A night at the opera

Yesterday evening a friend of mine called me at the very last minute and offered me to take advantage of a spare opera ticket to see - and above all listen to! - Madama Butterfly by Puccini. This opera is on my top 5 list so you can imagine that I did not even think twice before accepting and rushed to the Opera Bastille (the new one) to make it on time. I did, and had a wonderful time. Yes I am lucky! And no I did not cry at the end! And yes the quality of the picture is not very good...

Last days of the Sales!

The sales will end on February 21 in Paris so it is still time to get a good bargain...

Chinese New Year Parade in Paris

Unless you live under a rock you surely know that today is the Chinese New Year. Paris, like all big cities in the world has a pretty large Chinese community (between 250 000 and 400 000 depending on the sources), which is more and more visible. Every year they organize a New Year parade where I went to and brought back many pictures. May I take advantage of this occasion to wish a happy new year to all my Chinese readers (well, not that many actually for Blogger is blocked by the "Great Firewall!") and especially to Harry who fell in love with ParisDailyPhoto and decided to make a Chinese version.

Netizen, the French magazine about blogs

Last Wednesday, like half of the French blogosphere (!), I attended the party for the launch of Netizen, the first magazine in France (and probably in the world!) to deal with the actual content of blogs. It is made by people I am very fond of (Christophe, Cyril, Chryde...) so, of course, I am a little biased when I say it's an excellent magazine! But still... The reason why I mention it only now is that I did not have my camera that evening (yes, it happens!) and that I had to "borrow" a photo from Guillaume, who, in my opinion, took the best one. (BTW, I am told that the guy on the picture has this blog!)

Welcome to Club Etoile

L'Etoile has been one of the trendiest clubs in Paris for a while. It is located near La Place de l'Etoile (no kidding?!) and organizes a lot of private parties for companies (there is not a single mobile phone that has not been launched there!!). The inside is OK - make sure you go to the inside terrace if you go there - but what I wanted to show you is how they use the outside wall of the building to promote their brand - or the one of their customers - at night. They use different colors, it is simple but pretty effective.

Back to old Paris

You probably think I took this photo somewhere outside Paris? All wrong! I took it in Le Passage Lhomme near Bastille a very old quarter of Paris where there used to be small industries and craft. Now almost all this is gone (not all though, in this passage you still can find some) but the scenery has remained intact. Like this old garage door...

La Défense Heights

I told you last week that I was saving a picture I took from the rooftop of La Grande Arche (The Big Arch) of La Défense while visiting this exhibit. Well, here it is. La Défense is an area that I love (although it is extremely controversial). It is modern, very convenient and - to me - very beautiful. The large avenue you can see in the background is called l'Avenue de la Grande Armée and it takes you to the "Original" Arc de Triomphe (you can see a close up here) on the Place de l'Etoile-Charles de Gaulle.

Colour prints

Althought it has a pretty small circulation (330 000 monthly daily copies in 2004) Le Figaro is one of the main French daily papers. A renewal in the management has recently led to many changes including a move from 37 rue du Louvre (1st arrondissement) to 14 boulevard Haussmann (9th arrondissement). The old building (shown here) is now being redone and during the work they put colour shades on the windows. At night it gives a pretty nice view. Well, so I thought!

Fashion shooting Place Vendôme

On the way back from the place where I took yesterday's picture the traffic was so bad that I had to go through the Place Vendôme (1st arrondissement) and I was lucky enough to come across this scene: a fashion shooting! I could not help hijacking it! I look forward to seeing the final photo in a magazine somewhere. Have a nice week and thank you again for all your nice messages.

With love, from Paris...

Gee, thank you really very much. I never had that many people wishing me a happy birthday at once in my life. It really made my day even if today is a real winter Sunday (grey AND cold)! I love you all!!

January 21!

Today is January 21 and... it's my birthday. I already received a very nice gift from the Lonely Planet who selected 38 "Useful Blogs for Travelers" (you can download the guide here in PDF format but only in French). The authors of the guide (Christophe Corbet and Gayle Welburn) - whom I swear I don't know! - have been kind enough to include ParisDailyPhoto in it (together with Paris14info to represent France). I also thought it was the perfect day to show one of the window shops included in a very unique idea called 1001 listes located on rue de Richelieu. Its purpose is to organise under one roof an assortment of shops that provide ideas for gift lists for weddings, births and... birthdays. Who knows, I may drop off a list for ParisDailyPhoto's anniversary which is also coming up soon!

