Karma Kameleon

Keep cool! I came across this cameleon (I'm not actually certain he's a cameleon to be honest...) on the Quai de la Megisserie, a place by the river where they sell plants, flowers and... pets. You find more puppies and pussies kittens than giant green cameleons there ;) but they do sell small crocodiles, reptilians and all these creatures that we call NAC (for Nouveaux animaux de compagnie - new types of pets). I'm sure hey would be better off in their homeland than in a cage in Paris, but that is another story. Anyway, do visit this place if you happen to be in Paris, the set is gorgeous.

Controversy over Terrace heaters

"Would it make sense to heat your house and leave the windows open?" recently claimed 3 Green members of parliament (well "Députés" in French) who are currently trying to pass a law that would prohibit the use of terrace heaters in France. Needless to say that restaurants and cafés do not really share the same opinion; they argue that since the smoking ban it's the only way for them to keep smokers within their reach! Both parties use figures (CO2, watts, gas...) that do not match, of course. A very French debate... BTW, I took this photo rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, at the restaurant chez Julien, very nicely decorated.

Pont Marie at night

Is there anything more beautiful than the bridges over the Seine? This one is Le Pont Marie and I took this photo yesterday evening from Le Pont Louis-Philippe right when a Bateau Mouche was passing underneath it (you can see the additional light coming from the boat). Le Pont Marie (named after its architect, Christophe Marie) is very old ; it was built between 1614 and 1635 and at that time several houses could be found on it. A huge flood destroyed 2 arches in 1658 and several houses - and inhabitants! - were taken away by the river... They decided not to rebuild the houses when they fixed the bridge...

More after our commercial break!

If you like commercials - I'm talking good commercials - the place to be tonight and tomorrow is... Paris! Why, Because you could attend the 28th Nuit des Publivores (The night of the Ad eaters!), a 5,5 hour long "commercial break" that takes place in one of the most famous movie Theaters in Paris: Le Grand Rex. This show, created by Jean-Marie Boursicot in 1981, is now so famous that it even takes place in many cities around the world (not in the US yet...). I attended one, in the 80's, and I must say, it was a lot of fun : partly because I love creative commercials and partly because the fun was also in the audience ;)

Dolly goes to Paris...

I'm home sick at the moment (nothing serious, don't worry) so it's difficult for me to take photos any further than around the corner of my house! And today I really regretted it as I could have taken this extraordinary scene: a sheep roundup on the Champ de Mars, by the Eiffel Tower! Explanation: about 700 several sheep breeders thought it was the best way to attract the medias attention on their low incomes. It worked! It was in the news everywhere... I had to cheat a little bit (this is a photo I took at the Salon de l'Agriculture some time ago) to report the event, but I'm sure you'll forgive me ;) And if you want to see the real thing, have a look at this photo by François Lafite.

A museum for fun

A lot of big cities have their wax museum and Paris makes no exception, of course. Ours is called Le Musée Grévin (after the name of the artist who made the first wax sculptures around 1880 - the museum was inaugurated in 1882) and it's located 10 Boulevard Montmartre, in the former "in" area of Paris. There are about 300 wax characters in there; most of them are French centric (Brigitte Bardot, Charles Aznavour, Michel Drucker (a TV guy) and... of course, Nicolas Sarkozy - since July 2006) but a lot are internationnaly famous (Céline Dion, Jimmy Hendrix, Zinédine Zidane, Tony Blair, Ray Charles...). Kids love this museum and there are big lines on rainy days!

Le Sentier

Here is a very typical and historical area of Paris I never told you about. It's called Le Sentier (after the name of one of the major streets that runs through it) and it's the heart of the French clothing wholesale. It's a place where a lot of immigrants started their company - and sometimes made their wealth: originally mostly Jews (from North Africa), but now more and more Chinese and Pakistani. It's also a place known for its illegal workshops (constantly chased by the Police though) and illegal day workers hired to carry loads of garments and fabric from one place to another on these little red and blue trolleys that you can see in the photo. And, last but not least, in my opinion, it's the next up and coming area of Paris...

WWI Truce Celebration

Today is a holiday in France. We celebrate the end of World War I which ended precisely November 11, 1918 at eleven o'clock. This truce (armistice) was signed by Marechal Foch in a train carriage specially fitted for this occasion (this same carriage was also used in 1940 by Hitler to sign the rendition of France). For the first time there will not be any Poilus (that is what we call the soldiers who fought this war) at the ceremony as, like reported previously on PDP, the last French witness of this war died last Mars at the age of 110.

