Macho Paris!

It's a funny bit of news I came across today: a computer guy from Bordeaux, analysed the street names of several cities focusing on the names of them (their first name in particular). He found out, what will probably won't come as a surprise to you: in Paris 90% of the streets that were named after a person were actually attributed to a male!  To illustrate this I found this old photo that I never published (and I understand why when I see how bad it is ;-)) But I had no choice...

Paris giant has left...

Browsing through my old photos, I just came across this one! I originally posted a photo of him in January 2008 and went back recently there to see if he was still hanging, but he had left (he left in June 2010, in fact)! Why did they hang this guy on this school? Because of a legend: a giant called Isoire (or Isoré, or even Issoire which is now the name of the street) used to rob people there in the old times. Someone (Guillaume d'Orange) is said to have chopped his head off, and buried the rest of the body on site! I wish I knew the real story behind this one!

Courting in the sun!

A few years ago I used to work at the top floor of a large building. On the ledge of my office window, I could often see pigeons "flirting"... Once, I managed to catch a pair on "film". Cute! Even though some people consider that in a city pigeons are no better than rats! Enjoy your weekend everyone, even though for most of you it'll be cold!

In bed with Charles Pigeon...

Let me start my "retrospective" with a little quiz... Where did I take this photo? In a museum, in an art exhibit... (I already posted once about it, so if you're a long time PDP follower you may have guessed). I remember well when I took this shot for at that time I used to work in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and used to go through Montparnasse everyday. For, yes, this incredible sculpture is located on the top of a tomb at the Montparnasse cemetery! Click here, it will take you to my original post in which you'll have a broader view and a more informative caption.

A church not to miss in Paris

Not all Paris churches are made of beautiful stones with golden fixtures and stunning sculptures! Some are simple, yet worth the visit, like Notre Dame du Travail. This amazing church can be found in the 14th arrondissement at 59, rue Vercingétorix. It was constructed around 1900 for the workers who used to build the pavilions for the world exhibition that took place in Paris during this period. It is fascinating indeed, because it looks like a regular Roman church, except that its frame is made of cast iron.

The modern side of Paris

Manhattan? Dubai? Nah... Paris! Yesterday evening, in the heart of the 14th arrondissement ! Contrary to a popular belief, Paris is not all about Haussmannian buildings, but also about new(er) architecture like this building that I came across with yesterday. It's always a big controversy here: must we keep the "traditional Paris" as it is (leading most of the time to tearing down the whole structure of a building, but its facade!) or must we erect buildings that match their time, like this one for instance. I don't have the answer to that...  

Tar and feathered!

What on earth is that? Take a guess... Is that a street artist performance? A one leg mannequin? A slot machine? A toilet for dogs?! All wrong! It's a parking terminal! Why is it all covered in feathers like this? I have no idea, but Adrien M. who took the photo at rue Gazan and kindly sent it to me (2 guest contributors in 3 days, that's a first!) said it was probably angry car owners ;-) Don't tell me this idea never crossed your mind!

Dominique'sTrash-Can?

Like Jaq said a few days ago about the massage post "thanks Eric for showing us the serenity of the Seine one day and this somewhat more sleazy side of Paris the next". My guess is that she's going to say the same thing today LOL! I just thought I'd make you start (or end) the day with a smile even though I have to be honest, I did not take this photo myself, my brother did!

Stormy weather

I don't know if you saw the video I posted on Facebook, but sometimes I feel like we're experiencing the monsoon in Paris LOL! I did not take the video myself (this guy did), but I witnessed the same storm in the 14th arrondissement. It was very impressive - and very beautiful too. Now, is that an allegory for the financial storm that is going to fall on our head on this Monday?!

Back to work

It's been a very quiet long weekend in Paris, the city was almost empty, but now the time has come to go back to work... I actually took this photo last Friday, when I had to take the metro to pick up my scooter that was being serviced. I saw this scene and thought it would make a good photo. The rectangle tile you can see on the wall is typical of the Paris Metro.

Artsy tables

Sometimes the most simple things have a very interesting visual appeal. Hence these tables that a restaurant aligned along a wall to protect them from the rain. They could be part of a piece of art in a modern art museum, but they're just tables along a wall LOL! It's a shame that I don't even remember the name of the place, I could have credited them! Have a good weekend everyone, I'll stay in Paris this time...

