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 It's always hard to select a picture among 365 especially when it's supposed to be your best one. There are photos you like because they remind you of a specific situation, others that were particularly hard to take... Viewers don't want to know about all this, they just see a photo and think "I like it" or "I don't". Anyway... This year I ended up selecting a photo that I took at Paris Plage, last summer. Go there, if you want to read the original caption. And BTW, I hear we are turning the 2007 page today, so let me wish you all a wonderful new year ;) Today, like every first of the month, is a City Daily Photo theme day. 117 City Daily Photo bloggers have also posted their best photo of the year. Please pay them a visit (but keep in mind that due to time differences all photos don't show at the same time).Paris, France - London, England - Hyde, UK - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Grenoble, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Riga, Latvia - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - New Orleans (LA), USA - Wichita (KS), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Francisco (CA), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Mainz, Germany - Melbourne, Australia - Portland (OR), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Toulouse, France - Naples (FL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Brussels, Belgium - Stayton (OR), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Nashville (TN), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Prescott (AZ), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Philadelphia (PA), USAEvry, France - Trujillo, Peru - Arlington (VA), USA - Denpasar, Indonesia - American Fork (UT), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Coral Gables (FL), USA - Montpellier, France - Joplin (MO), USA - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Boston (MA), USA - Torun, Poland - New York City (NY), USA - Dunedin (FL), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Chateaubriant, France - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Budapest, Hungary - Austin (TX), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Cypress (TX), USA - Bicheno, Australia - Wrocław, Poland - Brookville (OH), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Cheltenham, UK - Wellington, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - London, UK - Haninge, Sweden - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Arradon, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Mumbai, India - Terrell (TX), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - Delta (CO), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Saigon, Vietnam - San Diego (CA), USA - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Belgrade, Serbia - Auckland, New Zealand - Seguin (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA - Oslo, Norway - Singapore, Singapore - Las Vegas (NV), USANew York City (NY), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Torino, Italy - Susanville (CA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - -
 Here we go! Today is the last day of the year and I thought of posting this "newspaper lady" that I found yesterday in the Beaubourg area on my way to the hardware store! It must have been a lot of work to create this piece of art for her "dress" is actually made of newspaper directly glued to the wall. Love it. Shame it's not signed - or I did not see the signature. If anyone knows the artist, please let me know. Don't forget tomorrow is the 1st of the month, therefore a city daily photo bloggers theme day; we are all (so far 101 participants throughout the world!) supposed to post our best photo of the year... Hold your breath!
 Not far from the Beaubourg Center, there is a nice little theater called " Le théâtre du Renard" (the Fox Theater), which is not very well known even though it is very pretty inside. Its name comes from the name of a street where it's located, la rue du Renard which used to be a prostitution area under Louis the 9th (in the middle ages).
 The quality of this photo is terrible - sorry for that - but I still decided to publish it because what matters here is the symbol. The lady on the screen is Ingrid Betancourt and she has been a hostage in Colombia for 6 years now (I already posted a photo about her, here)... The authorities often remind us of her, like you can see on this photo of the Parliament (Assemblée Nationale) where they installed a huge screen showing her. Recently there has been good hopes that she could be freed but so far, she is still a prisoner.
 Here is a nice little fresco called "the Arrival of a Circus in a Country Village" entirely made by the children of the Clichy Trinité quarter (an area of Paris located in the 9th and 18th arrondissement) under the guidance of Paule Pointreau, a teacher specializing in teaching fine arts to children. This fresco is located in front of "La Trinité" church (where I took the black and white photo 2 days ago) in order to hide works.
 Remember the train photo I took last week? I told you it was for an exhibit in Le Grand Palais (the 70 year anniversary of the National French Train Company). Well I went to see this exhibit and it was fun - I even got to see the inside of the locomotive I shot the other day. They also display things that are train related, like station furniture or even ticket controllers' uniforms and caps, as you can see on this photo! A nice change from Christmas scenes... If you want to see more photos, here is a little animated diaporama made with a little help from the guys from Animoto!
 This photo could have been taken in the 50's, when there were still few cars in Paris... In fact, I took it two days ago, Place d'Estienne d'Orves, on Christmas Eve, while a lot of Parisians had deserted the city to spend some time with their family in the provinces (most "Parisians" originate from the provinces). I'm just back from Normandy, quickly read the nice comments you left yesterday and the day before yesterday. Thank you very much.
 It's officially Christmas and even though I do not have access to a computer where I am at the moment, I wanted to wish you a good one with this very inviting Santa I found in the window of a café not far from my home. "My" Santa brought me... a new lens for my camera, so you know what that means... more photos for the year to come. When I think I used to hate taking pictures!
