Christmas is coming, Eric is getting fat...

The holiday season is approaching... You can tell because it's getting cold and the Christmas decorations are out. In Le village Royal - off La rue Royale, that takes you to La Place de la Concorde - red pine trees have suddenly grown! Probably a genetic modification ;-) BTW, here are the final results for the PDP calendar. Now I need to make it!

Die Berliner Mauer in Paris

In Paris we also celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall... There was a big event on the Place de la Concorde last evening between 7 and 8 with music and light shows but it was hard to see anything to be honest. As I anticipated it would be, I passed by the Place de la Concorde this morning precisely to take a photo and here it is! If you're a regular visitor to PDP, you know that I was fortunate enough to go to Berlin on November 10, 1989. This morning I found the photos I took there. Here are some of them...

Let's celebrate!

No, I have nothing in particular to celebrate, but some people must have... I found this bottle in front of La Gare d'Austerlitz (one of the 6 main train stations in Paris) and I couldn't help but taking a photo ;-) I also noticed the nice lighting that they put on the facade of the building which, I think is new. This station is mostly used to take people to Bordeaux and Toulouse, two large cities located in the South West of France. It was built between 1862 and 1867 and is going to be totally renewed in 2011. Have a good week everyone.

Apple has its store in Paris

Curiously enough, even though France is one of the major markets for Apple, there was no Apple store in Paris until... this morning 10 am. The famous brand opened its first outlet in the Carrousel du Louvre, a very prestigious location. Of course, as always with this "cult", some adepts had started queuing at 6am (reports the Agence France Presse) possibly because of the incentive: the first 5,000 visitors would receive an Apple T-shirt! When I went there around 2 pm, the line was much less important, but the security crew was still everywhere... I'm glad I just bought myself a brand new Windows 7 PC and an Android phone and did not have to queue a single minute for that! LOL

Learn haute couture at the Mecca!

If you wanted to work in the high-tech industries you would probably go to Silicon Valley in California, but if you wanted to work in the fashion industries you would probably come to Paris... And you would probably pay a visit to the Institut Français de la Mode - a school dedicated to fashion (and creative industries)  like I did today (Friday). Not that I actually want to work in the fashion business, but because I've always been curious to see from the inside the place where "haute couture" (and how to sell it!) is taught. The other interesting part is that the IFM is  hosted in the Docks en Seine building, a brand new dary building by Dominique Jakob et Brendan McFarlane facing the Seine in the 13th arrondissement.Pretty cool.

The French love LE big Mac...

I know what you're thinking: "this is not a typical photo of Paris!" No it is not, and though, what you're looking at is extremely popular in Paris - and in France in general. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the news came at the beginning of October (see this New York Times article): the country that is known for its "haute cuisine", the country where women - supposedly! - don't get fat, the country where people love to think they are different... is the most profitable one after the US for Ronald! I think that the reason for this success is that even though it's a global company, they have adapted pretty well to local tastes. Hence this whole wheat bread Big Mac that we have in France (whole wheat is supposed to be healthier).

The Dark (Rainy) Side of Paris

I like it very much in the summer time when we have daylight until at least 10 PM, but I find it very hard to cope with the winter time when it gets dark around 6PM. Hence this photo that I took last evening not long after I left the office. As you can see, it was also pouring rain... BTW, I probably told you that already here, but I’ll say it again: there are 171 days of rain per year on average in Paris (16 days of heavy rain) and it rains on average 641 mm per year (which is nothing compared to… Hinatuan in the Philippines : 4650 mm!) The only positive aspect is that it allowed me to take a cool photo (not extraordinary, but "cool" ;-)

Merry-go-round by the Eiffel Tower

Last night (Thursday) I passed by the Eiffel Tower hoping to see some special light effects that Thib(a regular visitor to PDP!) has been telling me about for quite some time. Unfortunately I did not see anything other than the usual lights, so I decided to take this photo instead. It's a little corny, of course, but it's soooooooo Paris ;-) BTW, thank you again for all your help with the calendar selection, it'll make my life much easier (I will let you know my final choice asap).

Old books for sale

I came across these books for sale at a brocante and I could not help thinking "how long before books disappear from flea markets and brocantes?!" For yes people, Amazon has just started selling its Kindle in France ? (If you don't know what the Kindle is, check here). Of course I'm exagerating. There will be books - I mean real ones! - on sale in the street for a long time, but I'm pretty sure  that in 50 years or so, people will find it amusing that "back then" people had to go to a bookshop to buy a book and they could not even perform a search, and wait, they had little cute bookmarks to remember which page they were at!". BTW, I'm sure you're dying to know the result of yesterday's survey. So just click here!

