Bomb alert?!

I just read there was a bomb alert in Paris yesterday and they had to stop all traffic at Place de l'Etoile (Charles de Gaulle) in the middle of the day. A pretty unusual scene needless to say. Now the closest thing to an empty place de l'Etoile I have in stock right now is... this place de la Concorde at night LOL! Don't worry you can still continue coming to Paris though, it was just a scare and nothing happened.

Good old French politics!

Here is another of my discoveries in the Tuileries gardens (if you notice the trees in the background, you will see a certain similarities with yesterday's photo!): a monument to the glory of Pierre Waldeck Rousseau, a French Politician who was appointed Président du Conseil (the equivalent of a Prime Minister) of France in 1899. He was a "Républicain libéral" and he managed to form a government (at that time you needed to make a coalition to form a government  and to make it last... 3 years, which was some kind of a record then. But the real reason why he was granted the honor of a monument was that he introduced the right of association, giving way to trade unions. Update: look at what I found; a photo of the inauguration day!     

Ready for the PDP picnic?

I hear the weather is cold and rainy in Paris at the moment, but I have good hopes it will improve by the end of the week and especially next Sunday when we have the PDP picnic. I still have in mind the usual location (at the end of rue de l'Amiral Coligny, on the river side), but I may change my mind depending on the weather. Stay tuned. In the meantime here is a typical Paris sky photo that I took in the Tuileries gardens. Have a nice Sunday.

Premium graffiti location...

It's been a while since I've shown you a Paris graffiti, so here you go! Nothing as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in Miami, but still impressive ;-) This wall is actually pretty famous, for it's located in the 10th arrondissement, near the Canal Saint Martin (a pretty central area) and very much "in demand"; I'd be very surprised that this work is still there at the moment for I took this photo some time before my departure ;-)  Have a great weekend everyone, wherever you are in the world ;-)

Growing in Paris

Here is another very typical thing of the Paris scenery: tree grids! We Parisians tend to think they've always been there, but in reality they were designed by architect Jean-Gabriel Antoine Davioud during the last century, under Haussmann's "reign". Now things change and the authorities are more concerned about what we call "bio diversity" and the Paris town hall is experimenting new kinds of tree bases. I don't think tree grids will disappear anytime soon though ;-)

Contemplation

I took this photo on the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, a pretty new (1999) pedestrian bridge over the Seine. Well, when I say new, I mean the latest version, as the original one was inaugurated in 1861 (and was called Le pont de Solferino at that time). It's an interesting bridge for it has two entrances (one upper one from the street level and one lower one from the Tuileries gardens), but the real reason why I like this photo is because of what's in it; a middle aged man having a blast listening to his music and contemplating the scenery! If you noticed in the background, the love locks disease has also struck on the bridge!  

Paris Fire hydrant

In all cities you have small details that look totally normal to its inhabitants, but very "different" or "typical" to visitors. Take fire hydrants for example... For a New Yorker or a Bostonian it's part of the scenery, for a Parisian it's so very typical (and the fact that you cannot park in front of them is even more surprising!). Don't ask me why, but we have very few fire hydrants in Paris, most of the firemen water supplies are built in the pavement or some walls. However I managed to find one: at Bercy again (right in front of the Chais, I showed a couple of days ago). 

Cool Reflection (part II)

Here is another of these cool reflection images that the rain helps you take! It's not raining at the moment in Paris - it's a shot I took before my departure - but I "heard" on Facebook several Parisians complaining how bad there weather is, so I thought I'd use this shot for today. I hope the sun will shine for the PDP picnic on May 5! FYI, this is a very well known statue of General de Gaulle by Jean Cardot (that I showed several times here already) inaugurated in 2000. As for me, I left Boston and  I'm currently relaxing a nice 76° F, by the pool somewhere in the US... ;-)

"Chais de Bercy"

On the Eastern part of Paris, there is an ex-suburban areas called Bercy which became part of Paris in 1860. It used to be a huge hub for the wine trade: the wine barrels would be delivered by boat via the nearby river Seine then stored in these huge buildings called chais. The area was very busy and active until the mid 50's after which it turned into a pretty dead zone. Towards the end of the century someone at the town hall decided to turn it to life again. The chais were turned into several interesting spots: a shopping mall, a "food court" and even a theme park.  

The sunny side of Paris

If I'm well informed, at the moment the weather in Paris is nice but a little cold... If I were there today here is what I would be doing: lay in the sun at the Tuileries gardens ;-) That's all! Have a good Sunday everyone.

War times?

