A very timely graffito

I found this "urban fresco" under a bridge on a pretty concealed street in the 13th arrondissement. It must be fairly new as the topic is evidently current... That's all I'll say about the subject.

It looks like rain!

We've really been lucky for the picnic as, since yesterday evening, it's been raining like crazy in Paris! Photowise it's not that bad, for all these black clouds offer nice reflections and dramatic skies ;-) Anyway... Like you probably guessed I took this photo at the Très Grande Bibliothèque in the 13th arrondissement. 

Ashes to ashes, concrete to dust!

Everything comes to an end in this world, especially old and ugly buildings, even if the once sheltered art... For yes, ladies and gentleman, this is where I took this photo, and this photo, after I initially took this one... I guess you know what I'm talking about now, don't you?! Update: thanks to Flore, a true visitor to PDP, here is a link to the "live" feed of the demolition. 

La Brigade, the food truck for meat lovers!

It's absolutely fascinating to see how "food trucks" (we don't even have a French word it) have multiplied these past two years in Paris. I already told you about Cantine California, the one that makes the best hamburgers in Paris, here is now another one for meat lovers. I found it in the 13th arrondissement near a movie theater, it's called La Brigade (after the name of what we call a crew in a restaurant kitchen) and it sells juicy slices of meat to die for (if you like meat, of course!).

Giant piece of art

This is Bibliothèque nationale de France - the French National library, I already posted about several times. I took it from the left right bank where you can see the giant piece of art on one of the facades (the big upside down female head). I have been totally unable to find any additional info about it... have a great weekend everyone, wherever you are in this world (BTW, if you happen to pass by San Jose on Tuesday...)

Back to the Paris 13 tower

Do you remember my post about the Paris 13 tower? A building that was about to be destroyed and was turned into an art squat until the end of last year? Well I passed by it yesterday and it's still standing (it takes months if not years to do anything in a big city like Paris because of all the regulations we have), but it really looks like it's going to be taken down soon now. I so wish I could be there when they do it! In the meantime, have another look at the website they made, it's really good.

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The "Bibliothèque nationale de France" or "Bibliothèque François Mitterrand" (after the name of a previous French President) is the largest of the 7 sites that compose the French National Library. It's made of 4 main towers in which no less than 10 million books and publications of all sorts are kept (more here). Yesterday, with the sun it was absolutely gorgeous.

A new Paris metro line

There are 14 metro lines in Paris (16 if you count the "sublines" 3 bis and 7 bis) for a total of 220 kilometers (137 miles), but it's not enough! On top of that, the city limits are probably going to change: what's now in the suburbs will progressively be merged into a "greater Paris area". That's why the next "Paris" metro line - line 15 - will run exclusively in the suburbs, going from Pont de Sèvres to Noisy-Champs (see here, if you're interested). It will be totally underground and fully automated (therefore never be "on strike"!). Its construction should start next year and it should be completed in 2020 (yeah, right!) 

Things change and... remain the same!

Here is one of the latest Tram stations that has recently been open in the 13th arrondissement. About 2/3 of Paris is now encircled by a tram line and no doubt that this circle will be totally closed one day. Exactly like it was until 1934 when there was an inner circle line called La petite ceinture around Paris. The Petite Ceinture line did not resist the development of other means of transport (especially cars), but now that there are too many cars, public transportation has become a new reasonable way of moving around Paris. Shame that we had to spend so much money to redo something that was pretty decent about 80 years ago...

Happy New Year (again!)

Like every year, about one month after the Gregorian calendar's new year celebrations, the Chinese celebrate their own. In Paris, the celebration is bigger every year (I took this photo in 2012), and in Asia, where I am at the moment, it's crazy! The stores are full of Chinese decorations, there are Chinese people on vacation everywhere, and... a lot of noise in the streets (you've got to scare these bad spirits away!). I wish you xin nian kuai le (happy new year) and gong xi fa cai (may you be prosperous!)  

It had to leak out...

The story did not make it to the news so much, but the thing is that about two weeks ago a huge leak damaged  no less than 12 000 books in the National Library (which is located in these big buildings in the background). Fortunately none of them were totally destroyed... Only a few (1,500) will have to receive a special treatment such as... - who would have known... - freeze drying! 

Paris real estate price to drop, at last!

I have - good - news for you (well for those of you who're interested in buying an apartment in Paris!). For the first time in 15 years, prices have stopped going up. They even started going down (a little), by almost 4% in 2013. Now a square meter in Paris "only" costs 8 190 € on average! I took this photo a long time ago, in the 13th arrondissement. It's not very good, but I thought it was perfect to "celebrate" the news!

Sky is the limit!

I took this photo in the 13th arrondissement, in the main "Chinese quarter" of Paris. In fact there are three Chinese quarters in Paris and this one is the most recent one. A lot of Asians - and not only Chinese, but people from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia who fled the war and/or communism - settled down there in the 70's because... there was room for them in this area. Why? Because several towers had just been completed, but the new French young middle class which was originally the target rejected them... Now, we still find them pretty ugly, but we're used to them and on a clear day they make interesting photos!

Metro

As you may know, we have several open air metro (métro aérien) lines in Paris. This one is on the Boulevard de l'hôtital, in the 13th arrondissement and I took the photo just when the metro is about to go back under Paris. The big VP in the foreground simply means Ville de Paris! Have great weekend everyone.

A little moment of rest...

Even though I'm thousands of miles away from Paris at the moment, I still follow the news. You may have heard that our President was caught cheating on his wife a few days ago. And even though the French tend to respect the privacy of people in general - including politicians - this triggered a big turmoil in my homeland. I'm very French in this regard - his love life is none of our concern - I just wish he would dedicate more time to us and less too his flings! Anyway, I thought this nice view that I took somewhere in the 13th arrondissement (I'll tell you more another day) was perfect...   

Giant Metro Map

I came across this building in the 13th arrondissement by sheer coincidence, after a business meeting. I was intrigued by the metro signs (the big M, the Maison Blanche board...) and the various white lines on the facade. Then I understood... This is no less than giant local metro map! What a clever idea. 

Straight line

Another view of Le Pont de Bercy that I showed here several times. But I still think it's a cool bridge! It was widened in 1904 so that they could build a second bridge on it, the one above the metal ceiling that you can see in this photo and that allows the line  6 metro to run... 

The wonderful world of Dorothée's

I'm sooooooooo glad I discovered the photo work of Dorothée Shoes (who, despite her name is French!), for it's really fantastic. Her shots are currently exhibited on the grids of the Parc de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement and they are all stunning. Fortunately you don't have to come to Paris to see them, you can have a sneak preview here. I'm sure you'll agree with me.

Soon to be destroyed...

I don't know if you remember, but I already showed this building. Only it was slightly different at that time... (I have been unable to find my previous photo!). Anyway, it's a building facing the Seine in the 13th arrondissement  which is going to be destroyed soon. Before they tear it down they opened it to street artists. And it has become a true phenomenon. You have to wait in line up to 8 hours to get in! It's amazing... There are 9 more days left, so hurry up. There is a superb website that allows to see more of all this, visit it, it's really worth it.

Seeing red!

It's pretty unusual to see bright color buildings like this red one in Paris... that is precisely why I stopped on my way and took this shot at rue de la Glacière in the 13th arrondissement. It's pretty unusual because as you can guess there are strict regulations in Paris, when it comes to building/ renovating/ painting a building and a facade. Only it depends on the area (you surely could not paint a Haussmann building in red!) and if you manage to get the authorization for the town hall. They obviously did!