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January 22 2012
Busy crossing
Technically it's far from being a perfect photo; it's blurry and dark... And though I love it! It allows to "feel" what a busy crossing in the middle of rainy Paris feels like. Not to mention the typical Parisienne on her bike in the middle! Bonne semaine everyone... Paris will be rainy this week, but still as beautiful ;-)
November 15 2011
Music!
No Paris scenery, no historical facts... today, just a lifestyle photo. I see more and more people with huge - well I consider to be huge! - headsets like this in the streets of Paris and I can't helping thinking of the "old times", when headsets used to be more like ear plugs ;-) Am I showing my age? Er... yes probably LOL! I like the photo though.
November 13 2011
Sunday at rue Montorgueil
Lovely day in Paris again this Sunday... I went to rue Montorgueil, a famous street near les Halles, that used to be a working class area in the old times and is now a "Bobo" hangout (bobo stands for BOurgeois BOhème, that is people with money who want to live the Bohème lifestyle). It's a very nice street, no cars - or almost none! - lots of little cafés and shops, historical restaurants like L'Escargot-Montorgueil that was founded in 1875, or the famous Stohrer patisserie founded in 1730 that Queen Elisabeth visited in 2004 (they are pretty proud of it!). It's also the street where this video clip was shot!
June 15 2011
Ticket to ride?
Caught in the act... These two police officer may look "cool" on their bike, but they also give tickets! According to various sources about 5 million parking tickets are given every year in Paris and their price (11 € - when you pass the meter time, 35 € when you're parked in a forbidden area) should increase this year by 6 to 10 €... Two wheel vehicles also get tickets now for it is now forbidden to park on sidewalks, unlike when I started driving one...
June 02 2011
Return to the 40's
I came across these two young ladies in the 3rd arroundissement and for a moment I thought I was travelling in time! They really looked like they just came out of a movie from the 40's or something. I looked up on the web and there is apparently such a fashion trend (look at this article in Elle), but it's actually the first evidence I witnessed! I'm not sure it's really suitable for a sunny day, but who am I to judge? ;-)
May 23 2011
Bad Boy!
Any relationship with "a" current affair would be totally coincidental... Actually this bad boy did not seem to be that bad, quite the contrary, very quiet ;-) FYI, there are about 200 000 dogs in Paris (8 million in France, that is roughly one for 8 French!) and - since you're going to raise the subject! - it is compulsory to pick up after your dog since 2002 (OK, there are a few exceptions...)!
Picnic alert. Don't forget the PDP picnic this Saturday at 7 pm. I'm waiting for a more accurate weather report to decide on the location, but it's very likely to be on the banks, as usual.
May 05 2011
Barbès
Here is a famous area in Paris, called Barbès (after the name of the boulevard that starts from right after the metro line. It's famous because that is where a lot of people from northern Africa (mainly Algerians) gather (that is where a lot of reporters went to get reactions from the Arab community after Bin Laden's death for instance. Lately, it was a lot in the news, because there is mosque nearby and it's too small for everybody to fit in, so people have to pray in the street, which is against the rules of our secular state. Touchy topic, as you can imagine ;-)
May 03 2011
Another garbage strike
I could barely go out of my building this morning for the garbage men are on strike again (remember, their last strike took place only a few months ago). Apparently there is a new negotiation round coming up in one month and this is probably a "warning"! Something I never told you I think: in French garbage cans are called "Poubelle" (Une poubelle), after the name of Eugène-René Poubelle, a prefet de police (head of the Paris police headquarters) who passed a law saying that "from now on (March 7, 1884), landlords must provide their tenants with a box that allows them to put their garbage and fire remains". A newspaper started calling them "the Poubelle boxes" and there you go! That is how you make history LOL!
May 01 2011
Coming up roses
Again, no Lily of the valley today, Labor day was very quiet this year: a few demonstrations by the unions, almost no Muguet in the streets and since it took place on a Sunday, it was not even a holiday! I still wanted like to offer you something flowery this year, so here it is! I took this photo at rue Cadet, close to where I live. I don't know why, but I really love it. Have a goooood week everyone.
