Love in the air

Summer in Paris, what else?! I photographed this cute couple in Les Tuileries last week; they really looked in love. I was unable to tell if they're French, but I would tend to think they are. Have a love-ly day!

Love!

It's been a while since I've posted a photo of lovers... I found these ones at the tip of l'île de la Cité (where Notre Dame is) in a little garden that is worth going to in the summer (it's very quiet and you can sit on the grass!). But when you're in love you don't care about the outside temperature, do you?!

Conciergerie lovers

It's been a while since I've shown you lovers... So here you go! I found them last Sunday in front of La Conciergerie and thought they were just perfect! That's all ;-) Have a love-ly day everyone!

Happy Valentines Day

"Make love not war", was the slogan you could hear in the 60s... Well, if you look at this graffito, it looks like the two are compatible LOL! To be quite frank I did not notice the machine gun in the hands of the angel at first and I saved this photo thinking "this would make a  perfect photo to celebrate lovers' day! On a second thought it might not be that appropriate... ;-) Anyway, let me send you all my love, wherever you are in the world.

Back to Paris

After 5 days in Vence, near Nice in the South of France, I'm back to Paris and to its casual scenes! I took this photo on the Canal Saint Martin and thought it was a perfect "welcome back photo" even though it's not a super original photo; after all, this is not the first couple I caught in my lens is it?! And probably not the last one either... City of love, they say!

Love souvenir!

Cute photo isn't it? I took it at Les Pont des Arts, where, like I already reported several times, lovers from all over the world who come to Paris, attach a lock to the grid  as a symbol of their love. There are a zillion of them now, and the Paris town hall often has to remove them or to replace parts of the grid. That's probably what happened there and these two people were lucky enough to be the first to attach their lock right after the grid was replaced! This was definitely worth a souvenir photo!

Pont des arts padlocks

I passed by the Pont des arts today on my way to La cité de la mode (I'll show you why later) and every time I go there, I'm amazed by the increasing number of padlocks that lovers from all over the world attach to the grids. I read that the Paris Town hall is not too happy about it, but that there is not much they can do - especially with the large padlocks! As you can see from the way people are dressed, it was pretty chilly today - but not as cold as I expected.

Popping the question...

The weather is soooo depressing in Paris at the moment (I feel sorry or the tourists!) that I refuse to use a photo du jour! Instead, let me offer you this very rejoicing one that I actually took last year at Beaubourg, when the sun was still shining. FYI, there are several companies that can organize marriage proposals for you... like this one for instance ! Hint, hint?!

Love!

I'm not in Paris today, but I know the sun is shining. And I know that there must be plenty of lovers by the Seine... Now tell me you would not like to be in their shoes! See here the next episode...

It's a Seine world, after all!

Whereas the world has been preoccupied with recent events in Pakistan, this couple has other things on their mind... What could be more important in life than spending an afternoon with a loved one along the Seine?Let's leave it at that ;-)

Happy Valentine 2011

I spent most of my Sunday working and I did not even have the time to go out and take a photo for Valentine's day... I dug into my stock (and God knows it's huge!), but could not find anything as good as this or this... In despair(!) I found this, a photo that I took after the last PDP picnic in June and that I already partially published. Anyway, let me wish a happy Valentine's day to all lovers and more particularly to these two who will probably look familiar to you ;-)

Inspiring

Do I really need to write a caption? They came to Paris, they were in love, they wanted to shout it loud, they chose to write it down on the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar Senghor. That is all ;-)

Love in the air

Besides jogging along the Seine, another favorite summer "sport" of a lot of people is... cuddling on a bench in a public garden. Don't go thinking this has any influence on the "baby season" (that is, the period of the year we, French, have the most babies). A study revealed today, that there is almost no more baby season, unlike 30 years ago... BTW I took this photo at the Luxembourg Gardens and I was afraid to point my camera at them. You never know, they might be an illegitimate couple!

Love Locks

I just discovered something new in Paris last evening. Something that has apparently been going on for several months already but that I was not aware of: love locks on the Pont des arts ! Principle: young (and less young!) couples come to the bridge with a lock, write - or engrave - their names on it and lock it to the Ponts des arts grid! Silly, maybe, but sooooooooo romantic. There are hundreds of them attached to the bridge already but there is still room. Hurry!

Paris, the city of love!

Paris, the city of love? Well, isn't that obvious, when you see these two "tourtereaux" (turtledoves) that I photographed in front of Rosa Bonheur? "Rosa" is a former Guinguette located in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont and it is currently one of the most successful bars/restaurants in Paris. At night (not everyday, you need to check on their site first) the terrace is overcrowded and you'll be lucky if you can grab something to drink. But isn't that all the fun? I guess, for I only experienced it off peak hours!

They do, they do!

How about a little love story to end this week? A few weeks ago I met young entrepreneur Carsten for a drink to talk about Paris Sharing, a place where visitors can not only find a real Parisian home to rent for a short period, but also share their experience with others. I also learned that he was going to get married to a true Parisian, Isabelle, some time in August. "Come and take a few pics if you have the time", he said. So I did! It's hard to take wedding photos without falling into the usual clichés (well, I find it hard!). Among the zillion I took, I selected this one that I took on the way out from the Salle des mariages at the town hall. Toutes mes félicitations aux nouveaux mariés ;-)

Le baiser de Beaubourg

OK, this is not Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville of course, but I took this photo not very far from where the one by Doisneau was taken, and I can guaranty you that this one is not staged! I saw this couple and thought, "That's nice". But they kept going at it for about 25 minutes straight! Enough time to take a photo I'd say. When they were finished, they both pulled out a cigarette! Happy Valentine day everyone.

Personal Message

Paris is such a romantic city that people feel compelled to shout their love throughout the streets! Am I exaggerating? Yes, a little bit, but come to think of it, I'd like to believe it! Besides, do you remember this post from 2005?!

I met them!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I did meet Manu and Smitha, the young couple that moved you - us - so much these days. Where did I meet them? Well, I'm sure you can easily guess from the background of this photo... No wonder Manu did all this for his future wife; she's absolutely adorable. Anyway, they promised they would post something on PDP when they return to DC (that is where they're from), that is today Sunday. I wish them a very happy life - and thank them for the delicious macarons from La maison du chocolat they offered me!

Will you marry me?

I'm sure that once you've read this story, you'll go "Awwwwwww!" On March 6th, I received an email from a young man in the U.S., Manu. He said something like, "My girlfriend, Smitha, and I have been reading your blog every day for the past two months in preparation for a trip to Paris. What she doesn't know is that I plan on proposing to her while we are there, in front of the Eiffel Tower. Could you happen to secretly be there to take a photo of us and then we can surprise her by publishing it on your blog?" My romantic soul couldn't resist, so, we arranged for a time and place (for me, this is the best place to propose in Paris!), and there I was last night (Monday) at 7:45 pm sharp on the Passerelle Debilly. By the way, we did not even talk. All this was to remain a secret until today! - so I don't even know if she said yes. I'm pretty sure she did though...who could resist a fiancé who does all this to win the heart of his wife-to-be? P.S. My camera could have done with a little more light, for sure, but it's enough to keep the memory.