Monday, May 03, 2010

The other side of La Seine


In Paris, the Seine embankment is not all composed of stunning buildings like La Conciergerie... It's also made of several ports that are dedicated to passengers or goods like in this photo, that I took at the entrance of Paris, on the West side. They say that, with 7 million passenger transported each year (that includes tourists who use the famous Bateaux Mouches!), the Autonomous Port of Paris (that's its official name) is the world's biggest tourist port. As for the goods, I could not find the information, but it must be enormous too. I love this photo because it reminds me of the little plastic car toys that I used to play with when I was a little boy! If you want to know more, check this interactive promenade along the Seine...

18 comments:

  1. Interesante paseo interactivo.
    Muy bonita la foto.
    Es cierto que parece un juguete
    Saludos.

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  2. It does look like a toy! In this case, I kind of like the graffiti too. Makes an industrial site look rather festive.

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  3. At first glance it looked like it was painted on there, maybe due to the flattening effect of the distance and the lens. It totally has the feel of one of those toys, too. I have fond memories of my young brothers playing with them for hours. It funny, the arm is so long, it looks like it would tip the body over if it got a big enough payload!

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  4. Cool photo. I took a lot of these type of photos in Paris. It is not one of the tourist type photos one finds on postcards -- but I like it. :)

    BTW, I like your "Lego" man PDP picnic invitation too. That's a cute little dance he does.

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  5. Cool photo, and thank you for the link for the interactive promenade!

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  6. I suggest everyone enlarge this photo - it is so good.
    Thanks for the cool link Eric.

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  7. wow...with the graffiti and concrete this could be a photo taken in Los Angeles....along the L.A. riverbed.....

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  8. I'm not sure what camera you are using but if you have an iPhone, you can try using the toy camera effect. It will make that tractor look more like a little plastic toy!

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  9. Eric, in terms of goods, the Port Autonome de Paris represents 20 millions mt par year, which saves about 1 million truck loads in Paris!!!
    Can you imagine Paris traffic with one more million trucks ;-((

    More details here (with several pdf presentations): http://www.paris-ports.fr/nous-connaitre/rapport-d%E2%80%99activites

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  10. It made me remember my construction toys.

    Good composition and direct angle.

    Regards

    Valery

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  11. Liebherr is a famous brand that even me know :) Nice composition that I love too! It does not seem like Paris at first but of course it is Paris! Like Thib noticed it. Well seen.

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  12. Cute! (Oh, and those little cars and trucks? My son just bought his 316th car last night! We counted last week and he is aiming for 400, then 600, then 1,000! He knows each one and where he got them....now why can't he remember to clean up after himself?) lol

    Paris can make the necessities beautiful!

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  13. I just heard on the Paris news that you are celebrating -- (May 3rd)World Press Freedom Day! Have a great day my favorite journalist, Eric!

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  14. Thib makes an important point: river transportation is more economical than trucks and reduces truck traffic. Transportation by train is similar. A river barge here hold many train cars of cargo, and a train car in turn holds many truckloads. Just as trains and buses move more people per dollar than cars.

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  15. Funny, as there was a blockade on the river yesterday. No goods, tourist boats or others were let beyond Bercy or St. Cloud.

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  16. It does look like it's painted on the wall!

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  17. Reminds me of the 'Boston Sand & Gravel' factory that you pass by coming over the Zakim Bridge into the city. I always want to play with the conveyor belts that load and dump the sand!

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