La Lady du Louvre

In the Louvre Gardens, where I passed by yesterday evening, there are several sculptures by Maillol. All of them are absolutely superb - I showed several ones on this blog, but never this one (whose name I forgot to note...). This garden is perfect for a picnic BTW: no cars, beautiful sculptures everywhere and comfy grass!

Striking installation!

The Louvre Pyramid has sheltered the work of artists many times. At the moment, it's a piece by French artist Claude Lévêque who installed a huge red lighting from the top to the bottom. Very impressive and beautiful. I went last evening to photograph it, especially for you! If you want to see it for real, you still have some time... It'll be there until 2015!

Paris yesterday!

A-ma-zing! Spring is one month early in Paris... Spotless blue sky, - almost - warm weather (14°c/57°F) and big smiles on people's face. People who all gathered at cafe terraces to have lunch in the sun (including me LOL!). And this? This is Le Louvre, of course... (But you knew that I'm sure...)

Warm winter

I have only a few days left in Bangkok and pretty soon I'll be back in Paris... I'm not too happy to go back to winter of course, but the good news is that unlike in North America, winter seems to have been - and still to be - pretty mild this year. So mild, this Maillol nymph does not need to wear any clothes! Have a good week everyone.

Cool reflection...

Here is a view of La cour carrée du Louvre, a stunning square located on the Eastern part of Le Louvre. There is a little fountain basin which reflects one of the pavilions that run around the yard. Really beautiful.

Lost and found

Whose glove is this? I'll never know... And I did not even bother bring it to the Lost and Found office of Paris, which is located in the 15th arrondissement (at rue des Morillons, an address that all Parisians have heard of!). In fact that's where all objects (apparently there are 600 to 700 lost objects every day in Paris!) end up eventually, but there is always a transit period where you should first inquire; it all depends on the place where you lost it: public transport, public places, taxis... The Préfecture de Paris has a whole page about it, but stupidly only in French. Being away in a country where I don't understand a word, I now realize how tourists who don't speak French must feel hopeless in France...

Aile de Flore

I did not take this photo today, but a couple of days ago, as I was going home around 7 pm, when the sun was setting. I thought the light was really breath taking. This building is at the end of l'Aile de Flore, a part of the Louvre museum that was built recently (between 1861 and 1866). Part of it shelters the Ecole du Louvre.

Weird encounter

Here is a photo I took under one of the arches of the Cours du Louvre, but I know nothing about this weird encounter! I looked everywhere on the web and could not find a thing! Maybe it's to promote le Au galop parcours, a horse centric journey into the Louvre museum, but I doubt it. Or maybe is it just a prank! 

Ferris Wheel at dusk

It's a classic, but it's still nice to see, especially at dusk. During the summer time, this Ferris Wheel is part of a small amusement park located in the Tuileries gardens, on the Louvre side of rue de Rivoli. I went on it once (in the winter time, when it faces the Champs Elysées) - I don't know if you remember, I already mentioned it here - but I suffered from a terrible vertigo and did not enjoy it, at all! We're still on a long weekend here (Monday is the 15th of August, a day where the Catholics celebrate Vrigin Mary), so let me tell you, Paris is very very calm right now!

April in Paris...

The weather is amazingly hot at the moment in Paris, especially for mid April (+9° centigrade - 48 Fahrenheit - compared to an average month of April!). Terraces are packed at lunch time and people have started invading public fountains. Hence what I saw today at Le Louvre, where it was so hot that people were using the ponds around the pyramid as pools! Looks like summer, really (not that I complain...). I really hope it will remain like this until the PDP picnic!

Christmas is close...

Yes, Christmas is close, as you can see. There are already cadeaux (gifts) everywhere in Paris waiting to be picked up (this one probably belongs to a giant ;-)) No I'm not on drugs, I'm just happy today is my last day at work until January 6th and I'm really looking forward to having some rest. BTW, I photographed this huge canvas on the facade of Le Louvre des Antiquaires, a shopping mall dedicated to antiques, opposite to the Louvre Museum. They obviously are renovating the building (yes, like in yesterday's photo!)

