Not much to learn today, just a nice effect of table and chairs in the courtyard of l'Hôtel de Poulpry, a house that was built in 1640 then acquired by le marquis de Poulpry in 1766. It now belongs to... la Maison des Polytechniciens, a company that rents the place for seminars, cocktails, weddings... It's also the place where alumni from L'Ecole Polytechnique (one of the most prestigious schools in France) can gather on special occasions.
Oh, this looks nice! I love the composition and the subtle colors!
ReplyDeletelooks like tiny doll chairs and tables
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I don't think I've ever seen something quite like this before. Again, very nicely done. :)
ReplyDeleteOn first glance I thought they were mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteNicely done. We could use those tables for the PDP picnic!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! It makes me think of the tables in a house in the children's book, 21 Balloons. The chairs and tables all popped out of the floor like mushrooms and went back into the floor after the meal for easy sweep up! These remind me of the little mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting pattern they make. Where were you Eric? I mean your position.
ReplyDeleteSame here, I thought they were mushrooms at first glance. Nice photo.
ReplyDeleteInteresting shot. From afar, it looks a little bit like an abstract version of these little flowers we call "Paquerettes."
ReplyDelete(Lynn, I think I can answer your last comment. Eric, having heard so much about how he is constantly crawls on the ground to take pictures, decided it was time for a change. So he flew up above the chairs and tables instead and took that shot.)
ReplyDeleteVery cool photo! I thought it was dollhouse furniture at first too. I recently walked by a guy near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco selling little chairs and such made out of wire and bottle caps, and it looked very much like this. Having no people in this photo really can make the brain think you're looking at all sorts of different things!
ReplyDeleteI, too, thought at first they were mushrooms - then dolls' furniture -- before reading about the pic.
ReplyDeleteFor Earth Day, I listed "Travel's 10 Most Endangered Places" in my blog. Paris, thankfully, is not among them!
I was going to ask you the same thing, where you Eric?
ReplyDeleteThe composition is very amusing!
Lynn I've replyied to you in the comment box of 2 days ago.
Eric: What do you mean "not much to learn today"? Au contraire!
ReplyDelete'The only real voyage of discovery', said Marcel Proust, 'consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.'
Sometimes it's not what we see, but how we see it, that counts.
I don't have time to make any links this morning as I'm off to the airport, but someone PLEASE do explain the concept of the Grands Ecoles and Polytechnique to those who might not be familiar. It's quite amusing/interesting and their alumni might not take so lightly to this being compared to dollhouse furniture.
ReplyDeleteI'm charmed by the photo. The colors are so subtle it almost looks like it has snowed on a very pretty patio.
ReplyDeleteThe Grandes Ecoles would be similar to the level of American Ivy League Colleges and Universities and our advanced technical and engineering schools like MIT. I had a friend that went to Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris or Sciences Po, but she had attended Lycee in New York and then went to Wellesley College. In other words..."not too shabby"!
ReplyDeleteGreat aerial shot Eric...did you climb a ladder?? ;-)
Petrea..did you read my smoking comment from yesterday?? LOL!
Yes, Tonton--I responded to it just now. Thank you, I'm quite relieved that I don't have to take up smoking. It must have been Edmund White's "The Flâneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris" that gave me that picture in my head. (All of you, if you haven't read it, do!)
ReplyDeleteWow, are you sure those aren't Air Jordan's you're wearing, Eric! or maybe several of those wiz-Polytechnique-folk hoisted you up. Great shot...looks inviting.
ReplyDeleteAt first I couldn't see what this is. I thought it was some kind of art work.
ReplyDeleteThe photo , though, IS art.I really like the composition and the colours.
I think it would be a great place for a party.
I am stil not quite convinced that these are not mushrooms!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very pleasing composition. Are those loose pebbles, or a solid pavement?
ReplyDeleteDitto on thinking those were mushrooms at first glance.
ReplyDeletePetrea...Great book! While you're at it and in an Edmund White "frame of mind"..read "Our Paris..sketches from Memory" also by Edmund White..or "A Place in the World Called Paris"..foreword by Susan Sontag..wonderful book for those that love the city of light!
ReplyDeleteEric,
ReplyDeleteIs this where tou plan to organize the PDP picnic ?
