A cool château!

On the eastern side of Paris there is a massive fortress with an impressive donjon called Le Château de Vincennes. It may not be as big and prestigious as the one of Versailles, but it's definitely worth a visit (it's easy to get there by metro). At the origin - in 1150! - it was just a simple hunting lodge (built for Louis the VIIth) and then it was turned into a castle over the centuries - including a large moat in which several people (such as spy Mata Hari, Duke of Enghien and Nazi hostages) were executed. The photo I took last night shows the main entrance door (you can have a global look of the Château lay out on the official site).

Cool encounter

I already said it several times, PDP allowed me to meet dozens of nice people - often from very far away. But last night, I met someone who lives in Paris: Robin Maltete, the son of... René Maltete a French photographer who used to be friend with Doisneau and many other artists of that time. Do check some of his photos in the web album his son Robin made, I'm sure, you will love its humor. Robin contacted me after he saw the white dinner party photo on PDP; we started exchanging emails, then he invited me to his place, where I photographed his - lastest - camera (Robin is also a photographer). Not a very usual one; it uses an 8 x 10 inch film and has none of the sophisticated features you can find on modern digital models!

Sacré Coeur

OK, enough museums and auction sales, it's Le week-end! How about a classic view of Paris? Not that classic actually, I took this photo of Montmartre and le Sacré Coeur from far away, and more precisely from La Défense where I attended a pretty unusual art opening in the offices of Eurogroup (look for Sponsorship>Artist Residency, if you want to know more). Did you know that Montmartre means Mont of the Martyrs because that is where several Christians got killed during the 3rd century?

A must see Museum

If I tell you I photographed this masterpiece in a museum, which one do you think it was? The Paris Modern Art Museum? The Beaubourg Center? The Cartier Foundation? All wrong! I took this photo in the computer museum, a pretty new place, located up top the big arch of La Défense. This place is like heaven for geeks, believe me. Not only can you see what a computer looked like in the 40's (well, OK, maybe they did not really qualify as computers...) but also discover - or rediscover, depending on your age - the first PC, the first laptop, the first Apple Macintosh... I had a blast! More here.

A day in Disneyland Paris

Two months ago, I won tickets to Disneyland Paris and since I had to use them before the end of May, I went today (Sunday). I'm not a big fan of amusement parks, but I must say, I had fun and what I feared the most - huge lines! - did not really happen, thanks to their clever Fastpass system. My favorite attractions: Space Mountains and "Honey, I shrunk the audience" (3D movie theater), but I liked the classics also (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). Let me wish you a good week on behalf of Pluto. Goofy (that we call Plutot, in French)!

Surfing the wave

Remember last week's photo in La Défense with the human butterfly? Well, I told you I would show you a few other shots that I took there at the same time. Here is one that I love. The guy is actually on the rooftop (click here for a broader view) of one of the oldest buildings in the area (inaugurated in 1958) : le Cnit (for Centre des nouvelles industries et technologies). It was a very modern building at that time, but now, even after a complete renewal in the late 80s, it still needs some work...
BTW, I finally managed to upload the full length version of the picnic video. If you're interested, it's here.

A butterfly to support cancer fighters

Last week I got a call from a representative of Tribu Cancer, an association that supports people who have cancer. They invited me to come to La Défense (a business district slighty outside Paris) and take a photo of an event they were holding to gain awareness. They gathered enough people to "draw" a butterfly that could be seen from far above. And guess who was far above?! I'll show you more, when I come back from vacation.

Burning Paris trash...

I'm sure you won't be as enthusiastic about this photo as you were about yesterday's one, but Paris is not all about museums! It's also a city that produces trash (each Parisian produces 1,4 kg - 3 pounds - of trash everyday on average). What do we do with this trash? We burn it in one of the above factories, located right outside the the city limits. Needless to say that people in the suburbs do not really appreciate to host this factory!

My first ebook!

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!