Sunbathing in Paris

I may not be taking any vacation this year, but I still get to lay in the sun right in the middle of Paris (presently near Le Louvre). It's not that bad actually, considering how the city is almost empty and all I hear around me are people talking in everything but French. I feel like I'm a foreigner in my own country! Nice feeling actually. Here is my postcard to you. Wish you ALL were here! ;)

Smiling since 1506

Is she the most admired woman of all times? Well, if you consider the number of people who were willing to kill in order to take a photo of her portrait at the Louvre today (look closely at the reflexion!), I think the answer is definitely yes! And the craze did not start yesterday... But since 1506, as soon as Leonardo da Vinci completed the painting, then later at Versailles, where king Louis the XIVth installed it and, of course later, at the Louvre where it's been sitting since 1804 (with a little interruption due to a theft, between August 21, 1911 and December 10, 1913!). Anyway, even if Monalisa's smile is in every guidebooks and schoolbooks of the planet, seeing it for real is still very moving...

Theme day: No!

Well, it's July 1st, and, as usual it's a theme day within the City Daily Photo community... Guess what, this month's theme is: "post a picture of a sign in your town that includes the text 'no'", like it's easy and/or photogenic?! I had to actually produce the photo(!) with a little help from 1) Aristide Maillol who sculpted these magnificent 3 nympheas, 2) Jacques Froissant, a famous French blogger who brought a piece of paper and a marker, 3) Alexis Hubeau for the art direction and... Laurence Thurion who gathered all these people - and many more - for a Champagne party (you get the picture now, right?! LOL!)

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Walking around the Louvre

Sometimes a photographer can trap another one! That's what I did when taking this shot in the main courtyard of the Louvre where the famous glass Pyramid (that I only photographed once here) was built. This pyramid is also surrounded by several basins that I used in this picture. Have a nice week everyone...

Come on baby come on, take this photo!

I couldn't help smiling when I saw this Nymph in the Louvre gardens 3 days ago. She looks so modern, so inviting, that it's hard to believe she was sculpted in 1930. Anyway as you probably have guessed already her "father" is Aristide Maillol and you cannot miss her if you wander around the Louvre (not far away from the Pyramid). It's Monday, in 2 days I'll be on the plane, far, far away from Paris...

Paris Picnic

What better place to organize a picnic than the Carousel du Louvre, where I already took this photo? Well, that is exactly what I did yesterday, after work, when I attended a blogger gathering. The weather was perfect, the company was very good and the mood was rather festive, as you can see from this photo! For the record, the three people trying to reproduce Rodin's sculpture in the background are famous French bloggers Jacques Froissant, Sophie Januel and Laurence Thurion, the lady with a glass of Champagne in her hand, who is also the organizer. I wish I could organize such a picnic for ALL City Daly Photo bloggers one day...

The woman thinker

I found this statue in the Louvre gardens (or is it still the Tuilerie gardens?), not very far from the pyramid. There is not much to be said about it except that it's absolutely lovely. I don't know who made it and I could not find the info anywhere. If any of you do, please let me know. Anyway, let me wish you a peaceful weekend, mine will be busy working so I should be on my computer a lot!

A bull in a (china) shop

I spent a very very nice evening on the Seine tonight with a few PDP fans who happen to be - or visit - Paris. Someone was kind enough to take a photo but due to a lack of light it's pretty bad so I did not post it here. Instead here is a photo I took not far from where we were, in the Carrousel du Louvre (shopping mall). Not to be confused with this carrousel, it is located just adjacent to the Musée du Louvre, in the basement. There are many shops, some of which are chain stores, and even a food court (the first I’ve ever seen in France!). It is also one of the few places permitted to stay open on Sunday. I wouldn’t recommend you make a special trip there, but if you happen to be visiting the Louvre or the nearby Musée des Arts Décoratifs , it is probably worth a peek.