Looks quite nice. But would we all have to wear a polytechnician "bicorne"?
A bicorne is the specific hat of the Ecole Polytechnique uniform. See there : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicorne#Bicorne_de_l.27.C3.89cole_polytechnique
Pebbles Uselaine.
ReplyDeleteMichael the Grandes Ecoles system is another one of the French paradoxes... Technically we're all equal: you get the same education whether you attend a high school in a small town or in Paris or Marseille, you get the same degree that is worth exactly the same whether you study in a university in Montpellier or Lille, etc.
But the reality is different, of course, for everyone knows there are better high schools or university than others.
On top of that, you get the Grandes Ecoles system. The Grandes Ecoles (like Polytechniques, or IEP that mentionned Tonton) are most of time private, very selective and competitive and offer a better degree than most universities.
As a result, a large proportion (like 80% ?!) of the French company top executives come from the Grandes Ecoles...
In the end, instead of being egalitarian our system gives almost no opportunities to those kids who have a brain and would like to use it!
I love this pix, it looks like an Art Nouveau pattern! You were at a window or on a terrace I guess.
ReplyDeleteIEP?? Beurk, I prefer studying law in NANTERRE! LOL. Am I jealous? No. I don't like the Grandes Ecoles system. It's so unfair.
Lucio, nice Jasper Johns profile picture. Good taste. ;)
I'm going to visit the Zentrum Paul Klee this afternoon in Bern, built by Renzo Piano: It will be great. And in 10 minutes, I'll be in the Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle museum (Fribourg). Do you know them?
Have a nice day.
All Grandes Ecoles are highly selective, yes. But not always on the "cost" point of view :
ReplyDeleteThe Ecole Polytechnique is a public High School where students are paid!
And as far as I know, the IEP Paris (Sciences Po) changed its "recruitment policy" a few years ago, and is now much more opened to students with low income (!?).
The point is that the competition (concours, in French) before admission is extremely difficult and selective (only 400 places for Polytechnique year 1).
But it's also the same in some of our public universities, particularly for medecine: In Tours medecine university : 1200 students in first year, for only 150 seats in year 2! Isn't that a selection?
Guille! Great to hear you're having a good time over in Switz. Sounds fab.
ReplyDeleteThib: Why admit so many students if all of them cannot go on with their studies? Do they do this just to sort out the best ones (hence making it even more elitist)?
ReplyDeleteVery grainy photo Eric but good perspective.
ReplyDeleteMichael: where are you off to?
Alexandra: I do agree with you! It's stupid!
ReplyDeleteAnd it's even more stupid (or worse...) when you know that every year, we miss more and more doctors in France!
Some hospitals, or some villages, have to "recruit" their doctors in Eastern Europe or Middle East...
8 or 10 years ago, I had an eye accident and went to the ER (is that how you call our "Urgences"?). The doctor who took care of me was Irakian (!), and we had to speak English, as his French was so bad that I could not understand him! (Should I precise that this was in a French hospital?)
Thib it's the same in the UK, if not worse. Many of our doctors are foreign yet our newly-qualified docs are having to move abroad for jobs. My son is studying towards being a doctor - he wants to go to med school but the standards are so high with no real guarantee of a job at the end of it - he has said it's almost accepted he will have to go abroad to work. It's terrible. It's hard to understand the foreign doctors here too; it's not being racist by the way, it's a simple fact.
ReplyDeleteNot much to learn, did you say ?
ReplyDeleteNot true, I learnt at least that La Maison des Polytechniciens can be rent for special occasions. Looks pretty nice, but I've never been there.
Thib, I think ER is the correct word, but I'm probably not the best one to ask since I'm Swedish :) (Lynn???).
ReplyDeleteAnd I do recognize the picture that both of you are describing; it's all the same here, I'm afraid. I remember being examined by a Polish eyedoctor a couple of years back. Needless to say, I had a pretty hard time understanding him too. And he was also quite unwilling to explain why and how he could see that all was OK (thankfully), so it was all very confusing and frustrating.
I don't know if our doctors have to seek jobs abroad though, but you never know!
Lynn, maybe your son could open a private practice? I guess it might be terribly expensive, but the thought just struck me ... It really does seem hard on someone to just have to accept the fact that in order to get a job you'll have to work in a foreign country!
