Veterans day

For once allow me to repost a photo for today is November 11, the day we celebrate the end of WWI, which, even though we no longer have alive veterans from that war, is still commemorated. I thought it was a good occasion to remember Maréchal Foch, the one who signed the armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918 and who's statue is at Champs de Mars, near Ecole Militaire. Maréchal Joffre, a French general known for regrouping the allied armies to fight the Germans during the famous Marne battle in 1914.

Farewell Monsieur Berthillon

Everything (and everyone) must come to an end, and the sad news came today that Raymond Berthillon, the founder of the famous Ile Saint Louis ice cream place passed away on Saturday, at the age of 90. If you've been to Paris, you've probably stood in line at least once in front of his landmark store - or in one of his approximately 150 Paris area resale shops. To maintain the quality of his ice cream and sherbets, Mr. Berthillon always refused to industrialize the production and would only offer seasonal flavors (depending on which fruit he would find at the market!). And of course, like any self-respecting Frenchman, he would close every August so that his employees would enjoy a month's vacation! So the next time you enjoy a Berthillon ice cream, remember to think of the man who started it all. More on Wikipedia.

Eiffel Aerodynamics Labs

Sorry I'm late posting, but I had to have my finger operated on yesterday and I was too tired when I returned home. I went to a hospital that specializes in hand surgery and this allowed me to discover the Eiffel Aerodynamics labs in the street nearby (rue de Musset). I did not know that Eiffel pioneered the study of the effects of aerodynamics on objects and that he first used his tower for that (dropping objects  from it!). Later he built a wind turbine, which is in this building and is still in operation. Amazing, isn't it? (Much) more in this publication - in English.

Johnny-on-the-spot...

Or rather... IN the spot(light)! For yes ladies and gentleman, this is Johnny Hallyday, a French signer who is extremely popular in France. Sometimes he also appears in movies and that is exactly the reason why I got to photograph him last evening... I went to see Salaud, on t'aime, a movie by Claude Lelouch in which a friend of mine had a small part. It was fun to see all this fuss around a movie and its actors from up close. The photo is a bit fuzzy of course, but I like it, precisely because it is... fuzzy! 

A well deserved anniversary.

This is the portrait of L'Abbé Pierre, a vary famous French clergyman who died in 2007 and who is famous for a call he made exactly 60 years ago, during winter 1954 after a woman had just died of cold in the streets of Paris. He urged the Parisians to bring him blankets, tents, garments... anything that could help the homeless to go through the very cold winter of that year. He then created an association called Emmaus which aim was - and still is - to help the needy. 60 years after he is still remembered as a hero! He even has his portrait in many places in France, including this one that I photographed off l'avenue de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement.

Cloclo for sale!

If you're not French - or haven't lived in France in the 70's! - you probably did not understand the title of this post... Cloclo is the the nickname of Claude François, a very famous French singer who lived between 1939 and 1978 (he accidentally electrocuted himself in his bathtub). You surely don't know him (even though he wrote and composed Comme d'habitude, the original version of My Way and Parce que je t'aime mon enfant, the original version of My Boy), but here he was extremely popular and still his... To a point that today they are selling some of his stuff at Drouot, one of the main auction houses in Paris. I live right next by it, so I did not resist going there and take a few shot. The place was packed with old fans!

Casino de Paris costumes auction sales

Call me lucky, because I am! Yesterday (Friday) I attended the exhibition of the Casino de Paris costumes that is currently held at the stunning Elephant Paname center for the arts (look at the ceiling!) in view of this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) auction sales. Mistinguett, Jane Avril, Joséphine Baker, Line Renaud... and all the fabulous dancers that performed at Le Casino de Paris wore one of those costumes and/or accessories at some stage (and on stage!). Of course I could not help but taking a zillion photos (and videos), so that you can have a much more comprehensive view of this exhibit. Check it out here. And if you're interested, well, hurry, as it will only last 2 days!

Lamarck without Caulaincourt

Ask any Parisian about Lamarck and he will probably tell you "oh, yeah, Lamarck-Caulaincourt!". It turns out that Lamarck-Caulaincourt is a well known Metro station in the 18th arrondissement, but these two names belong to two different people! Precisely Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) was a French naturalist who apparently used the word "biology" for the first time. He also categorized 80% of the invertebrates (yeah, he obviously had too much spare time!) among many other things. Of course the reason why I bore you with the life of Monsieur Lamarck is that he is in this photo that I took - obviously at the right moment (look at this sky!) - at the Jardin des plantes. Happy turkey day BTW (this is for my American visitors!).

La Pérouse !

Jean François de Galaup, aka comte de La Pérouse is a famous French Navy officer that lead several expeditions around the world and took part in the American independance war around 1780 (read more about his captivating life here, if you interested). I found his bust on the river banks, not far from the Eiffel Tower. That's all for the week ;-) Have a good weekend everyone!

Resting by the Tour Saint Jacques...

Around the Tour Saint Jacques that I showed several times here, there is a little garden called, quite logically, le square de la Tour Saint Jacques. I never really walked though it until yesterday. I discovered a pretty cool monument dedicated to Gérard de Nerval, a French poet you probably never heard of, even if, in France everybody knows him (I never read anything by him though :-)). Anyway, I just thought it would make a cool photo and I think it does - I had to use the flash to compensate the sun light and I'm pretty proud of the result LOL! 

