Hands down

Last night I was coming home as usual, but I had no idea of what my photo du jour was going to be... Then, I walked into a little passage called Le Passage Molière in the 3rd arrondissement. There, on the left hand side, I came across the cutest shop on earth called Des Pieds et des Mains ("feet and hands"), which has a double entendre name - "to make a lot of effort". Anyway, this shop specializes in plaster or bronze casts for hands and feet , whether they belong to famous people, grown-ups, or babies. A wonderful idea. FYI, it costs 150€ for a child's hand or foot, 250€ for a grown-up's hand,and 300€ for a foot. (I can see the jokes starting already!)

The little shop near Saint Roch

I know this looks like a movie set... And though, it's a real shop where you can buy genuine antiques and enjoy a chat with a real nice shop owner! This tiny boutique is located on rue Saint Roch, in the 1st arrondissement and it was created in 1638. The owner, Roger, is about to turn 80 and he really is in good shape. I had a wonderful chat with him for about half an hour during which he got interrupted several times by the neighbors who obviously all know him. Sometimes I wonder why I do this PDP thing and one of the reasons (in addition to your lovely feedback of course) is that I get to meet people I would never meet otherwise.

Equus caballus eatus...

OK, I know this post will trigger lots of negative reactions, but I still have to post it: I photographed this horse head above the shop of a horse meat butcher. For yes people, in France, people DO eat horse meat! Oh c'mon, why would it be OK to eat beef or veal and not horse meat?! Not to mention, that according to horse meat eaters - it is very tender and good..

Meet the French butchers

The French eat quite a lot of meat (about 110 grams per day on average) and mostly beef (a recent study shows that 82% of the French say they have eaten beef at least once during the week). No wonder you can find a butcher practically at every corner in Paris, almost as many as bakers... I am not a big meat eater, but I must say I have a lot of respect for these guys who work really hard and can select a good piece of meat when you ask them.