Le Palace's new life

Le Palace was a mythical place when I was young. It was the equivalent to what Studio 54 was in New York in the 80's 70's: the club to be! It was closed in 1983 after its owner died and did not really reopened until a few days ago, after it's been turned into a theater again (see more of its history here). I'm also happy to post this photo today because it brings me back to when I started PDP with my little Sony compact camera: I posted a photo of Le Palace on April 8, 2005 ending the caption with "Nobody knows what the Palace is going to become." Now I know! Time flies and PDP has already a history!

Sunday Tea Time

It's cold, gray, a little rainy... It's the perfect moment to have a little tea. Like this nicely dressed lady that I photographed at a terrace near Beaubourg (she probably had a macaron or two, wrapped in this ugly white paper on the table!) The French tradition of tea is not as strong as in England or China, but the market is apparently increasing (2 ou 3 French people drink tea against 1 out of 3 ten years ago). It is still considered as an "elite" beverage, and more feminine than masculine. There are several nice Salon de Thé in Paris ; the most famous ones are probably Mariage Frère (a tea specialist) and Angelina (an upper class hang out). If you're interested, here is a little selection of other cosy addresses (in French).

The sound of... musicals

A few years ago if you wanted to see a musical in Europe you had to go to London, period. Things have changed! Now you can see a lot of interesting productions in one of our many theaters. That's precisely what I did last night when I went to Mogador to see Le Roi Lion (The Lion King). I must say, I'm not a big fan of these shows, but this one really made me change my opinion. The costumes are stunning - I'm talking stunning! - the scenery is breathtaking and the French adaptation is really well made. Nice way to start my weekend ;) Here is a little clip.

Glass Hail!

It's the coolest effect I've ever seen in a shop window! This stunning scene belongs to the Galeries Lafayette, one of the largest department stores in Paris, and it's part of their Christmas decorations that started at the beginning of the month. Like several of you noticed, Paris is not the most decorated city in the world for Christmas (far from that!), but some of the decorations are really outstanding. I really look up to the people who are creative enough to come up with ideas like this.

Water of Paris

From what I understood from yesterday's comments, everyone seems happy after the US elections! I thought of celebrating the event with a little glass of a typical Paris beverage: water! As a matter of fact, the Paris town hall has been promoting tap water for several years now, and they even just opened a water museum in the 16th arrondissement where I photographed these 3 really cool pitchers (designed by Pierre Charpin). The whole purpose of this PR campaign is actually to let Parisians know that their tap water is just as good as bottled water, that it's much more environmentally friendly than bottled water and that it is about 300 times less expensive than bottled water! More here - in French - if you're interested.

Straw Vote at the Harry's Bar

It's a tradition that has almost never ceased since 1924: the "straw vote" at the famous Harry's Bar... The principle is simple: any American citizen (who can show an American passport) and who is older than 18 can participate in the vote. The results are posted in front of the bar (and on the Web site) every week leading up to the election until the very final moment (I took this photo at 7 pm on November 4th Paris time). The interesting part is that ever since 1924, the straw vote at Harry's Bar was wrong only twice: in 1976 (Ford/Carter) and in 2004 (Bush II/Kerry). At the time I'm posting this photo, I still don't know if they were wrong a third time...

French Obamania

During my stay in the US last week, I often got the question "and what do you think about the US elections in France?" I kept saying that there was very little discussion among the French, whether they traditionally support the right or the left wing, about 80% of them would vote for Obama if they were Americans. Last evening (Monday) there was even a small demonstration on the Trocadero esplanade in favor of him (yes Suzy, the little blue ray above the head of the woman in the middle belongs to the Eiffel Tower!). Will he finally be elected? We'll soon find out ;)

Cynical, but beautiful

I know, this looks like a very basic message - kinda like "aren't we treating men like consumable goods nowadays?" but I loved the graphics. It's not really a graffiti but a printed paper glued to a vent pipe, that I photographed in the Beaubourg area. The garbage can is typical of Paris (with its transparent plastic bag to avoid bombings - that is, to avoid that terrorists hide a bomb in it). It's not exactly the best photo I could choose to start the week, but it really caught my eyes. BTW, I have no idea who did that, so if anyone knows...

The right time

As I'm currently trying to recover from my jet lag (It always takes me ages!) I don't think I've ever showed you an interesting piece of art by sculptor Arman called "L'heure de tous" that has been installed in front of the Gare Saint Lazare in 1985 (which explains the little pigeon "offerings" that you can see on it...). The clocks don't actually work, they are just for the purpose of the sculpture. Incidentally, today is also the day Americans switch to give up DST (Daylight Saving Time) and return to normal time, so if you're from the US, everything should be back to normal with Europe and PDP in particular! Have a great Sunday.