Night out

I'm really getting old! Proof is that, when I go out now, I often look at the "young crowd" (even this expression makes me sound old LOL!) and think to myself "I wish I could be young and foolish again!". That is exactly what I thought when I saw these young adults laughing and fighting over a  "selfie" that they had just taken! They did not even see me take the shot ;-) On a less nostalgic note, I also like the global atmosphere of this photo; it was taken near Beaubourg.

Paris Peoples Climate march

Like in all big cities throughout the world, Paris had its Peoples Climate march last Sunday. Not many people took part in it (about 5 000, which is much less than the 300 000 in NYC), but it's probably due to the fact that France is going through a difficult crisis at the moment and that people are more worried about how they're going to find a job of pay their bills than how to buy an electric car. Next Year France will host the COP 21 (21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change), so we'll be in the spotlight!

Street food invasion...

I'm really amazed to see how street food is becoming popular in Paris (and France in general I suppose...). Last weekend, there was even a street food event around the new Carreau Temple in the 3rd arrondissement; anybody could buy a set of tokens and use them to buy any type of street food they wanted.  Huge success, so huge that the lines were too long for me to have the patience to try one of these food trucks!

Everything grows in Paris

Who said cities are not green friendly?! Not in Paris! Not only do we have trees, parks and gardens everywhere, but on top of that, when we miss a little green spot, we draw it! How clever is that? PS: sorry for the late posting, bad scheduling...

Art against poverty

If you don't speak French it's unlikely that you will be able to understand the play on words in this graffito: "Dans quel monde Vuitton?" sounds like "Dans quel monde vit-on ?  (In what kind of world do we live?). You can also see the Louis Vuitton monogram (LV) on the bucket in which the child is sitting. As you guessed the aim of this clever piece of art is to condemn poverty and the difference between the ones that can buy Vuitton suitcases and the ones that can't. Apparently this artist even belongs to a group called "Art against Poverty" (it's written in the vertical graffito). Beyond the political message, I thought the piece of art was pretty good.

Bring back our girls!

I dont' like this photo too much (my fault!), but I like this installation! I found it at La République Square, where the former partner or our President (Valérie Trierweiler) and the new mayor of Paris (Anne Hidalgo) inaugurated it on july 27. Like you guessed it's an installation dedicated to the 220 Nigerian girls who have been abducted by Boko Haram, an islamist group about 100 days ago. These kinds of actions are good, because they help reviving their cause, while the news reporters are busy somewhere else...

Preparing Bastille Day (14 juillet)

Pretty soon it' will be Le 14 juillet (Bastille day), the day the French celebrate their revolution (which took place in 1789). There will be a huge march on the Champs Elysées, an air show and, of course, huge fireworks. Preparaing all this takes a lot of time, you need to install the seats on the champs Elysées, the equipment under the Eiffel Tower (for the fireworks!) and... street signs to help military vehicles reach Les Champs Elysées! That is precisely what these two guys were doing, when I caught them in the act near La Republique square.

Sunday rest!

Probably not the most comfortable place to rest or lay in the sun, but very central! Have a great Sunday everyone, take some time off!

Look for the triangle...

No, it's not an April fool's day joke, it's simply a theme day! For yes, ladies and gentlemen, if you visit the city daily photo blogs today you will find triangles in each photo. Silly? Yes, but funny. BTW, did you spot the triangle in this photo?

The new Carreau du Temple

In the 3rd arrondissemment, there is a beautiful building all in cast iron, called Le Carreau du temple. It  has a very interesting history and used to be among many things, a covered clothes market that lasted until year 2000. In 1976, the local mayor thought of tearing it down to replace it with a... parking lot! but people protested and the stupid project never saw the light of day. Between 2007 and now, it has totally been renovated and turned into a 250 seat auditorium and - below ground level - sport and cultural facilities, including a recording studio. I cannot wait till I visit the inside!