Delightful moment

Great, delightful, fantastic, witty, funny, spectacular, inspiring, subtle, stunning... I don't know enough English words to express what I feel after having seen the Voca people, a group of accapella singers that are really extraordinary. You've probably heard of them already (if you don't visit their website or Youtube), but I did not - and I'm really fortunate to have seen them live on stage at the Bobino theater yesterday. If you come to Paris rush to Bobino before the end of March, or else wait till they come to you.

Snow remains

So I hear it's Northern America's turn now! I just saw a TV report about New York City in the snow and, well, the least I can say is that it's much worse than it was in Paris last week... And though there is still snow around here, for it's so cold that it does not melt. I took this photo in Montparnasse where they have a large Velib station. Needless to say that at the moment Parisians are a little reluctant to biking nowadays ;-)

Happy birthday Gunnar!

Today I celebrated the birthday of a dear Swedish friend who just turned "beep"! His wife organized a little  friends gathering at La Coupole, one of the most famous brasseries in Paris and we had fun. When they brought the birthday cake (which is a fake cake in fact, for we had this instead!) I took this photo. You may think it's a little too blurry, but I chose to keep it, precisely because the "blurriness" contains a lot of energy. Exactly like Gunnar! BTW, on the ceiling, you can see the famous Coupole, that I already showed exactly 2 years ago.

Hopital Saint Joseph Chapel

My father is currently in the Hospital Saint Joseph in the 14th arrondissement (nothing to worry about, just a few arteries to unblock(!) He's now perfectly fine). Of course I visit him regularly and this gave me the opportunity to discover a nice little chapel at the center of the premises. It's not very surprising as this hospital was originally built by the Catholics - and also managed by them until 1958.

Notre Dame du Travail

About two weeks ago, right after I posted the photo of this church, I received an email saying "In 1970 I visited "Notre Dame du Travail", a church that is also worth visiting..." I did some research, and found out that yes, by all means this church is definitely a must see and that, incidentally, very few Parisians even know about it. It was built around 1900 for the workers who used to build the pavilions for the world exhibitions that took place in Paris that took place at that time. This Church is fascinating indeed, because it looks like a regular Roman church, except that its frame is made of cast iron. See another view here.

Meet Adèle Blanc Sec...

Don't be too demanding on the photo quality today, it is just a pretext to introduce you to Adèle Blanc Sec, a French character from a comic book created by Jacques Tardi, who supposedly lived at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris. She is very famous in France so no wonder Luc Besson made a movie about her. This movie has just been released ans since you probably cannot see it - yet! - where you are, I'll let you discover the stunning web site that was made to promote it. Not only can you see the trailer, but also a little visit through Paris "à la belle époque". All with English subtitles.

Sick day!

Sorry I won't be long today in this caption as I have been attacked by a wicked virus - we call it a "gastro" which is short for Gastroenteritis - and I spent most of the day in bed with a really strong fever (among other symptoms LOL!). I'm not very original though; about 3 million people caught it in France over the past 13 weeks... Nothing serious (although it can kill I read!) but not really pleasant. I thought it was appropriate to post a photo I took some time ago of one of the former entrances of the Hopital Cochin in the 14th arrondissement. They kept it "as is", which I think is a very good idea. Now let me go back to bed ;-)

Love PDP!

I know it's a little tacky, but I could not resist! After all it's Friday, and the news is not too good in Europe (the Euro is dropping and the employement predictions for France in 2010 is as low as in 2003...), so we can do with something light. As for me, I will be going on vacation for 2 weeks starting Monday, and I don't think I'll see much snow where I'm going! But as usual, the "PDP service" won't stop, there will still be a photo for you every day here!

Marchand de couleurs

In French we call Hardware dealers (ironmongers) Marchand de couleurs (color dealers). It does not really mean anything, but we know that in this particular case color does not really mean color but nails, washers and screws... Today though, I passed by a store called Marchand de couleur, that really deals colors! It's located at rue du Maine, near Montparnasse and what they have in their window is obviously really colorful. I could not help but stopping and taking a photo. Too bad they don't seem to have a website.