2010 PDP Calendar vote

Today it's your turn to work! I already asked you what photos you would picture (ah ah!) on the 2010 PDP calendar, you gave me your choice, but now I need you to narrow it down a little bit (remember, there are 12 months in a calendar ;-). So here is a little survey for you, if you can spare 5 o 10 minutes to answer, then that would be of great help for me. Thank you. [9 AM UPDATE: I'm sorry - VERY sorry - the online survey did not work so I had to switch to Google Forms instead. I've updated the link so if you've answered already and feel like doing ot again, click on "here is a little survey for you" again. If not, I'll understand].

November 1st Theme day

Today is November 1st and I'm facing a dilemma... Do I post a photo that is theme day compliant (see here what the other city daily photo bloggers have done for today's theme: "doorways") or do I celebrate All Saints day (that is the day of the dead)? I chose not to choose and to, like you say in English "kill two birds with one stone..." (faire d'une pierre deux coups, in French). I took a photo of two doorways at Le Père Lachaise Cemetery!

Trick or treat!

Although not French at all, Halloween was kinda celebrated a few years ago in Paris - Mostly because bars and restaurants were looking for a new occasion to get the people to go out and party ( and buy drinks!)- but now it is no longer. The only place I  managed to find a scary character last night was the costume rental place right in front of my house! So let me wish my American visitors a "merry" Halloween. May you manage to scare away the evil spirits until next year (and find a cure for the economic crisis too LOL). Update: People still celebrate Halloween in France, see the huge line in front of the costume rental place today...

Asterix just turned 50...

Most of you probably don't know who Asterix is... and though he's probably the most famous Frenchman of the 20th century! He - and his Pal Obelix - are actually two characters from a serie of comic books by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinni that French people love precisely because they are typically "French": they fight, they complain a lot, they are proud and arrogant, they think that they know better and... they love eating (read the full story here). Asterix just turned 50 and it is such an event for us that you can find evidences of this anniversary in many areas in Paris: L'abbaye de Cluny, La Bourse and even La place de la Concorde, where I took this photo (see a wider angle here).

I saw the light!

I'll be honest, I did not have enough time to take a photo today, so I'm using one that I took a few weeks ago and that I love. I took it in Notre Dame (yes, the same day I took the Saint John the Baptist one) in one of the isles where people can light up candles (candles - and more widely light - have a strong symbolism within the Catholic religion). That is all ;-) BTW: this weekend I'll be selecting photos for the 2010 PDP Calendar. If you have particular photos in mind that you think should be in this calendar, please let me know.

Thomas Paine

Today I passed by the Parc de Montsouris in the 14th arrondissement and I saw a golden statue that I had never noticed before. I found out it's the one of Thomas Paine a famous player during the French/American revolution times (even though originally English) - you can read his story here.I have not been able to decipher the name of the sculptor who made the statue (have a look in the making of, maybe you'll be able to find out. You will also see a wider angle of the statue in the park). Also, if you enjoyed the photo of the lion a few days ago, check this, I took this scene this morning...

No ads for children campaign

I took this photo in front of La Sorbonne university (on the Boulevard Saint Germain side). There were several people demonstrating against "ads that target children on television". Let's face it, I don't think they have the slightest chance of being heard... But I have to admire people who defend the causes they believe in, even if it's a lost one. FYI, from what I read on the Web, French children spend on average between 2 and 3 hours per day in front of a TV screen. I would have thought much more than that to be honest...

Captured at the Louvre

I find this photo amusing - even if not very original! - I would have posted it earlier, but I wanted to find out what the statue was about beforehand. I did not find it... Unfortunately I've looked everywhere and did not find anything. I'm sure that, like with Fernand Léger's painting 4 days ago, someone will come up with the solution...We changed the time in Paris last night (probably like in most countries in the world) and I really don't like it when it gets dark so early... [Sorry for the late posting again, it's my fault!]

Aboriginal Art for sale in Paris

Today (Sunday) the auction house Gaïa will sell Aboriginal art at 60 rue de Richelieu, very close to my house. I went to see it today, for after my trip down under I really fell in love with this type of art. One small detail though, I did not know it was so popular...You see the big one on the upper left side of the wall (by Dorothy Napangardi Robinson, who, apparently is very famous in Australia)? It will probably sell for 20 000 to 25 000 €. I can't afford it (and though I have the perfect wall for it!). May I take advantage of this occasion to wish a happy bonfire to Ian and Andrea, my dear friends from Adelaide Daily Photo ;-)

Lion de Belfort's new dress

If you came to Paris and visited Les Catacombes, you probably exited the métro at the Denfert Rochereau station. There - on the Place Denfert Rochereau - there is a famous statue of a lion (the lion of Belfort, by Bartholdi (the one who also made the NYC Statue of Liberty) that I already photographed once covered with snow. It's generally black (I read it was made of copper, but I am not 100% sure), but since yesterday, following a demonstration it is now orange; the demonstrators stuck dozens of orange stickers to it. I don't know how long it's going to last, but the stickers will probably be gone by Monday!