 I know this café looks like it was especially designed for a set in a movie (even the light looks like it originates from a projector!). And though, I swear I took it this morning close to the Notre Dame de Lorette church! I thought it was perfect for a Christmas eve photo. I'm on my way to Trouville (Normandy) for a family gathering but I'll be back soon - very soon! Have a nice Christmas dinner - if you celebrate Christmas of course - I, myself, will be eating oysters and foie gras, I'm sure...
 I know what hells look like now, believe me! It all started at Virgin Megastore where I wanted to buy 2 DVDs and where the place was so packed that I had to leave after 5 minutes. I then tried La Fnac (a "cultural" goods chain store) where I had a living picture of what the expression "mass consumption" means... There, even though I wanted to buy something I gave up when I saw the endless lines in the check out lanes! The bottom line is that I have to go back tomorrow early in the morning ;(( Next year I buy everything - I'm talking everything! - on line.
 Which is the brightest star in this photo, the moon or the Eiffel Tower, LOL?! I went by the old iron lady tonight because I wanted to show you an exhibit that they have on the 1st floor, but the line was so long that I gave up! I'll try later. I'm still not done buying my Christmas gifts, so my weekend will be entirely devoted to Christmas shopping!
 Christmas without a Christmas tree would not really be Christmas! Parisians homes - especially those with children - are very fond of them and that is why you literally have forests of trees in front of each florist at the moment. Depending on their size and type (Epicea or Nordmann) - they cost on average between 50 and 100 €. Pretty expensive for a tree that will only last until early January, but it is such a nice tradition. Another tradition is the one of Christmas gifts, and believe me, this year, I have never been this late!!
 Advertisers love Paris, but Paris doesn't like them... Today, the Paris council decided to reduce by 1/3 the amount of advertising space in the city. This will impact not only the space in general but also the size of posters. Thus the 1,000+ 4 x 3 meters (13 x 10 feet) billboards will soon be banned and so will the 6,000 smaller ones that are on display in the windows of shopkeepers and cafés. It will also be forbidden to advertise within 50 meters (164 feet) of a school, on the embankment, in Montmartre, etc. Needless to say that this measure is pretty controversial...
 Ladies and gentlemen, you're presently looking at the first high speed locomotive France ever produced: the famous BB 9004, which, in 1955, broke the fabulous record of 331 Km/h (206 mph). Of course compared to the 575 Km/h (357 mph) of the TGV (bullet train) it's nothing, but considering it took place 52 years ago... Anyway, the reason why I shot this locomotive in the middle of the street is that next week; the French Railway Company (SNCF) will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a huge exhibition in Le Grand Palais. I'll try to go and take a few pics.
 You probably all know Bolivia, the country located in South America. You may not know, however, that this country owes its name to Simón Bolívar, a South American heroe. And what you surely don't know is that this senior died on a 17 December (1830). To celebrate this death, there was a little ceremony this morning by the statue of Simón Bolívar located near the Pont des Invalides and since I happened to be there at that moment, well I couldn't help taking a photo!
 It's been almost a month since I've shown you a Paris demonstration! This time it's got nothing to do with retirement nor education, but... with the pigeons! I actually came across this "No to the pigeons' massacre" demonstration opposite to where I took the rooster photo. At first I thought it was some hoax but it turned out it was not, as you can see for yourself on this claim billboard I shot here.
 Since many of you -us!- have been sick lately, I thought of sending you some vitamins from Paris... Here you go, live from La rue des Martyrs, where I went grocery shopping this morning. You can tell it's winter from the kind of fruit they offer - well except maybe the kiwis that probably come from some exotic place! - A friend of mine tells me this photo also shows something very unusual for non Europeans: plastic wrapped corn. Why on earth would this be unusual?!
 Yes, this is a rooster, and no I did not take this photo on a farm in the suburbs, but right in the middle of Paris, at the Invalides!! I could not help stopping and digging out my camera for 3 reasons: first of all, because it's pretty unusual to come across a - living - poultry in Paris, 2nd because the rooster is the emblem of France and 3rd because he was not at all shy in front of the camera!
 Every year around the same period (December through March), they install a huge ice rink in front of the Hotel de ville (Town hall) where Parisian can skate for free (providing you have your own blades of course, otherwise you have to rent some) until midnight. I love the idea, even if I only tried it once!
 Weird isn't? And do you know what it is? Simply the numerous stickers that visitors stick to this street lamp on the way out from the Rodin Museum, LOL. I like it and I think it's cool that they don't remove them.
