Bastille Metro Station

I have never used the Paris metro as extensively as these past days and I must say, it's really convenient (especially when it's super cold!). For the first time in my life I even found myself on the platform of line 1, at Bastille! A stunning metro station overlooking the Port de l'Arsenal which is where several boats are docked (no, it did not remind me of Malta!). Add the sun to it, and you have a perfect next to last PDP photo ;-)

Back to the cold

Okay, let's be fair, it's not THAT cold in Paris. It's quite mild actually... But I thought it would be, so I prepared this photo, that I found in my stock - I took it in 2007 after I visited the "Texas knitters", a group of women who knit for street furniture (see this post)!! How cool... 

Sunrise on the Tour Saint Jacques

The Tour Saint Jacques is a Paris landmark I often posted on PDP. When I started this blog it was closed, then under repair, then it reopened and now it's fully "operational". Like I already said, this tower is all what remains of the Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie ("Saint James of the butchery") church, which was leveled after the French Revolution. But the most interesting part, if you're a visitor is to visit it and enjoy a view that most Parisians are not even aware of! Check this.

La maison des Célestins

Nice house isn't it? It's called the Maison des Célestins (after the name of a - very - old convent  that was in the same area) and it's located on the Quais (river banks), right at the Seine level, facing the Ile de la Cité. It used to be closed until may 2013 when it was turned into a cool restaurant and bar. Just one tiny detail though; the black space in front of it is... a road, with a lot of traffic except on Sundays when they turn it into a pedestrian area (the day I took the photo!).

An American artist in Paris...

On Saturday, among the Nuit Blanche installations that I visited, I also stopped by the Brooklyn, a bar located in the rue Quincampoix (near Beaubourg) for the opening of an exhibition (Lost for words) by Matthew Rose. Matthew is a great American artist who's been living in Paris for a long time; his work is mostly made of collages. Check it out here.

Nuit blanche 2014

Like a lot of countries in the world, Paris celebrated its Nuit Blanche (White night) last night. It was really fun and spectacular, especially the installation they had at the Hotel de ville (the Paris town hall) where people could control via a Samsung tablet (who incidentally sponsored the installation ;-) the colors of a huge flying bubbly sculpture!  

Movement

Today's theme day is "Movement" among the CityDailyPhoto community. I did not really have anything in mind, so I thought of using this shot that I took last weekend on the Quais (the river banks). It would have served the purpose better if the bike had been a little blurry of course ;-), but you get the idea! Check what movements the world has to offer on the CDP portal.

Another classic view

Yesterday evening, I had a business party on the left bank and I took the Pont Notre Dame to go to it. It was around 8 pm, the sun was almost set and the light absolutely stunning. Even though I must have posted this view a zillion times already I couldn't help but pulling the trigger one more time ;-)

Commemoration of Paris Liberation

Sorry the photo is not really good, and though the show was absolutely fantastic. The show? Yes, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Paris Liberation from the Nazi, the town hall ordered a splendid light show projected on... the Hotel de Ville. Really impressive, even though the heavy rain kinda spoiled it a bit. Paris was liberated on August 25, by the allied troops with the help of the French resistance fighters. A late aunt that passed away a few years ago told me that it was a very happy day, but also pretty dangerous as there were many snipers everywhere. 

Turning old into new...

You might find it hard to believe, but this building, up until 2002 was... a factory called L'atelier des cendres - the ashes workshop - (you can still see the name above the door). This company used to recycle the "ashes" of jewelers as a way to collect what was left of gold and silver. It was totally renovated in 2013 by Uniqlo, the Japanese clothes manufacturer who kept most of the old features (including the stunning chimney and the beautiful staircase). It's definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in Le Marais.

Street art

I like the way street artists now glue paper on Paris walls instead of painting them with spray paint. It allows passers by to discover new artists without damaging the walls, nor costing money to tax payers (for the city has to clean these walls eventually, no matter what). I really love this one, shame that it's not signed. UPDATE: thanks to the help of a few good visitors ;-) I know now that this image was used for the cover of a record by FKA Twigs (London).

Paris Plage, last call

I don't know if you remember last year's post where I took this close up. Well, the same guy was here this year, only this time I took the photo from above (from the street level). This sand sculptor is really good I must say and he has a lot of success (even though there are probably much less passers by this year because of the poor weather). Anyway, it's Paris Plage's last weekend, pretty soon it'll be time to pack this sand and let the cars back into their realm!

Paris sunset classic

I know it's a very classic view, the kind of photo you could find on a postcard, but once in a while there is nothing wrong with that ;-) I took this photo 2 days ago, while I was walking down the Seine banks.

Farewell Monsieur Berthillon

Everything (and everyone) must come to an end, and the sad news came today that Raymond Berthillon, the founder of the famous Ile Saint Louis ice cream place passed away on Saturday, at the age of 90. If you've been to Paris, you've probably stood in line at least once in front of his landmark store - or in one of his approximately 150 Paris area resale shops. To maintain the quality of his ice cream and sherbets, Mr. Berthillon always refused to industrialize the production and would only offer seasonal flavors (depending on which fruit he would find at the market!). And of course, like any self-respecting Frenchman, he would close every August so that his employees would enjoy a month's vacation! So the next time you enjoy a Berthillon ice cream, remember to think of the man who started it all. More on Wikipedia.

Sunset over Paris Plage.

Yesterday it practically rained all day, so there was not a lot of people on the beaches of Paris plage, the "fake beaches" that the Paris town hall installs every year on the Seine banks. But last evening, after the clouds were gone, I decided to take a walk along the embankment and take advantage of the stunning sunset. It was just perfect and very cool...  

Hi chair!

Have a close look at this mini Eiffel Tower. It looks like the real one, doesn't it? Well... providing it's location (on the river banks in front of the Musée d'Orsay Palais de Justice) you guessed it's a replica ;-) But the most interesting part in the replica is that it's entirely made of... bistro chairs! The ones made by French Manufacturer Fermob who's celebrating its 125th anniversary (FYI, this exact same sculpture was on display in front of the real Eiffel tower a few weeks ago).

More fire games

The weather was really lovely last evening in Paris (28°C / 82.4° F) and I had a walk in front of Notre Dame. I came across the  same street artists that play with fire admirably that I already photographed in 2012). A magical moment...

Quiet please!

Gee, what a celebration it has been! Parade, WWI exhibit, concerts, fireworks... We Parisians - and the tourists - really had a great time. Had we won the soccer/football World Cup as well, we would have been ecstatic;-) Time for a little break now... How about this beautiful Tour Saint Jacques at sunset that I photographed a few days ago. I know you've already seen it, but...

The sky is the limit

I passed by Notre Dame yesterday and saw this guy with this T-shirt in front of the church. I just thought it was funny. Of course it has nothing to do with God, but with... Sky Television, a British satellite television service. 

Blue prints!

People must have thought I was crazy when they saw me taking a photo of this pretty ugly fence! Several things caught my eyes though: the little leaflets perfectly scattered, the electric blue facade in the background and the graffiti. All I needed to do was to wait for someone to go by... Cool, isn't it?