Friday, August 31, 2012

Old chestnut!


People who live in this square surely aren't out of their tree ha ha! I passed several times by this place, called the Square Bolivar and always wanted to photograph it, but it was always super crowded and full of double parked cars. In August I managed to avoid the cars, but not the ugly traffic signs, so I erased most of them. Those of you who know the place may dislike the fact that I "cleaned" it, but to me, only the result counts, and I really love this photo, so... Have a good Friday everyone and your last weekend before going back to school... (well, at least in most countries in this hemisphere!).

28 comments:

  1. Great shot, great photo clean-up job, great stripes repetition, great patience, and great use of colloquial English!!! I adore the tree, too. What an icon.

    I went the Buttes Chaumont based on your recommendation one day on PDP of a tea shop there and a short walk laid out in a book I found, but I missed this tree. Its fun to see a part of Paris that I don't know yet feel I know the neighborhood. Thanks!

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  2. This is a beautiful tree - I really love how they have respected it by building the road around it instead of knocking it down. I also like the way you captured this person crossing the street - very artistic!

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  3. Your title is a nice use of colloquial English too. And your timing in taking this shot was impeccable!

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  4. It is not unusual to see coffee tables lining up outside Brasserie Buttes Chaumont on a summer's day...

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  5. Magnifique billet Eric. I can feel it in your words. It often happens. I like the feeling. A lot.
    So, I could not say better than Carrie : "Great shot, great photo clean-up job, great stripes repetition, great patience, and great use of colloquial English!!!"

    Old chestnut means in our French language "un marronnier" which is the name of the beautiful tree we can see in the middle of the square and also colloquial French in the journalism area. Someone may explain it much better than I could do.
    What can I add ? This post perfectly matches with your great talent and well I'd say ... humanist eyes. Please erase ugly signs as often as possible when the result is that good ...!

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  6. Great photo!
    Most big cities, Paris no exception, benefit from the occasional "clean-up".

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  7. A really beautiful photo. I always start my day with your photos.

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  8. This shot has that touch of modern art! Funky!

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  9. I love this photo and also the double entendre of "out of their tree"! It seems a great representation of everyday Paris, and the person walking across the street adds so much. (Was he photoshopped in? ; ) Joking)

    Thanks as always for sharing your Paris with us.

    Lisa in Cleveland

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  10. Beautiful pic! Sometimes erasing is good. :^)

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  11. @Carrie "Great shot, great photo clean-up job, great stripes repetition, great patience, and great use of colloquial English!!!"
    > Great comment!


    @Monnica "I really love how they have respected it by building the road around it instead of knocking it down"
    >The old chicken and egg thing: who came first?!

    @Alexa "Your title is a nice use of colloquial English too" LOL Actually we have something close in French : un "marronnier" is a topic that journalists like to deal with every now and then. Like "lose wait before the summer", "lose wait after the summer", "how much are you you be paid?", "the power of free masons...", etc. I'm sure you have that too in your country!

    @Jeff. Did you find someone to join you in Chicago this WE?

    @Keats "It is not unusual to see coffee tables lining up outside Brasserie" I suppose you meant it's unusual NOT to see.. Yes it is!

    @Ann. ;-))

    @Juliette "This post perfectly matches with your great talent and well I'd say ... humanist eyes. " >Awwwwwww!

    @OJN "Most big cities, Paris no exception, benefit from the occasional "clean-up"."
    >I agree!

    @kirgirl
    >A really beautiful photo. I always start my day with your photos.
    > I'm glad you do, thank you for that ;-)

    @James "This shot has that touch of modern art! Funky!" ;-)

    @LIsa in Cleveland " (Was he photoshopped in? ; ) Joking)" Ah ah. Nope, this would be very difficult (look at the shadow on the ground, you'd have to be a Photoshop expert!)

    @Bill "Sometimes erasing is good. :^)" +1

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  12. I've never heard of this expression "Old chestnut". You see, I even learn English here!

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  13. Eric

    You're on top form at the moment. A wonderful image with the person on the crossing in perfect place. A Cartier-Bresson 'decisive moment' indeed!

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  14. Great image and great Photoshop as well. Almost could be one lonely French Beatle walking across Abbey Road from the album cover!

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  15. In the US it's Labor Day weekend. In honor of labor/workers.
    We have a three day weekend, no work or school until Tuesday!

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  16. As I often do, I looked at the same location in Google street view, and there is a similar bicycle attached to the same post on the right. And Eric, you cleaned up the signs very nicely!

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  17. Fantastic photo! Love what you did with it.

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  18. Thank you Eric for your clear explanation of what is "un marronnier" in French.

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  19. @Cynbook, yes you're right I just checked myself. Same bike! So now you know what I meant by "cleaning!".


    Happy Labor day everyone and merci Ms M.

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  20. The old chestnut thing is interesting. I've only heard it used regarding a song that is a traditional favorite. If the same literal phrase is used in French, then it must have come from France. I wonder what the origin of it is in French.

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  21. An old chestnut seems to refer not to a song or a topic, but to a familiar joke told and retold. It comes from a play done in London in 1816 and so the French and Americans may both have borrowed it. One of the actors begins to tell a joke about a cork tree and is interrupted by another actor who says, you've told that 27 times and it was always a chestnut. Et voila!

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  22. This is beautiful, Eric. I'm going to steal your idea and start erasing street signs that get in the way of the photos I want to take!

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  23. Great photo. Full screen, and as screen saver is fab! I can only hope to get some good Paris photos when I get there next month. Put in an order for some great weather for me, will you Eric?

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  24. @Carrie. Merci. So it's primarily a British idiom. In French, for a joke, we would probably use "vieille rengaine" or "blague éculée" but it's not really a figure of speech.

    @Petrea LOL! Please do; only the result counts!

    @JudyMac Er... I wish I had that kind of power LOL!

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  25. so beautiful! Love the adorable little boy crossing the street! i wish sometimes that the mairie "cleaned up" (or redesigned) the ugly signs and urban furniture (such as the atrocious green plastic garbage bags) which i think really damage the beauty of Paris...

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