Sorry, this became quite an essay. :)
And yes, we get doctors from Eastern Europe and the Middle East here too. I wonder if their salary is lower than that of the native (correct term?) ones?
ReplyDeleteI love the make up of this shot and angle! This is great!
ReplyDeleteReine Guille: My one visit into Switzerland was to a museum in Basel, just south of Freiburg. I can't remember the name, but my eyes popped at long, expansive galleries, each full of Renoirs, Pissarros, Picassos, and the like. I couldn't believe it. Ah! The Kunstmuseum.
ReplyDeleteLynn,
ReplyDeleteI know about the number of students in year 1 at the Tours medecine university because my 2nd son is one of them! And, though he really works hard, he's not sure to still be there next year...
The other silly point about that is that most of this 1st year selection is on Maths, which will never be used any more in the following 6 or 7 years of studies...
And Alexandra: "Why admit so many students..." : simply because University in France is public, so ererybody is supposed to be allowed to...
That means that selection is legally forbidden to get in year 1... But there isn't anything against selection at the end of this year 1...
Did you say "stupid"?
They look like flowers in a field.Awesome. Elaine Cooke
ReplyDeleteThib and Alexandra
ReplyDeleteIn England we use the term A&E (accidents and emergency) for the department that treats more urgent cases.
Thanks Rose!
ReplyDeleteThib yes at the moment there is much importance attached to maths for my son. Let's remember of course my son is still only 16 studying A levels in order to GET to med school! So whilst, Alexandra, your idea is great, it's a long way off. I fear it would need a lot of cash behind that sort of venture i don't know. I have thought before though that he could enter the private system rather than the NHS - better conditions all round. It's a shame for the country though if all students felt they had to do that or choose to move abroad. He's studying hard but seems daunted at the moment since it's so difficult to get in and, as he said, he might do all that and not get a job! He's thinking of Bio Medical Science as an alternative. Seems such a shame though when he'd like to be a doctor first.All his results must be A grades, nothing less. Pressure.
Lynn, what a good son you have! Does he want to be a consultant or a GP?
ReplyDeleteThanks Rose. He wants to be in the hospital rather than GP. All my three sons are just marvellous! Yes i say it myself. Proudly. he he.
ReplyDeleteHey! Mme Benaut from Adelaide has her own new blog! Let's all pop over and welcome her? Sorry can't do links at the moment, but she's at www.mmeoccasionalblog.blogspot.com
Coucou, the moment the picture was loaded, I thought I was seeing mushrooms, haha. Wondered to myself what kind of mushrooms they are, maybe only exist in France. Nice capture and composition of chairs and tables by the way :)
ReplyDeleteThere is a Medical University next to my home here in the hills of San Francisco. It is called UCSF. Doctors come from all over the world to go to this college and get their residency. My doctors in San Francisco have all been educated here either at Stanford or UCSF. I always see doctors in my neighborhood running in their scrubs at all hours or the day and night. I see them in the restaurants and cafes with their laptops working away. Its like a small college town within San Francisco. (And their American English is perfect.) My current doctor is Dr. Bouvier -- you guessed it, French. My daughter works for a doctor at UCSF. She said it is unbelieveable how much money these doctors are making. They are millionaires or billionaires.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say "all hours [or] of the day and night". And I noticed I spelled unbelievable wrong. So sorry, I'm multi-tasking. I'm talking to my daughter on the phone. I'm talking to the maintenance man while he is working on my dishwasher. I know, you're thinking I am making excuses for my lousy spelling, etc.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great arrangement. It has such a visually appealing effect. The texture and pattern of the table and chairs give it incredible depth and I love the high angle tilt on it! I wouldn't mind being there for a wedding.
ReplyDeleteHa. Trust me to fluff it. Sorry, Mme Benaut is not there above, she's here!...
ReplyDeletewww.mmebenautoccasionalblog.blogspot.com
lol Lois even we superwomen get multi-tasking wrong sometimes. Well, very occasionally.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone with my comment about dollhouse furniture. I guess the alumni wouldn't mind the comparison to mushrooms, however? At least my gaffe led to a wonderful discussion about L'Ecole Polytechnique, so PDP visitors not yet fortunate to visit Paris (I'm one) did indeed learn something today!
