Paris Beckons.....

What could be better than celebrating your birthday in Paris?  Was she singing "Joyeux anniversaire"...?

Doing What We do Best..

Meals, Markets & Museums

Our favorite "high end" restaurant in Paris...

Table Joel Robuchon

Great food, great value!

If you need "a little something", there's always a market going on somewhere in Paris

Not even a dismal drizzle can deter determined tourists!

Nous sommes revenus à Paris!
(We have returned to Paris!)

Veuillez nous joindre pour une visite virtuelle…
(Please join us for a virtual visit...)

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What better place to take a cure-your-jet-lag stroll on a sunny day than in the impressive Jardin des Plantes?

Followed by an evening visit to Place St. Catherine, just behind our Marais apartment.  It's a placid little pocket-park ringed by bistros and always busy!

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....

Velib’

Velo (bike) + liberté (liberty or free) = Velib’ (Paris’ system of “free” bikes. Read more about them here )

So, here’s the look John gave me when he saw that I had fastened my camera to the basket of my Velib….

Stay tuned for more results as I continue to experiment with this concept of a bike’s-eye view. 

BLESSED BY GANESH

I knew I was in trouble when the bus driver announced that he was skipping the next 4 or 5 stops due to the “manifestation”. I had already broken my two cardinal rules for photographing parades:

1. Go at least one day before to get the lay-of-the-land, the light and the vantage points.

2. Get to the gathering point at least one hour before the start of the parade.

So, when all the sari clad women exited the bus, I followed. Ganesh, the god of opportunity and success, had already begun to work his magic! As I wove through the crowds I paused momentarily to receive a “pottu”, or painted red dot on my forehead as a blessing, which I really needed moments later when the crowd turned into a crush with cries of “doucement, doucement!” (gently, gently! or in this case, “take it easy!”) rising from the street. It was one of those moments when your thoughts begin with “Lord, if I ever get out of here…”

But, blessed by Ganesh, I got out and back in – close enough to get these images AND a gold pottu…

Namaste

DO YOU BELIEVE IT?

Less than a week has gone by and we’ve gotten back on the train!!!!

This time we’re off to Dijon for a day trip. Come along and visit some of the city’s half-timbered buildings which, fortunately, escaped destruction through various wars and fires.

Check out the fine details in carvings and metal work….

Or the arched ceilings of the ducal kitchen…

As well as the soaring columns of the gothic cathedral…

Then cool off in the modern fountains in front of the Duke’s Palace….

Tea Time

After a walk through Les Jardins des Plantes we always enjoy an energy boost from the Salon de thé at the Paris Mosque.

And these little fellows are eager to help finish your baklava or pistaches avec noix de coco....

Irresistible…

On the long trek from Stockholm to Paris I declared that I fully intended to veg out for at least our first two days in Paris, but after a few basics like grocery shopping, a good lunch and a short nap, who can resist the lure of a stroll under the baroque Parisian sky of a late summer evening?  So we were off to Tino Rossi Park, officially known as Musée de la Sculpture en Plein Air, where on warm summer evenings crowds gather to dance.  Swing, Salsa, Tango – each in its own area of the Quai St-Bernard.