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... 

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...

Selfie craze!

It's not a very interesting photo for Paris lovers (even though you can see a bit of the background - including to top of the Arch of Triumph! - but I did not resist taking a shot of these two tourists (or so I think!) trying to make the perfect selfie! It took them at least 5 attempts before they managed, even though they're using a GoPro that can be remotely controlled by a phone! I can relate though ;-)) 

Vive la France !

Tonight (Monday) at 6 pm France is going to play a very important soccer/football game against Nigeria. If we fail, we'll be out of the competition. I'm not a big football fan, I already said it, but I like it when France wins! Not too mention that winning at football is also a very good mood enhancer! I photographed this young lady during a previous game, cute, isn't it?

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.

Look at the sky!

This is a typical Paris zebra crossing - that is a recent one, for when I was young we had Passage Cloutés - literally "nailed pathways" that is pedestrian crossings bordered by big nails hammered into the cobblestones. Anyway... I thought this was funny because someone used one of the stripes to write a pretty poetic sentence:  "look at the sky!"

Ghost of a chance...

Odd isn't it? There is no one under this shirt (or rather shirts for there are two), just a pole, like the many ones we have in Paris to prevent cars from parking on the sidewalk. How on earth did these shirts end up there, I will never know, but I really love the effect! Now I have to be frank I did not take this photo myself, but my friend Martine Castro did while she was wandering on the Boulevard Pershing in the 17th arrondissement. I, did not resist stealing it from her ;-) (with her permission).

First color run in Paris

The color run seems to be a pretty well known race throughout the world, but, believe it or not, I had never heard of it. Main reason: it had never taken place in Paris before yesterday! It's a dream event to take cool photos of course... so I did not resist. In the end I selected this one that sums up the event pretty well ;-) Given the amazing number of runners with GoPro cameras, I bet today you can find a zillion video clips of this race on the Net ;-) 

Commemorate what never happened!

You know how in Paris - and in many other cities of course - you can see on several buildings a plaque on which some important historical fact is reported. Like "this was the house of Victor Hugo" or "in front of this wall X people have been shot by the Nazis", etc. Well this one is much funnier! It says "On April 17, 1967, nothing happened here! It's a remain of an art "movement" that took place around 2002: "Celebrate non historical moments", was their (apparently they were two!) intention...

Just married!

On Saturday I was quietly working at my computer when I heard loud music outside my door. I rushed downstairs wondering what it was and it turned out it was a wedding. The young couple had probably just left a church and was heading towards a reception hall, located in Le Passage Jouffroy. Only they had a big music band following them (and their guests!). Huge success ;-) and many smiles on people's faces around them, including me...

Hugs for free!

There may not be free lunches, but there are free hugs, I can assure you! I witnessed this scene in front of La Gare Saint Lazare where these two charming ladies (Kathryn Hudson on the left and my favorite kiwi Roniece on the right) would open their arms to hug anyone who wanted to. It did not last very long as... the SNCF (French railway company) police asked them to give hugs somewhere else! Which they did, with a lot of success! I would never dare doing something like that, so I'm really impressed that they did. Bravo Mesdames ! 

Playing with Metro station names...

You may have already seen Metropolisson if you're interested in what's going on in Paris, but if not you may have a look at some of the content (I'm fortunate enough to have been given it ;-)) Anyway the purpose of this book is to show scenes photographed in the Paris metro that are related visually to the name of the stations. For example, at Rome you can see an Emperor, at Invalides a one legged person, at Champs de Mars (Mars field), an astronaut, etc. Some are easier to figure out than others... I think the idea is great and here is my modest contribution to this fantastic project ;-) "Muette" means "mute", so I guess, this is pretty self explanatory!

Baby anyone?

I saw this at a brocante (a secondhand market) yesterday and it really made me smile. Visiting brocantes and vide-greniers (garage sales) is an occupation that a lot Parisians enjoy doing during the weekend and that is why you can find several of them in each arrondissement. I'm not a big fan, 1) because I never know what is good to buy or not and 2) you need to bargain and I really hate that. But I enjoy looking, at least to take photos (which is not really appreciated actually...)

The "Parizienne" dog!

Look at this beautiful doggy! I photographed him at Place du Marché Saint Honoré, in front of a restaurant called La Parizienne (with a "z" and not an "s"). Having a - real - dog in Paris is not easy, even though about 200 000 people have one: you need to pick up after him and you can get a ticket (up to 450 €!)  if you don't keep him on a leash in the street on in public gardens. 

Paris wine!

Every year, since my friend Roniece made me discover it, I go to the Vendanges du "Château Charonne", a fun event organized by the Café Mélac, named after its (former) owner. Of course the whole thing is just an occasion to party, drink a lot of wine and eat typical food from Aveyron (a region of France). And there is no such thing as a "Chateau" at rue Charonne, just a few grapes that some familiar faces (to PDPers!) have tried harvesting with style! These legs however belong to no one I know, just some random girl who wanted to experience the feeling of crushing grapes! And before you ask, no, we did not drink anything from that bucket!

Happy for you!

It's obviously not for the aesthetic of this scene that I posted this photo today, but because, when I passed at 48 boulevard du Temple yesterday, I could not help but have a second look at this graffito! Was someone that happy to just have had sex that he/she felt compelled to write it in big letters on the wall? Or was it more some wishful thinking?! I guess we'll never know... 

The Paris Syndrome !

This may sound like an April fool's day joke, but apparently it's not! The Paris Syndrome is a - mostly - Japanese disorder that happens when people realize that Paris is not all about sipping wine at a terrace on a quaint square while playing the accordion and dancing with a Parisienne in the middle of the street (even though it happens, like in this photo that I took at the Vendanges de Mélac last September!). According to this article and this Wikipedia entry some people cannot cope with this bad news and are so disappointed that they have to see a psychiatrist... Like I said, it really sounds like a joke.

Let's get married!

"Hurry honey, we don't want to be late, do we?" I can think of a zillion silly caption to go with this photo that I took yesterday around six on the the Pont Louis Philippe - a bridge that goes to the Ile Saint Louis. Of course this couple was not on their way to the church or the town hall, but in between two photo shoots with their photographer! But I thought it was a cute, funny scene. 

Harlem Shake Paris!

Unless you live under a rock, you surely have heard of "the Harlem Shake", this Web "meme" that is currently spreading all over the world. Principle: gather in front of a camera (preferably wearing fancy costumes!) and shake your body erratically! That's all! Don't ask me why it caught on, but it did... To a point that yesterday (Saturday) I witnessed one in front of the Eiffel Tower. I made this little video, for you to see better... Funny as hell (if you like that kind of stuff of course, otherwise, if you think it's silly, I suggest you watch this.

Paris Carnival 2013

It was a busy weekend in Paris! Many exhibitions and two parades: one to celebrate the Chinese new year and another one for the Paris Carnival. For yes, even if it's not exactly like in Rio, we do have a carnival in Paris! I've been following it for a couple of years now and it's always fun. It rained and snowed a bit yesterday so it was not easy for the people to march, but it allowed me to take interesting photos, like this one where you can see the reflection on the pavement. I have many more, but no time to select them yet...