To jump or not to jump...

The Eiffel Tower is not always this Paris symbol where - some - people propose to their fiancee while having dinner at the Jules Vernes restaurant! Sometimes, it's also a handy place for desperate beings to commit suicide. That is precisely what happened yesterday, when a 28 year old girl jumped off the staircase, halfway from the 1st floor. The oddest part is that she did not die right away; she was taken to a hospital nearby and is still in a coma. FYI, since it was built in 1889 there has been about 350 suicides from the Eiffel Tower. Two of them are said to have survived.

Resting in the sun

Yes, it's possible to rest in the sun, in the middle of a big city like Paris, providing you find a quiet place to take your nap! This man did find one... And I found him today in the Jardin Montsouris, in the 14th arrondissement. The weather is pretty mild at the moment and, as you can see, the sun was shining today. Just for your info, the sun shines 1700 hours per year in Paris. It's not a lot, but not too bad considering the country average is 1850.

Art against Dictatorship

A very "underground" post today... I did a little research on the net to find out who could be the author of this amazing collage and I came across the site of an American street artist called Shepard Fairey (aka Obey) who, apparently, held an exhibit in the Magda Danysz gallery (see a little video here) in 2006. He also was featured, with several other artists, in a movie called "Life remote control" (mentioned in the little TV screens on the right on this image). Huh!

More towers in Paris?

Should there be more towers in Paris? If you look at this photo - that I took in the 13th arrondissement - I bet you'll probably answer "no way"! And though providing Paris is one of the smallest cities in the world (105 km² - 40 sq. miles*) and that the price of housing is way too high for a lot of people, our mayor is considering building new towers for housing. A very difficult decision to make, providing that according to polls, Parisians clearly don't want new ones... If you want to have a look at the projects, check the video here. (*) As a comparison, the area of London is 1 579 Km2 (610 sq. miles) and Berlin 891,75 km2 (344 sq. miles).

Line 5

There are two three(*) bridges that are used by the metro in Paris. The Bir Hakeim one (that I already showed here) that is used by line 6, and this one, called Passerelle d'Austerlitz, used by line 5. The reason why these two lines cross the Seine on a bridge is that they were built before 1910 when architects were still reluctant to build train tunnels underneath water! (*) Update: a dedicated visitor emailed me to let me know I forgot the Pont de Bercy! He is right, and I should have thought of it, because, of course, I already photographed it here and here!

Newly weds!

You rarely hear about world leaders getting married while they're in power, do you? And though it just happened today in France! Our President got married to an ex model called Carla Bruni Tedeschi (will she have herself called Carla Sarkozy now?) at the Elysées (the "house" of French Presidents. Needless to say I was not invited to the ceremony, so I had to steal a photo from the television (the news on France 2 @ 8)!

Have Giant Flies taken over Paris?

No, this is not a real fly, but a mock up that I photographed by the Jardin des Plantes, on the Grande Galerie de l'évolution museum side (a museum that shows the different steps of animals and man evolution throughout the ages). And to think this giant fly probably existed at some stage...