The End!

Here we are...! It's been nearly 10 years, though it seems like just yesterday, when I started posting a photo a day of Paris on this blog after I was given a digital camera for my birthday.

It's been a wonderful experience, for many reasons. The main one being the many encounters that it allowed me to make; people from all over the world that became friends. The second reason why I’m grateful to PDP is that it allowed me to improve my photography skills. I had never had any interest in taking photos, but this daily routine forced me to get into it and improve my technique. I still don’t consider myself as a “real” photographer, but I have to admit that I’m proud of some of my shots. And the third reason is more of a personal achievement. I often think of myself as a quitter, someone who starts many things and stops when he is fed up or after the first difficulty arises. Well, after almost 10 years of not missing a single post, here is at least one occasion where I can call myself “a finisher”.

I’ve had the pleasure and honor to photograph everything from street protests to well known Paris monuments, I have also been asked to photograph wedding proposals and traveling monkeys, I’ve been the creator of what you’ve coined the "Tenin perspective" which really began as an easier way to get down on the ground to photograph silly things like gutters and dog poop! And last, but not least, I also had the great pleasure of picnicking along the Seine with PDP followers from around the world every year .

But things do change. For many reasons I've decided to leave Paris and settle down in Senglea, Malta on December 1st, 2014, which makes it difficult to continue this blog - even until its official 10 year anniversary. I would like to thank you all for your presence during these years (some of you have been following PDP - and commenting - since the dawn of “blogging time!”),  wish you good luck for the future - starting with a wonderful 2015, and of course to find a nice replacement for PDP.

I also have a few special thoughts for all of my fellow CDP bloggers - the ones that are crazy enough to do the same in their own city! I wish them good luck for the future and remember not to miss a theme day!! and connect regularly to the portal! So now it’s only fitting that I end this adventure with a photo of the city I truly love as do so many of you. I took it on a summer night from the top of the Montparnasse Tower.

 Au revoir et à bientôt and don’t forget to stay in touch on Facebook.

Grosses bises.

PS : for those of you who are asking for a Malta Daily Photo, well, there won't be one (at least not by me), but stay tuned, I'm sure to come up with something... ;-)

Pine tree at the Eiffel Tower

Between the last minute gifts to buy, the "stuff" from the pharmacy that you can only find in France!, the unavoidable trip to Ikea (to see what kind of kitchens they have!) and the family gatherings, I haven't had a single minute to take a live photo (no kidding!). Today I managed to take a one hour break and since I was passing by the Eiffel Tower, I noticed this weird and sudden pine trees field underneath it ;-) So here you go! Cute... 

Au revoir Paris

I had to use an Eiffel Tower photo for my last day in Paris! When you read this post I'll be on a plane to Malta, where I'm going to relocate for "a certain amount of time". I'll tell you more when I have more time, for, as you probably noted I haven't been very responsive lately due to the amount of stuff I had to cope with for my move. I passed ET it today, as I was heading towards my father's home to kiss him goodbye. Not an easy moment. Anyway, Malta is just 2:40 hours away from Paris, so I'll be back sooner than later! Now you may wonder what I'm going to do with PDP... Well for now I have decided to continue until the end of the year. I'll use some old unpublished photos. Stay tuned.

Sunset on the Eiffel Tower

Probably the most classic photo you can ever take in Paris, but I could not resist!

Pretty sky

I passed by the Ecole Militaire last evening and stopped to take a photo thinking the sky was really nice. I took it from the Mur pour la paix, a monument that was inaugurated in 2000 and is now in a pretty bad shape (most of the glass is broken). The whole area looks like a war zone actually, I really wonder what they are doing. The view is still cool though ;-)

Playing hide and seek with ET

I had a "dinner party in town" yesterday evening and I passed by the Pont Alexandre to go to it. The sky was beautiful, the weather very nice and I really wondered how I could take another photo from this bridge without repeating myself... And then I thought of lowering my camera and shoot from in between the bars. I kinda like the result even though the photo is a bit blurry!

A market with a view

Here are two Paris clichés for the price of one: the Eiffel Tower and a street market! Well it's rather the installation in view of a street market for I took this photo yesterday evening and, of course, the market was long time closed. It makes a cool photo though ;-) BTW the market is on avenue de Saxe, not far from Place de Breteuil

Still there!

I had dinner at Café Kléber near the Trocadero with a group of student from Miami University and on the way out, I could not help but taking a walk on the esplanade. Of course, I took a photo ;-)

Eiffel lace

I think I already posted a similar photo of the Eiffel Tower a long time ago with the exact same title, but what can I say, I find this ridiculously beautiful even though it's just a bunch of iron beams and a few rays of sun!

Super heros!