Stolen photo

This photo may not look very spectacular to you, but I love it. I took it outside the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris (the Paris modern art museum) on the river Seine side (almost where I already took this one). There must have been a special night on that day as the whole museum was turned into a huge restaurant with lots of guests. It must have been nice to have dinner in this magnificent set. I've tried to find what artist(s) was(were) featured on this floor but I did not find the answer. Probably a painter from the 1920's 30's.

There's no bones about it!

Here is another "encounter" you can make on the Champs Elysées at the moment... This skull was made by Philippe Pasqua, a French sculptor and painter, it's made of marble from Carrara and it weights no less than 4,5 tons! It is on display at the Artcurial galery a very famous auction house, located at the bottom of the Champs Elysées in the stunning hôtel particulier that once belonged to Marcel Dassault, a famous French airplane maker.

Drink at "La Gare"

Last evening I had a drink with one of my beloved nieces (that I photographed once in the beginning of PDP without telling she was my niece!) at La Gare, an old station that they turned into a bar/restaurant. I usually don't like this kind of places that treat their customers like c... because they are trendy, but this time the service was very good, the price of drinks not outrageous and the atmosphere not super noisy. In short, I had a very good evening. I took a photo of the bar (that actually reminded me a lot of the one of the W hotel in San Francisco. The photo is not very good, but I'm sure you "get the picture"!

Faironika, the fair cow...

Let me intorduce you to Faironika (a play on word with Veronika), a cow that symbolizes "Le Lait Equitable" (fair trade milk), a concept invented by Austrian milk producers. The idea is to give 10 extra cents per liter to milk producers who respect certain rules : no genetically modified food, strick respect of their quotas and... commitment to publicize the "brand". I suppose that is what the were doing today on the Champs de Mars by the Eiffel Tower!

Vogue Anniversary

If you were to walk down the lower part of the Champs Elysées at the moment - and until the end of October - you would come across a collection of huge Vogue covers! It's a great way for this famous magazine (well the French version) to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Some of the covers are really stunning (no wonder, the most talented artists and photographers were used). Besides, I think they were right to do it now, as, due to the competition of the web, it's not sure that Vogue France will be able to celebrate its 100th anniversary...

Christ?! (No, St John the Baptist!)

It's Sunday right? So it's Church day (well at least for the Christians...)! Look what I found in Notre Dame Cathedral? A very very unusual Christ isn't it? Well it is not surprising for, unlike what I originally thought, it is not Christ, but Saint John the Baptist. Precisely, I found it on a baptismal font near the entrance of the church. Have a super Sunday everyone (at church or somewhere else ;)) I am currently in the Loire Valley, visiting some chateaux with my friends... Will be back tonight though.

Demonstration on the Champs Elysées

This morning I heard on the radio that some French farmers had "invaded" the Champs Elysées, covered the street with hay and set it on fire! I had to go there! Of course I arrived too late but they were pretty cool remains on the street... (check this little Animoto that I made especially for you ;-)). Of course I sound like I'm making fun of the situtation, but in fact these farmers are pretty desperate. Prices of agricultural goods have dropped dramaticaly recently and they find it hard to make a decent living.

Mistery!

I know this is not "typical Paris", but it happened in Paris last night (Thursday)! I went to a party called the Intel Geek Party and it was a blast. I expected a bunch of nerds playing with their computer all night and instead I came across incredibly creative people. Hence this "Dream booth", invented by Armella Leung, who calls herself a "multi-medium graphic designer" (in French medium also means psychic). It's made of a pillow on which "dreams are displayed" by a videoprojector. And of course, since the pillow has also built-in sensors, you can actually interact with your dreams... Who said computers are boring? More, in the making of.

Garde Républicaine

Riding a horse may have been the most convenient way to move around Paris before the 19th century, but now I always wonder how these Gardes Républicains (Republic guardians) manage to do in the middle of such a busy city (I took this photo near Bastille, where they have their headquarters). And it's not only for the scenary; they actually still carry surveillance operations wherever neither cars nor motrobikes can go (like in the woods for instance). There are more than 500 of them in France (and about 200 near Bastille) and you can see them daily in the streets of Paris if you're lucky. Check their brand new website.

Reporter on duty?

I know this photo is a little blurry, but I love its atmosphere. I took it last night right in front of the Lutetia hotel. My eyes got caught by the bag (and not just because I'm a journalist!) so I had to take a photo ;-). Of course the guy saw me in his mirors, so at the next traffic light he asked me why on earth I would take a photo of him from behind! I briefly told him why and handed him out a PDP button. Who knows he might check out his photo today... By the way, this bag is made by Reversible, a company that makes products with used PVC advertising banners. Isn't that cool?! I want one!

The Barberini Faun

OK, I can hear you from here! Yes, this is obscene, but... it's art! This statue is called Le faune Barberini and it is usually to be seen in the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany, but at the moment you can see it in Paris, in the Louvre museum. This guy is a Satyr, that is, according to the greek mythology, a human with animal features (I wonder which ones!). See more about the Barberini Faun in Wikipedia.