ReplyDeleteOh no Lydia, I think they look like mushrooms and dollhouse furniture too. I just didn't have time to leave any links this morning and wanted to be sure that someone (more knowledgeable than I) could describe this system in France.
ReplyDeleteLynn, I was in Baden, Switzerland today (outside of Zurich). It was rainy and cold, so I'm glad to be back in Paris where spring has sprung and it should be a great end of week and weekend.
It better be spring in Paris! It is warm and sunny today here, but we are hearing that it will back down to 8 C with rain this weekend. I am sooo tired of this %#*&^(! cold weather.
ReplyDeleteRa, Dieu de Soleil is now responsible for giving us beautiful weather for the PDP picnic, or I will become an infidel.
Michael, so jealous I am of you for bopping around cold Switzerland then returning to springlike Paris. Do you realize how lucky you are to live that kind of life? It's another reason I love PDP: to envision all that.
ReplyDeleteIf I win the lottery between now and May 7 my husband and I will be at the picnic. But we'll probably just have to cut a watermelon here in honor of all attendees!
Hmmm ... maybe I should move to SF and become a doctor. :)
ReplyDeleteLydia: Watermelon doesn't sound so bad! But I guess it would be preferable to attend the PDP picnic ...
Watermelon in Oregon in spring? Interesting. Well, the Oregon coast is pretty nice, too, Lydia. And, by the way, Alexandra, SF is the most expensive city in the US, so if you're going to do that, you might as well move to Paris!
ReplyDeleteLydia exactly my thoughts! If i win the lottery, i've been thinking to myself, one of the things i shall do is attend the picnic! Wouldn't it be fab to win? I'd definitely, aswell as many other things, buy an apartment in Paree. I'm lucky if i ever win a fiver.
ReplyDeleteI have just come up for air after my 24hr.-- day cdg-jfk-then home to phx. Discovered that Jeff was the catalyst 3 yrs. ago for the picnic, that UKLynn is 2hr. from London by train(I was figuring out a way to meet YOU--are you in the Cotswolds?)you better win the lottery so we all can meet you ---and that a coworker will take my London trip and give me his Paris so I can go to the picnic on American Airlines' dollar! Will arrive with fresh blue cheese salad dressing and bagels for mydearMichael.
ReplyDeleteUKLynn: I had mentioned Ap.13th on the picnic site that I would bring a UKflag to represent you!
Can anyone walk in to see the polytechnic bldg?
lol i love it Phx! I haven't been to the picnic site. Thank you so much. If i was slimmer and younger i could wear it like a mini dress. oh yes that word IF...!
ReplyDeleteYes i'm about 15 - 40 mins from various villages in the Cotswolds, they stretch quite far apart. I'd love to have met you! We must another time, perhaps i could go to London when you are next there. I never seem to have time for anything, i've not been even to London for the last 6 years! Crazy, i know. It's been a hectic time really.
I can't wait to see the photos of the flag. Will you lay it on the grass like a picnic rug perhaps? he he.
ReplyDeleteTrust me Lydia, a trip to Baden, Switzerland for the day isn't all it's cracked up to be!
ReplyDeleteAlexandra, ok I'll be satisfied with the simplicity of some watermelon for now!
ReplyDeleteMichael, we're heading over the mountains tomorrow morning for a funeral in Bend, Oregon. We can compare Bend to Baden at a later time . . . :)
Oh Michael, are you following me? hehe. I'm back to Paris too, the weather was awful in Switzerland. I'm so glad to leave my coat to walk in the sunny streets of Paris...
ReplyDeleteAaahhh Spring Spring Spring... :)
Back again (a bit like Michael!). You might find it easier to find me by following my profile link but I warn you that if you don't like cats, you are unlikely to like my new blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lynn for the advertisement. So much for trying to maintain a low profile - you've blown my cover - on PDP no less. No wonder you're in demand as a journalist. lol
he he Mme well you didn't tell me you were hiding so.... yes i've outed you! I don't like cats but i like your blog!
ReplyDeletesigh...beautiful....
ReplyDeleteOn dirait des petites assiettes blanches vu d'en haut! lol
ReplyDelete