here is a closeup if you're interested ;-)
February 24 2011
More on bikes...
After the bikes lane, here are the bikes! I found them in the 10 th arrondissement, near the Passage Brady where I took the lastest Graffiti photo. If you think riding a bike in Paris is dangerous, well you're wrong! In fact, according to stats I found on this blog, there are 6 times less accidents on bikes than there are on motorbikes... And though most of them don't respect traffic lights according to my experience! I'm off to Lisbon today, but I'll be watching you!
February 22 2011
All aboard, all aboard...
Yesterday, I went to Lille in the North of France in train (TGV ), so quite logically, I took this photo in the Gare du nord (North) station. As you can see it's the departure board. The interesting part is that besides the clock on the bottom right, the display has not been replaced with a large LCD screen nor LED digits. I don't know how it works exactly, but whenever a new train leaves you can hear the scroll of each letter being replaced by another. the photo is not very good, but I only had my camera phone with me...
February 21 2011
Passage Brady
There is small Passage in the 10th arrondissement called Passage Brady and it's really worth a visit if you're into graffitis (and Indian food!)... The whole place is covered with them and some of them are real pieces of art. I chose to show you this one, which made me smile...
December 29 2010
Man and the moon
I found this sculpture in the 10th arrondissement at the beginning of rue du Faubourg Saint Denis, and since I did not really like the surroundings (too busy!), I managed to find a little trick to help you concentrate on them: Cool effect isn't it?! FYI, the man on the left is called "The man who carried the moon" but I don't know what the sculpture of the woman is called (maybe "The woman who carried the Earth"?). Apparently ,the artist who made these sculptures is Turk and his name is Cem Sagbil.
December 15 2010
Train spotting?
Yesterday evening I had plans to go to the Raymond Depardon Exhibit at the Grande Bibliothèque (a famous French photographer among other things) for he was going to be there and it would have been interesting to see him. However, due to the low temperature we currently have in Paris, I must confess I had - should I say it - cold feet! So instead of a very cultural/informative photo, here is the lovely grid I passed by every other day when I go to the gym ;-) Sorry, but I am no hero LOL!
December 14 2010
A new snow disaster?
Funny how when something "bad" happens, people (I mean the French in particular!) like to blame it on someone. IE last week when the massive snowfalls disorganized the whole city, the people blamed it on the government, the government blamed it on the meteorologists and well, the meteorologists blamed it on someone else! So today, as there is a slight chance of snow, there has been warnings everywhere, inviting the people not to take their car, nor to even think of going out of their home! I'm ready to bet that nothing will happen though... I'm glad I got to use this photo that I took last week though, for I really like it!
December 04 2010
Snow White?
There was more snow this morning (Saturday). It did not last very long but it was pretty strong. I found this little lady pretty cute so I could not help taking a photo of her. That's all, have nice Sunday everyone, I'll try to stay warm - and so should you! (of course the ones who live in the Southern hemisphere won't find it too hard ;-)
December 01 2010
The first snow (for real!)
It's very rare to have snow in Paris, but it' seven more rare to have snow in early December. And though I swear, I did take this photo today near the Gare de l'est at the rue de l'Acqueduc where there is this magnificent metal bridge that runs over the train tracks. I had to wait for the traffic to stop which was pretty painful, because of the cold LOL! The snow should stop tomorrow and the cold weather on Saturday. But I'm sure there will be plenty of other occasions to take snowy photos (I love Paris in the snow)...
November 04 2010
Under the cobblestones...
So it was true... There is a beach underneath the cobblestones of Paris! Explanation: during the student riots in May 68, several slogans were used by demonstrators (check them here - go to the Slogans and Graffiti topic in the middle of the page). A very famous one - that we still remember today was "under the cobblestones, there is a beach" (sous les pavés la plage). So you can imagine that when I saw this scene this morning near the Gare du nord, I immediately thought of this slogan and jumped on my camera ;-) I'm sure my French visitors will smile when they see it.
October 23 2010
Fire!
No this is not a fire set by demonstrators, but flames coming out of a "tool" (I don't know what it's called!) that workers use to stick horizontal street signs to the pavement. I just thought it would make a funny photo. FYI, the Paris street signs are fully monitored through a very sophisticated computerized system so that it's really well maintained
August 25 2010
Thalys: Time to reserve your seat...
... And when I says reserve your seat, it's really reserve the actual seat, not the sitting! Explanation: Thalys is the name they gave to the TGV (bullet train) that goes from Paris to the north of Europe (Brussels, Cologne, Amsterdam...). They've been running for quite some time now and that is why they are renewing them at the moment. And instead of dumping the seats, they... sell them on ebay! Check it, it's even in English. I must say I'm tempted to buy one...
August 24 2010
The Crying Euro...
The Euro is not doing too well these days (that is one of the reasons why tourists have returned to Europe - and France in particular, as I already mentioned it here). I thought this sign was very appropriate. I'd like to think that the paint drippings was all natural, but I think it was made on purpose... We'll probably never know.
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