Work in progress

I love how, in Paris, they (building constructors) hide their work in progress behind huge canvases. It's primarily an ad, of course (for a dating site for women), but look at the way they reproduced the windows and even the café awnings and the passage entrance. For a moment you could think they're real. Very clever.

Packed metro!

In 5 days I'll be back to Paris (yes, already!) to spend Christmas with my family. I won't stay very long, but long enough to experiment a few Metro trips (I have no more scooter in Paris now!). Not exactly what I'm really missing, but I guess it comes with the package. Sorry for the delayed posting again, I had to take my computer to a repair store today and only got it back late...

Workers (Demonstration)

Since I decided to continue PDP for a while, there are no reasons that I miss the traditional 1st day of the month "Theme day"! Only this time I could not take a photo especially. So here is the closest "workers" (that's the theme of the month) related photo that I could find on my hard drive! Yes, it's a demonstration, and yes, it was not too hard to find one as we have (should I start saying "They" have?!) many protests of the kind... Check the other workers related photos from all over the world on the CDP portal. 

Empty!

Here we go... I stayed in this apartment for 10 years and as of today it's totally empty! I'm so exhausted that I don't even know if I'm sad, excited or just acting like a robot... Moving is not a piece of cake, I knew it, but I had forgotten...

Playing with the light

We don't have much sun these days, but it's still possible to play with the light. I took this photo in a covered passage located very near my home - called Le Passage Jouffroy. I like it when people stop and try to avoid my camera thinking I don't want them in the photo, whereas I do want want to play with their shadows!

Philately

I love this little store around my corner... It was opened in 1899, by Theodore Champion, who was one the first to believe that trading used - and unused - stamps was a real job and that you could make money with it! Theodore passed away in 1954, but his store is still active, it now belongs to the Nordfrim A/S group, a large stamp dealer in Northern Europe.

Paris rooftops to enter the World Heritage List?

Interesting. I saw today that Delphine Bürkli, the mayor of the 9th arrondissement (which happens to be the one where I live!) suggested that the Paris rooftops should be part of the Unesco World Heritage. I don't know if it will ever happen and if yes, how long it will take, but I tend to think it's a real good idea (of course, I'm a bit biased!). Most Paris rooftops are made of zinc, a sort of metal that does not rust and it gives the skyline a typical looks that can mainly be seen in Paris. I took this photo from one of the rare private rooftop terraces in Paris, in the 9th arrondissement actually!

Can you see Montmartre?

In France, we have a bunch of old songs from the (19)30's that are either funny, silly or stupid, and sometimes all of this! There is one called "Monte la-dessus et tu verras montmartre" (step on this and you'll see Montmartre!) and I could not help but think about it when I saw this photo on my computer - for yes, the little church on the hill in the background is le Sacré Coeur. 

Paris rooftops

Yesterday evening I was invited to a farewell party of a friend who's going to work in Berlin. For the occasion he borrowed the offices of friends of his who are lucky enough to have a large terrace on the rooftop of a Paris building. The view was as stunning as was the company...

Selfie craze!

It's not a very interesting photo for Paris lovers (even though you can see a bit of the background - including to top of the Arch of Triumph! - but I did not resist taking a shot of these two tourists (or so I think!) trying to make the perfect selfie! It took them at least 5 attempts before they managed, even though they're using a GoPro that can be remotely controlled by a phone! I can relate though ;-)) 

Famous Pegasus!

I took this photo last evening from the rooftop of Les Galeries Lafayette (yes I went back!) and I really love it. The statue on the right shows Pegasus, but if you were to see it from the other side (facing the Opera Garnier) you would also see Pheme (Renommée in French), a greek divinity symbolizing fame. Its one of the two sculptures that you can see on both sides of the Garnier opera house. It was made by Eugène-Louis Lequesne

The big summer roundup

Every year around the 1st of August in France, the big summer round up takes place: people who took their vacation in July come back to their home and the ones who stayed home in July (more numerous) leave their home. That is why, last Saturday, we broke a traffic jam record! No less that 994 Km (618 miles) of congestion were counted on the French road network at midday! Stupid, isn't it?! As an illustration I used this photo that I took yesterday (Sunday) morning while the yearly "traversée de Paris en Anciennes" (old cars parade) was going through Paris. This is an old 404 Peugeot (well, not that old, my father had one!!) with typical suitcases from the 60's on the roof rack! Have a nice start of the week, whether you're home or on vacation!

Theme day: Take Away Store

Today is the 1st of August and the theme day within the CDP community is... Take away store. You probably expected a typical around the corner French take away place, but instead here is the most global fast food company you can think of! Why? 1) because take away is not very French 2) because I just read the news that McDonald's France has had its best year ever since their start in France! Which is ironic since, when they thought  of extending to Europe, the McDonald's management never thought the French would go for such a food... The truth is... "they're loving it!"  If you wan to see real local take away places, check what the CDP community has to offer.

The back of...

Here you go, let start the week with a classic - well not so actually for generally you see the front and not the back... For yes, this is famous Opéra Garnier from the back (and from the rooftop of Les Galeries Lafayette of course) - Sorry if I'm not too informative with my captions lately, but I badly cut one of my fingers (not too serious though) and I have to take car of that asap. Will be back on track soon.

Nice spectacle!

Hey there!

Galeries Lafayette rooftop

Believe it or not, I've been several times to the rooftop of Le Printemps, but I had never been to the one of Galeries Lafayette. And yesterday - because I was early to a meeting - I did! Wow! It's certainly a place not to miss. First of all because of the view (I'll show it to you soon, but it's very similar to the one of Le Printemps of course (the two stores are next to each other), but because it's enormous and arranged like a little prairie with cafés, ice-cream parlors and couches! I could not stay very long, but I'll definitely go back. BTW the immaculate blue sky in the background is 100% real!

Celebrating (Summer)!

Today is July 1st and it's a theme day within the City Daily Photo blogger community. This month's theme is “Celebrating Summer”, so I went down the street and looked for people celebrating... It was not hard to find, as... we (France) had just won the game I was telling you about yesterday. So yes, I cheated a little bit; I'm sure these people are happy that it's summer of course, but they are definitely more excited about our victory than the season ;-) . Check out how people celebrate summer all over the world.

Watching the game...

There was an important football/soccer game yesterday evening (France against Ecuador) and about 2/3 of the French population must have been watching it! Since the weather is really nice at the moment a lot of restaurants and cafés have installed big screens and chairs on their terrace, like in this photo that I took on the Grands Boulevards around 10:30 PM. I love the old guy on the right, taking advantage of the screen while leaning on a garbage can! Only football can bring so many people that much together. 

European elections... Yes oui can!

Today is a very important day for Europe because for the first time, we are going to vote for the President of the European parliament which is the closest thing we have to being a President of Europe. To do so, we first need to vote locally, in each European country, for representatives that will then elect the President. Unfortunately, even though we all share more or less the same lifestyle and the same currency, there is no such thing as a European nation nor United States of Europe. You feel French or Italian or English before you feel European here, which explains why so few people bother to vote for these elections and why there are many small, sometimes odd political parties. Like this one, whose sole platform is to legalize cannabis! I bet they have high hopes...

Rainy day

It's a classic, but I've rarely done it! For yes people, it's currently rainning a lot in Paris at the moment and especially yesterday around 1 pm when I was having lunch on the top floor of the Printemps (where I took this photo, remember?). It was raining so hard, that it was leaking inside the restaurant! The view was still amazing though and I had a real nice time with the person I was having lunch with (disclosure, a true PDP follower!).