Eat in Tokyo while in Paris!

No it is not a close up of the moon, but the globe that enlightens the walkway to a restaurant located 13 avenue du Président Wilson (16th arrondissement) called "Tokyo Eat" (a play on word that also means the inhabitant of Tokyo in French). I never had the chance to have lunch or dinner there but I will soon for all critics are excellent. They all mention the quality of food but also the decor (it's located in the Palais de Tokyo, a well known place for contemporary arts). Anybody went there?

Carah Exhibit at La Grande Arche de La Défense

ParisDailyPhoto received its first "formal" invitation to an art gallery opening! I went yesterday evening not only because I was curious to see the work of CARAH (an artist from the south of France), but also because it took place at the top of the Grande Arche, at La Défense. I took many shots of the exhibit and some of the breath taking night views of Paris you can see from the terrace at the top of the Arch. I will save them for another day...

We shall never surrender!

(Sir) Winston Churchill played a major role during World War II and the French are pretty grateful to him (they also love his lifestyle - cigars, alcohol and no sport!). That is the reason why he has an avenue (in the 8th arrondissement) and, since 1998 a magnificent statue by Sculptor Jean Cardot that can be seen at the corner of Le Petit Palais (in the background). Beautiful, especially at night.

Here the world meets...

On the Porte Maillot (17th arrondissement) there is a large congress center that was recently redone. If you come to Paris for business reasons you might end up there... There is nothing particularly fancy about it (it's just a congress center with a shopping mall after all!) but I think their ad is clever. It just says : "Here the world meets".

Heat in!

Yesterday Mrs B. made this comment: "[Bistrots] often have little outdoor heaters that heat up the outside area so you can sit! And many have a sort of plastic curtain to hold the heat in." That is very true and since I have had this photo for a while I thought it was the perfect time to publish it. The reason why they do that is, of course, economical; they can sit more people and make more revenues. I recently saw that in the Alps too. No plastic shelter but gas heaters at the bottom of the slopes! Do they also do that in your country?

Bistrot Advertising

I don't know if you have this in your own country but in Paris - and probably everywhere in France - some people had the idea of inserting advertising into Bistrot tables. The interesting thing is that the present advertiser (France Telecom) does not promote beer or soda but DSL lines! Of course some people (sorry only in French) disagree with this new (well not that new, it started in 1999) usage of advertising space but most of the people don't care. I have not been able to find any information on the price of a campaign nor on the breakdown of revenues, if somebody has the info...

Paris Daily Photo is pleased to welcome Trondheim, Norway to the Daily Photo experience!

Just another Arc de Triomphe

No I was not drunk when I took this picture, I just wanted to fit the street lamp in it! But the real interesting piece here is definitely l'Arc de Triomphe du Caroussel du Louvre (The Louvre Caroussel Arch of Triumph) that you will see if you visit the Tuilerie gardens from the Louvre side. This arch was built in 1806 to celebrate the glory of Napoleon "for a change..."

Petit noir

Do you remember this post about the bistrot earlier this week? Well I was telling you about expressos being called "petit noir" - rather pronounced : "p'tit noir". Here is one, that I just had on the "Zinc" (the counter top) of a bistrot down from my house. And while I was there, since today is Friday the 13th and that in France some people say it brings luck, I also bought a Lottery ticket! If you don't see any more pictures here on Monday it's because I'll be in the Bahamas counting my money! Just kidding...

Old French Car

I love old cars. This one is presently on display in the Peugeot (a French car manufacturer) window shop avenue de la Grande Armée (16th arrondissement). It is called a "Coach" 402, was first introduced at the 1935 automobile exhibit and was then "mass" produced 75 172 times! Imagine, it was one of the first cars to have an inside heating with defrost capabilities and enough room on the dashboard to install a... radio set! Pricing would start at 23 900 French Francs for a regular model (that is roughly 16 000 € / 19 500 $).