The champions are back!

I know you must be fed up with the Olympics, but it's only the second time I mention them since they started! Today, "Les Bleus" (the French sportsmen always dress in blue!) came back from London with the Eurostar and I knew that if I went to the Gare du Nord, I would have many photo ops. I did! And for once I was not able to chose between two types of photos, so here are both of them! I'm not a big sport fan nor super patriotic, but on these special occasions I can be easily moved!



Julie Bresset, Alain Bernard, Teddy Riner, Florent Manaudou, Alexis Vastine, Steeve Guénot.

Haute couture by Frank Sorbier

The haute couture fashion week is over today, but this year I had the great pleasure of attending a fashion show. It was held  by Frank Sorbier, a very talented French designer at Théâtre Antoine in the 10th arrondissement and was "powered" by Intel. When I say powered, I really mean powered, as it was based on a pretty clever idea: a model, dressed in beautiful white dress was standing on one side of the stage, while another one, also on stage, would trigger the video projection of various creative haute couture motives on her dress. How? Simply by typing a command on her computer (Intel based no doubt!). A bit far fteched maybe, but the show was really stunning;  the audience was lead to think she was changing dress every 30 seconds! You MUST have a look at the little video I made, even though you're not that much into haute couture!

Chapeau l'Artist!

You know I'm generally not too patriotic on this blog, but today, I'm compelled to be! Tonight, the Academy Awards will take place in the City of Angels and perhaps, a French film - the Artist - may win... Needless to say, most of the French are holding onto their berets with anticipation! We won't know before tomorrow morning's news (or your comments on PDP...) for it takes place at 4 am French time. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for not showing you Paris today, but today Silence is a virtue!

Without a shadow of a doubt

I took this photo at the bottom of Tour Saint-Jacques, the tower they renovated recently and that I showed you several times (here, here, here and here!). You'd think this would be a statue of Saint Jacques, but... it is not. It's the one of Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician and philosopher who, among other things, invented in 1642, the first calculator (mechanical at that time, obviously...). Why is here there? Because he is said to have prevented the destruction of a church that was previously on these premises. BTW, around this tower, there is a little square, which apparently was the first square in Paris (1856).

11/11/11!

Today is November 11, the day we celebrate the end of WWI (this year it's also a palindrome date, but that's another story). We have no more alive veterans from that war, so in theory no more reasons to continue celebrating its end, but I think it's good we still do so. 1) because it's a holiday ;-), 2) because it reminds us that about 100 years ago (and 60 if you consider WWII) there were still wars between European countries. Something that is now totally unthinkable. This, by the way, is a statue of Maréchal Foch, the very one who signed the armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918. You can see it at Champs de Mars, near Ecole Militaire.

A modern man

I took advantage of the last day of sun (they said it would start raining today) to take a photo of a statue of Vauban, located in the Invalides gardens. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (his full name) used to live under the reign of Louis the 14th (to which he was an adviser) and is known for having designed almost unbreakable fortifications in many places in France (about 100). From what I read he also suggested to change the tax system, which created a big scandal at that time. What he did sounds strangely similar to what some of our today's politicians (we're are in pre-election times at the moment) suggest: protect France (not with fortifications, but with tariffs), change the tax system... Tools and methods change, but the problems to solve remain the same throughout the centuries !

A tribute to Aznavour

I already showed you the front of the Olympia (probably the most famous music hall in Paris), but it was never totally covered with a huge poster like this... They only did it because they are currently hosting Charles Aznavour, a super famous and loved French singer who had not performed there in... 55 years! For yes, ladies and gentlemen, Charles Aznavour was not exactly born yesterday! He's going to be 88 soon, but still sings like he were 20! Check that.

La Baronne de Paname!

Each city has its characters. People that you notice either because they dress differently, act differently or think differently... Mélina, aka La Baronne de Paname (Paname is a cute slang word we use to call Paris), is one of these. She loves the typical "bals musette" (dances where people used to do the Waltz Musette to accordion music in-between the two World Wars and just after). She even organizes them sometimes, like this Saturday at the Pavillon Baltard. Want to go? Check out her Myspace page.

Place Dalida

Yesterday morning I had a business meeting on avenue Junot, probably the most chic avenue in Montmartre - where a lot of famous people lived. On the way out I walked around a little bit and ended up at the Place Dalida, that I had never been able to find before! Dalida was a very famous Italian/Egyptian singer who used to live in France, precisely in Montmartre (listen here to one of her songs). She was also a good friend of the present Paris mayor. BTW, this bust of her was made by Alain Aslan.

Big Jump!

I don't know if you remember Taïg Khris, a French guy who loves to jump off anything with roller skates on? Last time he jumped from the Eiffel Tower and yesterday he did the same from... le Sacré Coeur. And now that I have connections in Montmartre ;-), well it was easy for me to cease the right moment! Taïg Khris claims to have broken the record of the longest jump on roller skates with 29 meters. Impressive. Watch this in motion, in this little video if you want more...