Who said it's not sunny in Paris in November?! Well, this morning it was... It did not last very long, but long enough for me to take this funny photo of a colleague. This weekend will be very cold, we may even experience some snowfalls. I read all this on the Paris Meteo Website, that I already mentioned here, and which is the best source you can find if you're planning a trip to Paris. BTW, there is a new PDP gathering in the pipe... It will take place on the 25th and I will keep you posted.
Bonjour,
ReplyDeleteI love this image. Placement is interesting. You are more than a photographer, you are an artiste.
Merci, Zoé
Winter is here and about to get colder in Minneapolis, also. I gues we're just the same as Paris in yet another way!
ReplyDeleteMere seconds away from the crown,...
ReplyDelete"OH my," I said as this loaded. I am so envious of this shot. I've been trying to get a similar one, but always get my own silly face in the reflection! You are there, but have managed to make it dark enough not to retract from the shot. I love it. Was your colleague pleased with it too? You should Zazzle up a mug for him as a thanks. Mugshot. Geddit? :)
ReplyDeleteWell done Anonyme GF! (she said through clenched teeth) :)
ReplyDeleteCould it be? Do I see the tippity top of the
ReplyDeleteEIFFEL TOWER?
EIFFEL TOWER??
EIFFEL TOWER???
And you have the Seine in the photo! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteIt's still hot here. Smoldering, in fact. I like the heat, but we need some cool weather and rain.
Oui, this is quite striking. The scene reflected in the sunglass lens is full of possibilities. Could be ET also...my imaginatin says it is. Superb Eric!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Zoe! "Zoe" of Greek origin meaning fast on the keyboard! ;-)
I think I see the back of ND? And balloons? Glad you had a little sunny weather. Paris must be extra beautiful with a light coating of snow. Those terrace heaters are going to get a workout.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is really nice. Is it uncharacteristically sunny over there, or are there normally a few sunny days in November? In California, we're having an extended summer.
ReplyDeleteIf I could wear shorts, a T-shirt and sandals at work, I would be.
Then again, I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of snow on the roofs of Paris when I'm there on Christmas.
Eric -- Alors, what is the the name of your photogenic colleague ?
ReplyDeleteI just think this is a really cool photo.
Sounds like your weather is pretty much like ours (i.e., cold!).
Anonyme (Zoe) -- congrats on getting GF, and I guess you can add a cool pair of lunettes de soleil to the crown.
What's this about a new PDP gathering?? I want to be there! (but I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving here in the US. De quoi tu parle, mon capitain?
Yes, now that I'm finished pouting, congratulations to Zoe. (I've always loved that name, anyway.) Suzy, it can't be le Tour Eiffel because Notre Dame is there, which means M. Lunettes de Soleil is facing west/northwest, and the Tour would be right over his right ear. Make sense? Or maybe I'm wrong!
ReplyDeleteWhat made you think to take this photo Eric? Very creative. And yes Lynn, a mugshot would be cool. Jeff,(who truly knows more about Paris than anyone I know), you are wrong I'm afraid. If Suzy sees the Eiffel Tower then the Eiffel Tower is there. Along with Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, le Louvre, Deux Magots, and of course the Grand Palais. One sees many things when they are in love.
ReplyDeleteBTW Eric, your colleague might want to buy one of these (hee hee).
Oh,Michael, you are too funny, and naughty!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOui, Michael, bien sur tu as raison. They are all there, all the landmarks. The only thing missing: les belles madamoiselles de Paris, avec notre reine! But maybe that's what he is looking at?
ReplyDeleteBut I only know enough to impress someone who knows less!
ReplyDeleteMichael..That is so funny!! Too much!! Only thing is that I have tried them myself and I don't think they work that well! A pair of scissors and tweezers are much more effective! LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteNow as for the photo...blue skies are lovely, and we have had a sudden drop in temperature here in SF...to remind us that winter will be coming whether we like it or not! ;-)
Hmmm... I don't think it is the Eiffel Tower, from that angle, Suzie.
ReplyDeleteOh my -- what a cool shot! I love the frame within a frame, and the clarity. Its really a great one, Eric!! I'm really looking forward to meeting the photographer!! But by then it may be snowing!! I sort of hope it does so I can photo some Paris in the snow but I've been counting my blessings -- so far I've only needed a jacket, not a coat.