Believe it or not there are Hummers in Paris! And not just "small" ones we also have limos! Hence this one that I photographed at rue La Boétie... Needless to say that this kind of vehicles is not exactly adapted to the small streets of Paris nor to the French price of gas/petrol (6,15 € a gallon!) nor even to the Parisian parking spaces that are fitted for European size cars! Have a nice weekend.

Bye bye Paris!

Ooops I'm late posting... I forgot to activate the scheduling tool and my photo did not publish automatically. Anyway, I left Paris yesterday afternoon but I won't leave you without a daily shot of your favorite city of course ;-) To celebrate here is a typical view: sunset on the Alexandre III bridge. I will be more imaginative tomorrow, but for now I just need to sleep!

Spring!

Here I am talking about spring again, but this time not about the season, about this water spring (OK, it's more a fountain than a spring ;-)) that I found this morning in the 11th arrondissement. I did my magic Tenin perspective again and voilà! Much ado about nothing, I know, but still the effect is cool ;-) Facts and figures: there are 498 fountains and 3 official springs in Paris, we're surely not at risk to die of thirst... Off to a little packing now, I have to catch a plane today, remember?

Thinking of Boston

I've quit wondering why people would harm innocent people just because they think they own the truth. They simply do and always will. I happen to have very good friends in Boston - and incidentally will be there in 2 days - and I feel close to this - usually - very peaceful city. I just wanted to pay it and its inhabitants a small tribute by posting a photo of the latest Paris Marathon. 

Almost surreal!

Did I take this photo at night or during the day? Hard to tell isn't it? Well, yes, I took it in broad day light when the sun was shining, only the light was so intense that it increased the contrasts and produced this "full moon reflection effect". I took it at Place de la Concorde, by the Seine (obviously!) where the have a large docking area for boats (imagine living on a boat at Place de la Concorde!). I had a walk there last Sunday hoping to take a few shots (I'm soon going away on vacation so I need to "feed the beast" in advance if I want to make sure there will be a photo a day on PDP while I'm gone!), but all I kept is this one.

Cool reflection

Look at the cool partition I found on the Champs Elysées today! They are obviously building something behind it, but the interesting part (for a photo purpose) is that it reflects the other side of the avenue, the one "in the sun" (which is worth much more than the one in the shade actually!). Of course passers by thought I was crazy to photograph a wall (you can see how intrigued these girls look!) but I don't care. I got the photo I wanted LOL!

The return of... The young girls of Rochefort

Each country has its movies, books, tales... that remain forever in the culture. Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (The young girls of Rochefort) is one of them. It's a 1967 movie by Jacques Demy starring Catherine Deneuve, her sister (the late Françoise Dorléac) and Gene Kelly. It was also one of the first musical that was made in France. Anyway, the thing is that at the moment, at the Cinémathèque de Paris, there is a  Jacques Demy retrospective and to celebrate several people organized yesterday a flashmob in front of the Paris Town hall. It was fun, even though a little bit crowded as you can see! 

Joan of Arc at Saint Augustin

Joan of Arc is a true hero in France so no wonder you find a lot of her statues everywhere. In Paris there are no less than 6 (the one at Place des Pyramides being the most famous one) including this one at Place Saint Augustin (which is also the name of the church you can see in the background). As you can see the weather is clearing up a little Sunday is supposed to be super sunny! I hope it'll remain so until May 5th when we have the PDP picnic this year!

Plénitude

Look what I found in the Bercy area, an area where I rarely go. This stunning statue by Florence de Ponthaud-Neyrat called Plénitude. Plénitude means fullness and I really think the artist did a fantastic job expressing this feeling through her sculpture. Of course the water helps too (this "pond" actually belongs the the Pullman hotel), but even without it you can feel this "fullness". Also, I like the contrast between the modern, square bulding in the background and the smooth curves of the lady ( I was also lucky to have a little ray of sun in the back when I took the photo. have a nice Friday everyone.

Street artist war!

I I already told you about Gregos, the street artist who glues his face (well a cast of his face, like this one) on a lot of walls of Paris. Well some other street artist found a way to use his work and complete it with his own stickers! I thought it was clever and funny. FYI, the bubble on the right is also related to this, it reads "J'ai failli perdre la tête" (I almost lost my head) which is the equivalent to "I almost lost my mind" in English. Last thing, I too this photo in Montmartre, but I'm sure you already recognized this! 

French spring!