Winter sales

After the summer sales, here are "Les soldes d'hiver". In France the sales are strictly regulated by law. There is an official opening day and any attempt of cheating is severely punished by a fine... A special brigade controls that the goods on sale is an actual inventory clearance and not just cheaper stuff that was brought in the shop on the sales' eve... Even the word "Soldes" cannot be used outside the official sales periods (twice a year).

A new "Trompe l'oeil"

Do you remember this post? Well, I have found a new one... Can you tell which windows are for real and which are painted? I am sure you can, but still, I find this Trompe l'oeil really cool. It's located in the 8th arrondissement at the beginning of avenue Delcassé.

Paris Bistrot

If you come to Paris, you have to pay a visit to a Bistrot. A Bistrot (which apparently means "quick" in Russian) is the French equivalent to the English pub or the American diner. You find one at virtually every street corner and it's the perfect place to order "un p'tit noir" (an espresso) or "un p'tit blanc" (a glass of white wine) if you are more into alcohol... The atmosphere is hard to describe you have to experience it!

La Galette des Rois

That's it, I am back from my ski holidays in the Alpes, right on time to share a Galette des Rois with a couple of friends. This Galette is intended to celebrate the Epiphany (the day the 3 wise men, called Les Rois Mages in French are supposed to have visited the Christ). It is made of puff pastry and can be plain or filled with frangipane, an almond-flavoured paste. Around the 6th of january (the official Epiphany date), you can find many Galettes in all French bakeries. They always come with a paper crown for inside each galette there is a Fève - a sort of lucky charm which originally was a bean and can now be virtually anything - and whoever finds the Fève in his slice of galette becomes King or Queen and has to wear the crown! (More on this tradition here)

Concours Lépine

Louis Lépine was a Préfet de Police (the guy in charge of the Paris Police) around 1893. He created the centralised lost and found service, introduced one way streets but, most of all, he created in 1901 an inventors competition with the intention of stimulating new ideas. This competition still exists. It is called "le Concours Lépine" and takes place every year at La foire de Paris. Now he is honoured with a "place" in the 4th arrondissement where the flower market is located.

A Paris en vélo...

OK, it's a little cliché "Portrait of a young lady riding a bicycle in the middle of romantic Paris!" But after all, it's for real! I took this shot at the corner of rue du Mail and rue des Petits Pères (2nd arrondissment). And no, it's not the same lady of this photo... Well I don't think so, anyway!

Olympia Music Hall

It's funny how some theaters have a special atmosphere that no larger/newer/more modern places will ever have. That is definitely the case with L'Olympia, the oldest Music Hall in Paris. Created in 1888 by Joseph Oller (the same founder of Le Moulin Rouge) here you can actually see and listen to the artists on stage and not watch them on giant screens... All the famous French (Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour... and international artists (Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Celine Dion... have appeared at least once at the Olympia. I saw Sting there last year.

P.S. Thanks for the promotion Michael! For those of you who missed it below, you can vote for my blog at http://2006.bloggies.com/ in one of those silly Web Logs of the Year awards! *blush*

Paris Rooftops

I know it's hard to believe, but we do have cable television too! Jokes aside, I love Paris rooftops, although their shape does not always allow for roof terraces like in Italy for example. Not that we have as much sun as in Rome, of course.

Wallace Fountains, part II

Do you remember this post? It showed one of the many Wallace Fountains installed throughout the streets of Paris. I don't know why, but it triggered a lot of comments including one from Kauser in Los Angeles... He wrote: "Did you know that we have our own (working) Wallace Fountain in Los Angeles, near UCLA campus? I walk past it each day". Well people, I had to fight a little bit to retrieve it from the server (gee!) but here it is, thanks to Kauser who took the time to take the shots and send them to me.

Back to work

Yeah, yeah, everybody wished you a happy new year, you partied, had fun, etc. And now, lo and behold, it's time to go back to your cubicle, just like last Friday! So, what is so happy and different this year?! I thought a photo of la Défense, where many people will be returning to work this Monday, was an appropriate one.

Happy New Year!

May this coming year look like this to you! Traditionally people gather on the Champs Elysées on new year's eve around midnight, they blow their horn, drink, sing, celebrate, etc. - but nobody jumps into a fountain like they do in London (Ham, from LondonDailyPhoto will probably show us!). As far as ParisDailyPhoto is concerned I will try to do my best to show you more of the city I love in 2006...