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...