Statue of a Grisette in Paris 11th arrondissement

Don't go thinking this picture was taken somewhere in the country. I took it right in the middle of the 11th arrondissement, in the Jules Ferry garden. The statue represents a "Grisette" (that is what young female workers were called at that time) in 1830 and it was made in 1909 by Jean Descomps. For your information, in 1830, the average annual working time of a worker (male or female) amounted to a little more than 3 000 hours. Nowadays it amounts to 1 620 hours.

La Géode in La Villette park

If you come to Paris, I suggest you pay a visit to le parc de La Villette, (La Villette Park) a vast 55-hectare green area located on the north-east of Paris. You will find many interesting spots including La Géode that you can see here. La Geode is a... movie theatre entirely devoted to the projection of large scale films on its giant 1 000 m2 hemispheric screen.

The French say "no" the the European constitution

Today the French had to vote for or against the European Constitution. 55% of them rejected it.

Lock on the Canal St Martin

OK, OK you probably heard that Amsterdam, Bruges (in Belgium) or Venice were THE cities of canals... Well all wrong! It's Paris ! No I am just kidding, we only have a couple of canals here but it's enough to spend a pleasant afternoon on their banks. Yesterday I walked down one of them - the Canal Saint Martin in the 10th arrondissement that runs from La Villette all the way down to the Seine River - and I have been lucky enough to see one of the locks in action (I could not help shooting a little video - a Premiere on Paris daily photo!). Hope it will work and that you'll enjoy it.

Metro, hard Rock Cafe and other signs of civilisation!

When different cultures mix... I won't say where I took this photo because some people will complain it is still in the same neighbourhood! - but I like the idea of gathering on the same picture the Metro (Paris public transportation - by the way if you come to Paris you will find this address very useful) and the Hard Rock Café. Today is Saturday I have two days to wander around the city and bring you more pictures...

Paris Hilton!

Yes, people, for us Parisians, the simple life is here: a couple of hundred meters from the Eiffel Tower... For those of you – evil! - who could think I may have taken this photo in order to get more hits from Google I will simply say: absolutely not! If it were so I would have used words such as naked, nude, breast, blonde… in the caption!

Parenthèse Végétale in Le Printemps window shop

Definitely a must see if you come to Paris before June 6th. It's an exhibition called Parenthèse Végétale – (literally Vegetable Parenthesis) and it takes place in the window shops of Le Printemps, a big department store located on 64 Boulevard Haussmann (9^th arrondissement). The various sceneries were composed by Mélanie Drevet et Christophe Ponceau and they stage grass, farm animals, trees, etc. A fantastic work. To know more, pay a visit to Le Printemps site. View original picture.

By the way, this photo is the first one I took with the new camera I bought yesterday!

Vertical garden

In 2006, not far from the Eiffel Tower (quai Branly, in the 7th arrondissement to be exact) a new museum will open. It will show Arts from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. This photo shows one of the buildings that will be part of this museum (which will occupy 39 000 square meters!) and on which Patrick Blanc had planted a vertical garden... this unique garden is made of over 15 000 plants of 1500 species and spreads on a surface of 800 square meters. By the way, I did not take this photo myself (I still did not have the time to buy a new camera!) but a friend of mine (Stéphane Lelouis) did. Many thanks. View original picture.

Eye catching eye!

I took this photo on the Avenue de la Grande Armée one evening on the way back from work. The eye you can see is actually part of a commercial that runs on a giant screen in a window shop. It's quite impressive.

Fontaine Stravinski near Beaubourg Center

On the side of the Beaubourg Center in the 3rd arrondissement you cannot miss this fountain which is really extraordinary (well according to me...). It's real name is "la fontaine Stravinski" (and not Beaubourg Fountain as everybody calls it!) for it is located Place Stravinski and it was created in 1982-83 by Jean Tinguely and his wife Niki de Saint Phalle.

French policemen on a bicycle

This all terrain brigade was created in 1997 to monitor the two woods (Boulogne and Vincennes) around Paris. They have been so successful that now you can see them everywhere in Paris. Here I took them in the 15th arrondissement, in the Citroën gardens right before one of the two green houses.

Artist on the Pont des arts

Artist on the pont des arts (arts bridge).

Frenchmen with berets - but no baguette!

Who said French people don't wear berets anymore? Ok, these two "samples" might not represent the younger part of the French population but still!

Added on June 08, 2005:
I am told these are not berets, but regular caps. Sorry for the confusion...

Selfportrait

I lost my camera last Friday so I have to live on my stock until I buy a new one or... use the one of others! Precisely, last week-end I had a picnic around Paris with some Friends and they took this picture. For once today I am IN the picture! (And so are my friends in the reflection!)

Detail of the beer drinking statue

It uses an antique tool to hold the can!

Thirsty statue before the town hall

Even statues can be thirsty! Today I offer you two pictures for the price of one! I took them just by the Hotel de ville (Paris town hall) - where, of course, as you can see in the background there is also a giant Paris 2012 Olympics sign. For any weird reasons this statue holds two "chop sticks" in it's hand and someone slipped a can of bear in between...

Crossing the street in Paris

People on a zebra crossing by the Galeries Lafayette.

Old bicycle in the Peugeot window shop

If you walk down the Avenue de la Grande Armée on the 16th arrondissement side you will see this bike in the Peugeot windowshop which was originally built in 1899 - precisely by the Peugeot brothers. Although it's hard to see on this photo what makes it very innovative is that the transmission between the pedals and the back wheel is made through a gear system and not a chain. Now Peugeot is mostly a car manufacturer...

Grands Boulevards

I took this photo on the Grands boulevards which marks the limit between the 9th and the 2nd arrondissement.

Bistrot du boucher (Butcher's "diner")

I had dinner in this excellent restaurant with a couple of friends yesterday evening and I had a very nice time. It's located in the 18th arrondissement just nearby the Cimetière de Montmartre (Montmartre graveyard) where a lot of famous French writers and artists are burried.