 No, PDP did not turn into some geeky blog overnight - even though I AM a geek, LOL - but I am just back from Le Web 3 conference (the only real international event about the web in Europe that I attended in 2006 and 2005) and someone (Malo, from M21 editions) showed me an ebook. This "thing" looks so much like a real book (I'm talking about the screen, not the actual device, of course) that, when I first looked at it, I thought it was a fake. Very interesting. Still pretty expensive (450 €) but soon, I'm sure it'll be much more affordable. Update (Dec 14.): read this, if you want to "see" the event through the eyes of an American who made the trip to Paris on this special occasion!
 No, this is not the Police investigating after my burglary! Just a way to evacuate the cars in one of the streets in my neighborhood... And do you know why? Because they are going to shoot a film/movie pretty soon. There are about 700 filmings every year in Paris and from what I could see on the site that the Town hall dedicated to filmings, not only do you have to apply for a permit but you must also pay... It's not too expensive though: 380€ per day for an average location and much more for an exclusive one.
 Sorry, not a very fancy Paris shot today, but still a very Parisian one. You're looking at... my cellar (well a part of my cellar!). And the reason why I'm showing you this today is... that I just found out this morning that someone had broken into it! Not much harm, though, from what I could see; they went through my old LPs (maybe took a few of them, I don't remember them all) left a few bottles of wine on the floor (hard to understand why because that is generally what cellar burglars are after) and left a... bag of garlic (I swear I don't keep bags of garlic in my cellar!!). Could have been much worse, but still not very pleasant.
 Like many big cities throughout the world - and on top of our rent a bike 'Velib' system - the town hall of Paris has appointed 3 companies ( Caisse Commune, Mobizen and Okigo) to offer a car share service. The principle is simple: you first need to subscribe to the service (some companies charge a subscription fee) then whenever you need a car, you just need to pick it up in a parking space near you (like the one I photographed) and pay by the hour (2 to 9 € depending on your plan) or the kilometer. When you're done, you return the car where you took it. The petrol (gas) is included. Pretty clever, especially when you need a car to go to Ikea or to take the kids to the country!
 After the "big" Notre-Dame of yesterday, here is a much smaller one - called Notre-Dame de Grace de Passy (Passy is a quarter that used to be a little village up the hill before it was integrated into Paris in 1860). I never noticed it before although it's really cute and... old (the original parts - it's been renewed and enlarged since then) were built in 1667! Have a nice weekend.
 I had to show you this. "This" is the back of Notre-Dame, the magnificent cathedral located on the Ile de la Cité that you probably have seen if you already made it to Paris. The good news is that, since yesterday it's now lit from the back as you can see on this photo (I already showed the front here). What more to say: it's gorgeous!
 Yes, this is Time Magazine, but if you're American you've probably never seen this cover, for it was made only for the European Market. The title speaks for itself - so does the photo! - and, well, how can I say, it did not really trigger a lot of positive reactions to say the least. The article is cruel, but a bit true I'm afraid (what would you answer when the author, Don Morrison, asks "Quick: name a French pop star who isn't Johnny Hallyday"). Of course, French intellectuals do not really agree... I'd like to hear your opinion; but first read the article, it's here.
 Despite what you may think the important part in this photo is not the statue in the foreground, nor the impressive columns of the Paris modern art museum in the background but the green "capsule" on top of the building. And do you know what it is? A piece of art and... a hotel room! Yes, people, if you're looking for a - very original - place to stay in Paris, well you have until December 31, 2008 to book this room. Needless to say that you have to be very patient, for they only allow bookings 2 months in advance, in order to give everyone a chance... Give me your feedback if you do it! Find out everything about the Everland hotel here.
 I bet you never heard of Knitta, aka "the Texas Knitters"... As you can imagine these ladies - and men - have something to do with... knitting! But instead of knitting sweaters or scarves, they knit garments for the street furniture! Some members of the knitta team were in Paris last weekend, sheltered by an art gallery in the Village Saint Paul. I went to see them and took several photos of their work .
 You want to know what we do in Paris to fight global warming and pollution? We switched back to horses! OK, I'm kidding... And though this is really a man on a horse that I photographed this morning (Sunday) in front of the Galliera Palace (that I already showed here). He was not the only one... Dozens of horse riders and carriage drivers did the same. Why? Because they were all taking part in a big march to celebrate the opening of Le Salon du Cheval , a big fair dedicated to horses. And a special thank you to Serge, who emailed me to let me know about this march and who maybe in the other photos I took.
 Yesterday (December 1st), like each year, was the Aids awareness day. By sheer coincidence I happened to pass by the Pont des Arts where the Sidaction team (a French NGO) was doing a human chain to attract people's awareness. They also had a bunch of drummers. The whole thing was pretty impressive and even a little festive, even though the disease is not... Of course, I took several photos (see more in the making of - and here) and even a little video. Also, if you're not too prude, here is the Aids awareness campaign.
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