ReplyDeleteThe sun played a part for me yesterday too - because of it I decided to go up the Eiffel Tower!! (I've never been,Suzy!!)
I thought I'd spend an hour or so but I spent the whole afternoon, chasing pools of sunlight with my camera all over the city. By the time I came down, tho, the wind had made my hands numb. Before I left I was able to catch a pigeon - there were only a couple up that high - resting and looking out over the city with the dome of the Invalides glowing out of focus behind him!
As darkness fell, I went to Montparnasse to the Fondacion Cartier Bresson and saw a show comparing Cartier Bresson and Walker Evans - without whom CB said he would not have kept on being a photographer. It made me look at my own country through the eyes of a foreigner and a foreign country through the eyes of countryman - how hard it is in portraits to grasp what the other feels is essential in a foreign culture.
While Eric was snapping his colleague, I was in a suburb snapping the Chateau Maisons Lafitte where I had another lovely adventure. I was the only visitor at this lovely home built around 1650 by Francois Mansart. As I was leaving, I started talking with one of the curators. He then gave me a personal hour long tour of some of the areas that were being restored and were otherwise inaccessible. He obviously loved the place and enjoyed being able to share it.
He gave me a pair of felt slippers to go under my shoes so that I could walk inside an amazing round room that even when it's open is roped off from the public. It is unique at least in France and perhaps, he said, in all of Europe.
I was able to look up close at the painting on the walls and the domed cieling and also at the floor, which is incredibly ornate inlaid wood. It was made of 12 colored woods as well as jade. The cielings had trompe l'oeil putti made to resemble lapis lazuli. But then, the clock tower bell rang and it was time to close for lunch.....and so I was off for the ET,ET,ET!!!
he he Michael you did make me laugh! The er...purchase recommendation was hilarious. I thought I was going to see a mug you had made at Zazzle.
ReplyDeleteYou see many things when you are in love... ah so true. I am love-free presently so I have clarity glasses on. :)
Mind you I have to say, I like his stubble. I find all that quite sexy. Beards are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have an idea for theme day. Eric must post a photo the day before, and the challenge is that we must try to recreate it for Theme Day, in our own way. Only one day's notice too! It would be interesting to see this one, recreated around the world, for example.
Obviously we can't recreate exact buildings - who has an ET,ET,ET? - but we must stick to similar shape or composition. What do you all think? Eric is king after all. We would be following him.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for snowfalls here in Copenhagen, too.
ReplyDeleteBut all I get is gloomy weather and some drizzle.
HI Eric, yes sun is a fleeting thing in Paris. I wake up every morning knowing that if the sun is shining in Paris its probably only going to be for an hour or so. So get the camra and get out of the house. Carla x
ReplyDeleteMichael, too funny! Also, no ambiguity clause here so unlike Lynn I am not currently love free. Could probably do with a pair of clarity glasses, but what fun is that?
ReplyDeleteLynn, LOVE the idea for theme day. I vote yes on Prop L!
Suzy. who cares what anyone else says: ET! ET!! ET!!!
*sigh* Wish I had gotten more sleep, I can already feel that today's gonna be tough.
Ah yes, and because I've been meaning too...
ReplyDeleteLynn I like your theme day idea, especially the short notice aspect.
ReplyDeleteExcellent shot. Artistic reflection on a mystery man.
Lynn -- I love your idea for a theme day, but could I have more than 24 hours notice please? I'm about to lobby for the 36-hour day, just to fit in all I need to do! Like many, I only started doing a blog myself because of this one: One day I was inspired by one of Eric's photos to post a similar one of my own—and that was the start of that.
ReplyDeleteCarrie -- I'm envying and vicariously enjoying your Paris adventures all at the same time. Tell us more!
Carrie, I love it that you're enjoying Paris the way it should be done: your own way. The special tour of the chateau reminds me of a similar experience at Musee Marmottan Monet. There were very few people that day, and a docent gave me a personal tour with the history of each Monet painting as well as the gifts from his friends (Renoir, Manet, et al). I am very jealours. And, yes, I spent hours up in the ET the first time I was there. It is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Erics' photo, the more I look, I think I was wrong in my previous assessment. The ET would be halfway between Notre Dame and the lampost in the center of the lens, assuming our man in on the Rive Gauche. No matter, it's a fun photo, M. PDP.
