Happy Halloween
These friendly fellows by Olaf Breuning & Bernhard Willham are part of  an exhibit  at the Conciergerie focused on art from 1959 -2009, but they just seem appropriate for today...!

SALONS, SALONS, SALONS


Well fueled on "chocolat" (see previous post below) I headed to Salon de la Photo running concurrently with Salon du Chocolate at Port de Versailles, Paris' big trade show venue, but couldn't pull myself away to yet a third show on home furnishings and gadgets!




Opportunities galore...
For checking out all the latest photo gear - some not even released yet!

Or to have your digital sensor professionally cleaned...

Or to take pictures with that new camera your thinking about buying...

Salon du Chocolat


Whether you want to taste it, bake it, drink it, wear it, buy it, or just admire it, this is the place!

FOOLED


After a hard rain had been swept away by chilling winds, I loaded up my tripod and other gear for what promised to be a colorful and dramatic sunset shoot from Pont des Arts over the Seine.  Just as I locked my Velib and started setting up, dark clouds rolled in to obscure the beautiful light I was chasing...

 But, as usual, Paris had something else to offer.  As we approached the St. Paul Metro we heard the distinctive, lively sounds of a brass band playing....

Don't be fooled by the "TEXAS" sign, these kids were pure French!

Sparks Are Flying


Not 100 paces around the corner from the pampered pooches we encountered workmen repairing pipes.  Sparks were flying as we strolled by.  Seeing what I was doing,  the workmen offered to fire up their laser welding device just so I could get additional pics.  Who says the French aren't friendly!

CINEMA CHIENS 

For years now John has urged me to photograph the varied, ubiquitous dogs of Paris.  So today as we were walking back from lunch he was delighted to spot a pack of canines.  These were certainly not wild dogs, au contraire, these pampered pooches were well trained movie actors being filmed in front of Cathédrale de Notre-Dame des Victoires along with actresses in a variety of fur coats.  

I am always amazed by the casual attitude here... When I asked if I could photograph the hounds, their handler not only agreed, but instructed them to LOOK at me...

The cast and crew seemed to welcome the gawkers strolling through the set as they made their calculations and wardrobe changes....

Paris - always a surprise around the corner....

THE EYES HAVE IT...
These large mysterious eyes started to appear along the quai of Ile St. Louis at the end of September 

and continued across several bridges

These, along with other images were installed for Nuit Blanche, an annual all night festival with venues spread around the city.  

Be sure to note the people on the quai and the bridge to get a sense of the enormity of these images.  Up close, the image itself disappears as the texture of the subject and the stone walls takes over.


This is all part of a much larger project called Women Are Heroes - check it out and watch the videos, particularly the extract for the upcoming movie and the one posted Oct. 8th which shows the mural being applied... It's worth a few minutes!

Chartres


An easy day trip from Paris

Not to be - missed a lecture (1 1/4 hour) by  Malcom Miller,  a charming, humorous scholar!

And a walk through the town with its half timbered houses...

TUILERIES GARDENS

The classical sculptures of the Tuileries garden often shares space with temporary installations of more contemporary works.  This happy fellow, the work of sculptor Ugo Rondinone, is part of his Cycle of the Seasons. 

    

Perhaps he's just enjoying a sunny day and these sailboats with their new sails...

Chunnelling

Paris to London 2 !/2 hours by EuroStar through the “Chunnel” – great way to go!!!!

The London skyline has certainly changed in the nearly ten years since our last visit. In our previous trips here we have generally avoided the City, London’s financial district, but this time we stayed just a few yards from St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, and hardly left the district.

Discovering that it was the weekend of The Mayor’s Thames Festival, we scuttled our schedule and fell in with the locals attending myriad events along the riverbank...

The Feast on the Bridge with it’s food booths, portable gardens, music and events including Grape Stomping, Pumpkin Carving, Hay Toss, Sacred Mayonnaise Ritual, Fire Garden and more...

Followed by the  Night Carnival and Fireworks

The iconic phone booths, double-decker buses and Big Ben still exist…

Alongside the London Eye which provides great views even on a grey day...

 

On a walk through the “new” Trafalger Square, we encountered…. a wedding?

The groom is on the phone and the bride is relaying the vows from the top of a very high plinth… note the safety net!

                                      

Mom is offering a toast

While friends and family celebrate

Too bad the groom is in Malaysia… he missed a great party!!!

UNDERGROUND

It may seem incongruous to think of a cemetery as a park, but that’s just what Père Lachaise Cemetery is to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. There are areas where people come to read, have a quite lunch, or just sit meditatively. Despite the large number of people wandering the “streets”, the atmosphere remains hushed and respectful throughout the crowded jumble of tombs.

Homage is paid to many recognizable names: Oscar Wilde, Abelard & Heloise, Chopin, Maria Callas, Delacroix, Max Ernst, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison (there seems to be confusion and contradiction about whether or not Jim Morrisonn’s remains are still in this grave or have been moved to the US), Sarah Bernhardt, Balzac, Alice Toklas and Moliere, as well as to loved ones known only to family and friends.

Perhaps we had a theme going this week as we also walked through the neatly arranged rows of the Montparnasse Cemetery which has several sculptural monuments created by Niki St. Phalle, just before joining a Paris Walks tour of the Catacombs.