The new garbage cans of Paris!

I know it's not very glamorous to talk about garbage cans when running a blog about Paris, but... don't forget that we have one every 100 meters (328 ft) here, so it's an important matter! The thing is that early December the Paris town hall decided to replace the old ugly green ones (that had been installed very quickly after we've experienced a series of bombings in the 90's with this brand new "bagatelle" model. As always, it's a controversial topic as this migration costs money (1 million euros so far and 3 million eventually...).

Hitting the road!

A typical Tenin's perspective to start the weekend! I had my own private Thanksgiving party yesterday evening (Friday!) and it was delicious and fun (my stomach is NOT thankful for all that food though, good thing I don't have my gallbladder anymore LOL!). And in Paris we have no such things as Black Friday, so no shopping for me ;-) BTW this is the Beaubourg center in case you did not recognized. 

Nuit Blanche 2013

Like every year (since 2002), it was La nuit blanche (white night) in Paris last night and like every year there were lots of interesting installations to see. I chose to go to La République,  where the whole place was totally covered in a thick mist - much thicker than the one we - very rarely - have in winter! The installations is called "Fog Square" and was made by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya - who I really thank, because it allowed me to take a real cool photo!

The end of fashion week...

Like every year around the same period it was Fashion week in Paris this week. Some may find this industry a bit superficial, some may think fashion is as valuable an art as painting or singing, I personally quit wondering... And since it's one of our last successful industry, I tend to think that we're lucky Paris is still the Mecca of fashion for a lot of people ;-) Besides, it's a good occasion to visit some hidden parts of Paris, where exhibitions are being held, like this loft, in Le Marais, that I would never had seen if it weren't for fashion week! 

A beautiful entrance

This time I'll give you more than just a door... Here is a full entrance to a stunning building that I found at 108 rue du Temple in Le Marais. The ceiling, and the door are real masterpieces. I did some research... And found it was built by architect François Lecœur in 1920. And apparently, it's not an apartment building, but a "semi" industrial building (God knows what this actually means!!). The door in particular is a work of art.

More rain!

I got stuck yesterday evening in a heavy rain, while I was going to a dinner party in Le Marais. Not very pleasant of course, but it allowed me to take some cool photos, including this one that I love. You can see all of Paris in a nutshell ;-)  

Place de la République

I passed by the brand new place de la République last evening and it was really beautiful so of course I stopped and took a photo! Like I already mentioned, this Place was totally renovated this year (well it lasted two years, but it was inaugurated this year) and it's a total success. The statue in the middle shows "Marianne", the young woman we usually represent the French republic with.

Less clouds on the horizon!

I don't know if you remember, a few weeks ago I had to stay at the hospital for a few days because they discovered stones in my gallbladder. Well, when you read this - providing everything went well! - it should be history for I had it removed yesterday (Wednesday). I scheduled this photo on Tuesday evening, thinking I would be two spaced out to sit in front of a computer and post something today, so hopefully, there should be no interruption on PDP. I thought a photo of the magnificent Place des Vosges was appropriate. Now, en route for new adventures!

One small jump for man...

Every year in summer I'm always fascinated by theses skaters that manage to do things that I can no longer do!! This time I watched the ones on the new Place de la République (remember, I told you , they have totally redone it and it now offers a large pedestrian (or skaters!) area). Pretty cool...

Happy birthday Velib!

I can still remember the day I told you about Velib, this bike sharing system that the Paris town hall implemented throughout the city to stimulate the use of non polluting vehicles (instead of cars and motorbikes). Well, it's been exactly 6 years, as Velib celebrated its 6th anniversary last Monday... One thing is sure; it's a success! More than 250 000 Parisians subscribe to the service on a yearly basis, one Velib is rented every second within greater Paris and the oldest user is... 88 years old! Tourists also use it, of course! Look at the chart they have here if you can read French. As for me, well I tried it once, about 5 years ago, but never since the!