Look what I found at the Eiffel Tower! From what I understood theses guys are rugby players and they won the Brennus Shield, a trophy awarded to the winners of the French rugby union domestic league. So I take it they were so proud of it they had to celebrate and show off in front of ET! I had a good laugh anyway. Have a great Saturday everyone, I'll be making a little Animoto with my white dinner party photos.

Back to Paris

So many things have happened in Paris, while I was away, including the visit of the Queen of England (after the commemoration of D-Day in Normandy) -  see stunning photos here, that I have to go back! I was in Malta, a small island in the South of Sicily and I had a wonderful time - I'll be back for sure. You know how I like to show something typical Parisian like the Eiffel Tower, after I've been away for a while. So here it is, with two lovers being photographed in front of it!

And the top 100 most expensive Paris streets are...

Tempted to move in Paris to start a new life or to retire? Well, you'd better play the lottery first, because a magazine just released the top 100 most expensive Paris streets list and, well, the least you can say is that some of them are out of reach of most people (especially Parisians LOL!). This year (for yes, it changes every year) the most expensive arrondissement is the 7th (near the Invalides), and especially the Quai d'Orsay where each square meter costs 17 000 € on average... If you're poor and can't afford it, you might try finding a deal in the cheapest street of this list, the rue de La Sourdière in the 1st arrondissement, where a square meter only costs 10 961 € (I told you: a real bargain!). More (in French only) on the magazine's site.

Contemplating ET!

I went to the Trocadero esplanade yesterday and simply took this photo. Nothing extrordinary, but I like it because you can almost hear how these four ladies talk about the Eiffel Tower and how happy they are to have made the trip (maybe I'm totally wrong and they're saying "what?! So this is the famous Eiffel Tower everyone is talking about?! We should have stayed home!" LOL Happy Eiffel Tower Sunday everyone... 

When the Eiffel Tower has an earth hour moment...

Like a thousand monuments in the world, last evening the Eiffel Tower participated in the Earth Hour ("one hour for the planet" in France). Only "for security reasons" (really?!) the Eiffel Tower hour only lasted.. 5 minutes. But it made it to the news, so I suppose it was enough to raise the awareness of many people on the necessity to turn off the lights when not needed! I'll be honest, I did not take this photo while the lights were out, but a long time ago. I just thought it was perfect for the occasion...  

Pollution alert!

Paris is still the world's top tourist destination (well the Londoners find it hard to believe ;-)), but it may also be one of the most polluted cities. Look at this photo I took at the Trocadero yesterday; can you see how "foggy" it is? Well it's entirely due to the pollution which, at the moment, is pretty high. An NGO has even pressed chargers, claiming that the Government does not take enough measures to fight pollution and that it is responsible for the premature deaths of many people! [Sorry for the jpeg compression effect on the right - where the sun is - it's not the pollution, but Blogger!]

A good ole classic!

Yes, I know, you've seen this a million times already, but I could not help stopping and taking this shot last evening, as I was coming back from a dinner party at my niece's! Have a good weekend everyone.

Eiffel Tower Anyone?

When I see the poor guys trying to illegally sell Eiffel Towers near all the tourist areas I always think to myself, "Who on earth would buy an ET from them? - besides Suzy of course!! (<--private PDP joke)" And though, it works. I had to wait several minutes before I could take this photo without anyone blocking the view! Kids love them too and a lot of parents give in and pay a Euro or two to put a smile on their children's face ;-). As you probably guessed, I took this photo in the Tuileries gardens, near the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.

Releasing balloons by the Eiffel Tower...

More Eiffel tower today! But this time it's for a purpose... Yesterday (Friday), there was a gathering on the Trocadéro esplanade to raise awareness on two French journalists (Didier François et Edouard Elias) who have been abducted in Syria 6 months ago. I heard on the radio that they planned to release balloons in front of the Eiffel Tower on this occasion, so of course I was tempted to go. And I did... And did not regret it, for what I saw was really beautiful. Have a great weekend and enjoy your freedom. 

The big one?

When I say "the big one" I don't mean an earthquake, of course, but... a big flood! For look on the right side of  photo; the Seine goes all the way to the wall, whereas there is normally a walking area down there... This year the overflowing of the Seine has started much earlier than usual and I was reading before my departure that they ("the flooding authorities") worry about the "floods of the century" (the last one took place in 1910). The damages would be terrible...

A bridge with a view...

I was desperately looking for a photo op last evening and I could not find any! I even thought of leaving a blank space for once... And then I passed by the Pont Alexandre III! I know I probably posted this view a dozen times, but there is always a new angle, a different light or color! I don't think you can ever get tired of this view ;-) I'm sure this Neva river Nymph is not!