April 21 2011
Alcohol kills
I hesitated before posting this photo (that I took last weekend at rue des Martyrs)... I love the way this guy looks, all dressed up and everything, but he is also obviously drunk and surely would not appreciate to appear on a blog... The thing is that you cannot see his face, so I figured it could not do him any arm. There are about 5 million people with a drinking problem in France (out of a total population of 60 million) - mostly men - and it causes many deaths, either directly though diseases such as cancer or cirrhosis or, indirectly, like on the road. Very sad.
March 30 2011
Meat delivery
Here is another slice of Paris, and that one is of flesh and blood! Not like these fancy exhibit openings I've attended these past days ;-) I took this photo this morning, after my gym. I was actually stuck in the traffic because of this guy delivering his meet at the local market at rue Dejean. Scary in a way...
March 28 2011
Walking up...
There is definitely something wrong with Blogger today, I'm really sorry for those of you who have been waiting for their daily fix of Paris (for those of you who are reading this days after March 28, well don't worry, it's all fixed now ;-)! I finally managed to find a workaround and uploaded this photo I took in the 13th arrondissement. I patiently waited for someone to show up in the picture to add a living being in it ;-) I really like it.
March 09 2011
Man on a bench
I had dinner at Place Gustave Toudouze last evening and since I was a little early I spent some time taking photos in the neighborhood. I saw this guy on a bench with the typical Parisian facades in the background and I was sure this would make an interesting photo. Of course I used the "now famous" Tenin's perspective ;-) and worked a little bit on the color, to remove the "orange spray" due to the street lamps, but in the end, yes, I kinda like it. By the way, did you know there are 8 481 benches in Paris?!
February 02 2011
White Door
How about a "conceptual" photo for today?! I took it in the 18th arrondissement on the way back from my gym. Don't ask me why I felt the urge to take this photo, I just did. And believe me, people around me were really wondering what I was doing (was I working for the town hall cleaning services, in charge of chasing the bad people who get rid of their things on the pavement?!). No, I was just the crazy guy who thought there was "something" in this scene LOL! Sometimes the glamor lies in the most unexpected places... Something tells me you won't necessarily agree!
January 09 2011
Rain
It's raining a lot in Paris these days and since it's pretty "warm" (10°) there is no risk of ice, nor snow. FYI, like I already mentioned here once I think, it rains on average 171 days per year in Paris (including16 days of heavy rain), that is roughly once every other day... I took this photo from a balcony, where they still have Xmas decorations on. I kinda liked the two little figures in the background of this photo ;-) Have a nice week everyone, whether it's going to be raining, snowing, blowing, shining... in your area ;-)
December 23 2010
Christmas Shopping (Part deux!)
I had a long a tiresome day. Since I did not find anything 2 days ago at rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, I spent part of my day in the Galerie Lafayette area. Needless to say that the place was totally packed ;-) It serves me right, I should have hunted for gifts much sooner than that. Those who follow this blog for some time may have a Deja vu feeling though, as every year I post more or less the same lines ;-) Tonight (Friday) is Christmas Eve and if everything goes well (that is if my plane is not cancelled because of the snow!) I'll be in the South. But I'll have my computer with me, checking on you guys ;-)
December 11 2010
Christmas Tree
Time to set up the Christmas tree! They are everywhere in Paris at the moment: in front of supermarkets, of florists and you can even order one on line, of course! The price varies according to the size of the tree, from 40 € for a 1 meter (30 inches) high tree to 150 € for a 3 meter (118 inches) high tree (which does not really fit an average Paris apartment!). Mine is... 0 meter high as I don't want to go through the hassle of undoing it after Christmas ;-) Not that it's messy, but simply sad... I took this photo at rue Cadet, a litlle street by my home, where there is a daily market.
December 07 2010
Morning Snow
I don't know what's happening in Northern Europe at the moment, but we keep having cold waves and snowfalls! I took this photo in the morning near the Opera (at Boulevard des Capucines, more precisely), the ceiling was really low and the light could not really go through the clouds. At first I thought the garbage cans would not really look nice in the picture, but on a second thought I think they match the leave pretty well LOL! Today is the first day of Le Web, so I'll be pretty busy.
November 15 2010
Busy crossing
I don't know why, but I love this photo. Probably because it shows that Paris is not just an "open air museum" like I often hear, but also a "real" city with heavy traffic and busy streets - which also means traffic accidents (there were 44 deaths on the road in Paris in 2009...). I took this photo at the crossing of rue de Rivoli and rue des Archives, right by one of the entrances of the BHV department store.
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
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