Really Just Married!

Between June and September you find a lot of newly weds in the streets of Paris. They are generally followed by a photographer trying to catch their best profile ;) These two were no exception - and I was not the "official" photographer (as a matter of fact I often receive emails from people who plan to get married in Paris and want to be photographed!). FYI, there were 266,500 marriages in 2007, a pretty stable rate within the last 10 years (with the exception of 2000 of course...)

Hi there!

I love this photo, not only because it shows this giant head by sculptor Louis Derbré (it is called Le Prophète and was made after an Egyptian statue) but because of the little lady at its base. I took this photo in the Luxembourg gardens, just like the one of yesterday. You may wonder what a giant sculpture is doing in these gardens?! Well it's part of the Artsena exhibit, a yearly art exhibition organized by the Senate (which is also located in the Luxembourg gardens).

Close encounter of a weird type!

Did I happen to witness an astronauts convention by coincidence? Did France suffer a Nuclear accident that only I was aware of?! All wrong, these weird little white men are simply harvesting honey from the Luxembourg gardens beehives... For yes, as some of you already know, we still have beehives in the middle of Paris (there and in the Georges Brassens park) that are used by the members of a society that was founded in 1856. By the way, if you're around the area on September 20 and 21, you'll have the opportunity of buying this honey ;)

Oooops!

Who said only dogs drop things on the ground in Paris, humans do too LOL! I hope this ice cream did not belong to a child whose mother said "It serves you right, I told you to pay attention. No, I'm not going to buy you a new one!" That's all for today. Not a very typical Paris photo - except for the pavement of course, which is part of the jardins du Palais Royal! - but a one that seems to say: "It's the end of the summer!".

Trimming the Paris trees...

Following to yesterday's debate in the comments on the meaning of "Se raccrocher aux branches" - hi Guille! -, I thought this was the most appropriate photo du jour! Soon it will be fall and this morning, I happened to witness a tree triming. Doing a little research on the web, I found out that there are no less than 95 000 trees in the streets of Paris (that does not include the ones in gardens, woods, etc.) and that each of them is identified by a chip that allows the city gardeners to know everything about their history! Dingue non?

Sunbathing in Paris

I may not be taking any vacation this year, but I still get to lay in the sun right in the middle of Paris (presently near Le Louvre). It's not that bad actually, considering how the city is almost empty and all I hear around me are people talking in everything but French. I feel like I'm a foreigner in my own country! Nice feeling actually. Here is my postcard to you. Wish you ALL were here! ;)

The big town hall in the Prairie!

They did it last year, they've done it again this year... 'It'? A 2 878 square meter (0.7 acre) garden right in front of the Hotel de ville (Town hall), a location where, normally, not much grows, except concrete! This year, on top of the 6 000 different species of plants they also managed to install a pretty cool pond in which more plants are to be found. This temporary garden can be seen until August 17, so if you're visiting Paris this summer you should definitely pay the hôtel de Ville a visit. Here are more photos taken by the Paris communications department.

(Almost) all about Eve...

I found this stunning statue in Le Square de la butte du Chapeau rouge, a park located in the 19th arrondissement from where you can enjoy a nice view of Paris. This statue is part of a monument (a "water chest of drawers" as they call it) that was made by sculptor Raymond Courvégnés in 1938. And the lady is Eve, the first woman. The things you learn on PDP... LOL!

Higher and higher

How about a little jump into the sky? These skate boarders never cease to amaze me, I must say. I would love to do this! I took this photo in the same park where I took the windmill photo - the one called Paris Texas. They installed several skate board facilities there and teenagers love them. Hope your Easter week-end goes well, here it's freezing cold...

Water Games

Since you like water, here is more! Just kidding, of course, but I'm glad you liked yesterday's photo because I like it too ;) I photographed this fountain yesterday morning (Thursday morning) on my way out from a press conference in the Parc André Citroën, located in the 15th arrondissement. This park was created in 90's at the exact same location where the old Citroën factory (Citroën is a French car brand) was. BTW, good news my scooter is finally fixed; it'll be much easier for me to go around the city and take more photos! Have a nice Friday everyone.

Paris Texas?

I know this does not really look like Paris France, but I swear I did take this photo here! This windmill actually belongs to new gardens, located in the northern part of the 17th arrondissement, on former premises of the SNCF (the national train company). These new gardens are very environment friendly, hence the presence of this windmill used to drain water. If you're interested in visiting them, the access to these gardens is located by the rue Cardinet.

Mr Peacock in Paris

What do you mean, this photo was not taken in Paris?! I took it in the Bagatelle Gardens, located in the Bois de Boulogne (big woods on the west side of Paris) which is technically in the 16th arrondissement! These gardens were created in 1777 and now shelter several interesting points including a huge rose garden, that I already mentioned here, and - noisy - peacocks. Today we're changing time in Europe, I'm looking forward to sleeping an extra hour...

Nice place to rest

You remember this photo? Well, I found another interesting game of shadows in a little square in the 18th arrondissement. This is what I love about Paris : within the blink of an eye you can go from a very busy street to the quietest place on earth and feel at the country. There are 418 public gardens, 15 parks et 32 walkways in Paris, which, probably is nothing compared to London, but not too bad for a big city.

Marguerite de Navarre

May I introduce you to charming Marguerite de Navarre (aka Marguerite d'Angoulème or Marguerite de France) that I recently met in the Luxembourg gardens. Don't get fooled by my photo, she is much older that what she looks (515 years old)! And don't go thinking she's a little snob by the way she stands, in fact she has all the nobility you can wish for: not only was she the daughter of Charles of Orléans, Count of Angoulême and Louise of Savoy but on top of that her father was a direct descendant of Charles V. She was also the older sister of Francis the 1st, a famous French king. ;) If you're interested to know more about here, click here.

Girls talk!

When I saw these two ladies, I could not help thinking of my childhood, when my mother used to chat for 5 minutes with some ladies of the neighborhood on her way to her daily grocery shopping ;) I photographed them in the middle of Parc Monceau, a park located in the richest part of the 17th arrondissement (the 17th arrondissement is broken into a rich part and a poorer one). On its western and eastern sides there are two of the most exclusive avenues of Paris (Avenue Velasquez and Van Dyck) where the price of real estate has no limit!

A place to rest

If you're looking for a quiet garden to rest while you're visiting Le Marais, may I recommend you sit on a bench in Le Square Georges Cain, between the rue du Parc Royal and the rue des Francs Bourgeois. It's a beautiful little square in the middle of which you will undoubtedly fall for Aurore (Dawn), a sculpture by Laurent Magaier who apparently lived in the 17th century. Richard Nahem, who took me there during his tour, said I should come back at night, for this statue is beautifully lit. Click here for a broader view.