Michael you're so mean!!
ReplyDeleteHehe. Funny anyway.
I recognized him. But maybe I have to keep the secret? ;)
Original picture, I like the sky reflection, and the fact that we can see you too!
Jeff, Michael is correct (and back from Shanghai!). I am in complete, all-consuming, mind-numbing love, and when I tilt my crown of delusion 32 degrees north I see many things that aren't there. Or are they? Only Eric knows for sure.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, I can't believe it took you this long to get your behind to the top of the ET!ET!!ET!!! I thought that was the first place everyone went. ;^)
Lynn, my lovely UK twin, I agree with you about the stubble.
Cute new photo, ms. soosha!
Alexa it's all up to the King, I'm afraid, it's not even got past Constitution stage yet. lol. I sympathise with your request for longer notice but if it was up to me, I'd be strict, strutting around in high heels, cracking my whip shrieking "NO! You have one day only and don't be late!"
ReplyDeleteThink I got a bit carried away there lol. Don't know what came over me. Giggle.
Suzy USA pretty twin, gosh yes! I bet he's a looker. lol!
As if my poor old tootsies hadn't had enough, today I began a 4 day Museum Pass binge in which I'll try to see the maximim # of exhibits without killing myself!! So, I'll just say that I started at the Orangerie with Monet's astounding waterlilly murals and ended with Foucault's pendulum swinging under the dome of St Nicolas des Champs, which is filled with scientfic equipment, planes and cars and is painted in multicolored patterns as though it were upholstered. This is because it is attached to the Musee des Arts & Metiers (see Eric's metro photo) and houses a fabulous collection of primarily French scientific discoveries.
ReplyDeleteIn between I saw Napoleon's tomb; arms and armaments; resistance, free French and deportation exhibits; a life of DeGaulle exhibit; a XX Century photography exhibit; a huge collection of asian art at the Guimet Museum; and, the Archeological Crypt below the Parvis of Notre Dame.
This last is the stone remains of Gallo-Roman and Medieval rooms, foundations, stairs, bulwarks, docks, sewage piping, and wells, all as they were discovered and preserved. They date back to the 2d century (and they sort of smell like it, too!) They haven't been moved; you have to go down under the plaza to see them where they were built and as they stay to this day. So, I walked through much of Paris history in one day.
I also think I must look like a middle aged French lady because for the last week, French people keep stopping me and asking for directions, which I find hilarious! At first I couldn't understand what they were asking until ten minutes later and just said I didn't speak French. Then I began to understand but usually didn't know what street they were looking for. Tonight I realized that I am in fact the perfect person for them to ask, because, now that I understand the question, and being a tourist -- I have a map!!! And so I helped my first lost French people!
: ) Ahh.
A very fun photo, love the reflection in his shades :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a worrier. Like Alexa. You're so far away, and I can't check in on your health.
ReplyDeleteLucky you.
Enjoy the sun for me!! We only see it rarely in November!
ReplyDeleteOh Carrie! Your stories are absolutely delightful! I can't get enough. My heart is breaking because I want so badly to be doing the same things! Keep 'em coming, pleeeeeeze!
ReplyDeletePetrea - I'm glad you (and some of the others) are enjoying! I'm up early and off in a minute for day two of the musee-thon....
ReplyDelete: )
Take care of those feet. :)
ReplyDeleteCarrie it's fascinating. I love the fact that you are now directing the French! We need a picture of you to verify your Frenchness, that these people should be approaching you! Were you wearing a string of onions and a beret by any chance? lol no in which case they'd assume you were a tourist... do tell us more!
ReplyDeleteI really do like this shot, and it's even better at full size. I had fun trying to see all that was in his line of sight.
ReplyDeleteA fellow DP blogger in London had a similar photo as the header on her blog; Big Ben & The Houses of Parliament were reflected on the lens. It was a great shot. It was the Flying Quiche's Daily Photo. I believe she's moved to NYC now.
Anyway, I love this unique post!