I was coming back from near the Eiffel Tower today, when I was suddenly blocked by the Police : no throughway, they said... Then I turned my head and saw that they had totally closed the Pont de l'Alma (in the background)... That is how I realized there was a demonstration nearby and that the Police wanted to prevent them from reaching the French Parliament. I could not help but taking a photo of course... The funny part is that when I did, a guy came closer to me and said: it's the French spring! referring to the Arab revolutions who took place in Spring. I doubt it, but I must say the scene was quite impressive...

Kicking cars out of the city...

Things change... In the 70's, automobiles were very popular in France: the demand was strong, the French car industry was booming and the equipment rate was skyrocketing! This boom led to the need for more  roads... Problem: where do you build roads in a city like Paris that was built several hundred years ago when cars did not exist?! Well... One of the answers was... along the Seine! That's how the Voies sur berges (river bank throughway) were born. Nowadays things are different and cars are much less desirable ! That's why the Paris Mayor decided to... permanently close a stretch of more than two kilometers of the Voies sur berges from the Musée d'Orsay and the Pont de l'Alma, and turn them into gardens and passers by area.

Paris Marathon 2013

It was the Paris Marathon yesterday (Sunday) in Paris and it was also a fantastic day for running (sunny and cold). Like every year, I went by the river banks to take a few photos of runners and selected this one, first because you can see the nice weather and also because you can see this "typical Frenchman with a béret" on the right! Just FYI, the first woman was the Ethiopian Boru Tadese (2 hours 21 min!) and the first man was the Kenyan Peter Some (2 hours 5 minutes). Not bad!

Liberty Equality Fraternity, really?

 France is not a very corrupted country, but from time to time, some newspaper manages to dig out some dirt and find something. At the moment, precisely, there is huge scandal in France because an investigation website discovered that the (now ex!) minister in charge of the budget had an account in tax heavens havens (namely Switzerland then Singapore). I found this funny sign on the Pont des Arts (it makes fun of the French Republic motto), and I thought it was very timely (AND offers a nice view on the Seine ;-))

Poubelles!

Yes, these are garbage cans/dustbins! No, it's not very glamour, but I found them pretty attractive with their bright colors (each of them matching a certain type of garbage of course). I photographed them at Bercy Village, where they have a huge movie theater (the modern building behind the garbage cans actually belongs to this movie theater). One funny fact to end this caption: in French we call garbage cans "poubelle" after the name of the Paris chief police who "invented" them in 1884: Eugène Poubelle (he actually "invented" the collection of garbage in Paris). 

Somebody stop the rain please!

Ask any Parisian what he thinks of the weather at the moment and he will probably go "pfffffff" and raise his/her eyes meaning "I cannot take this cold and this rain anymore!". And believe me, that is exactly how I would behave if you asked me the question! There is a upside to it though: it allowed me to make this cool photo... You will all have recognized the Place Saint Sulpice I'm sure... And no, the lady in the photo is not Catherine Deneuve, even though she lives right there, in one of the buildings in the background!

Posterity!

Originally, I did not take this photo because of the guy in the foreground, but because I liked the perspective and because you can see a bit of the canal Saint Martin in the background. And then I looked up the guy's name (Frédérick Lemaitre) on the web and found out that he used to be an actor and was apparently famous during the 19th century (he was born in 1800). Then it made me think of posterity and the reason(s) why you remain in people's memory (and not just a on a bust at a crossing of course LOL!). Sorry, I'm talking nonsense today, I had a hard day;-)

Flower 2.0!

Who said nothing grows on concrete! Look at what I found at La Defense, the business district of Paris where there is far more concrete than grass! OK... They are not real flowers, but flowers made of recycled plastic bottles that are part of an exhibition by Pierre Estève. It's also a "crowdsourcing" event, where everyone is invited to contribute and bring their own bottles! Cool isn't it?

Unchain my heart!

You all know about these love locks that lovers attach to Le Pont des Arts (and now a lot of other bridges and not only in Paris!) - see this article in the NY times for more. Well, I passed by it yesterday, found this little breach in it and thought it was very symbolic. As many point out, love is not supposed to be a chain - nor a lock for that matter - but you're supposed to stay together out of freewill ;-)

Pedestrian crossing

It's April 1st, I should be posting an April fools' day prank, but no... Remember on every 1st of the month it's a theme day within the CityDailyPhoto community and... well today's theme is: pedestrian crossings. We no longer have passage cloutés (nailed crossings) like this one in Paris; they have all been replaced by zebra crossings like the one in this photo. Not very typical Paris, I agree, but theme compliant! One important thing: unlike in most civilized countries in the world, pedestrians don't have the right of way in Paris (they legally do, but not in the mind of Parisian drivers!), so don't expect that cars will stop for you! Please, have a look at all  pedestrian crossings all over the world!