Passers by

I originally stopped in front of this window because of the mannequins that were in it. One of them had lipstick on and I thought it was cute! I took several shots of course and one of them had these passers by in it, which I thought was more interesting than the windows I first had in mind ;-) As you can see, the weather is rainier and rainier in Paris right now, but I don't care, I'm in Nice for the weekend! A nice break from the packing I've been doing these past weeks... Have a great Sunday everyone.

Rotten summer (2014!)

Sometimes in July, the weather can be very bad in Paris (and in France in general, except on the Riviera). That is exactly what's happening at the moment... I took this photo last evening while I was walking through the crowd to get closer to the stage this rock concert that took place on the Place de la République. The blur is then totally natural, since I was walking when I pulled the trigger. They expect this rotten weather to continue for at least a week...

The end of a rainy week...

I'm glad this week is over, not only was it a very slow one (we had a holiday on Thursday), but also very humid. I took this photo on the Champs Elysées, one of these rainy days and I kinda like its atmosphere (and despite what you may think this is not advertising for HSBC!). Today, the sun will shine they promised, so I'll go out and take new photos (I'm going away for a week so I need to stock a few ;-). Have a great weekend everyone.

It looks like rain!

We've really been lucky for the picnic as, since yesterday evening, it's been raining like crazy in Paris! Photowise it's not that bad, for all these black clouds offer nice reflections and dramatic skies ;-) Anyway... Like you probably guessed I took this photo at the Très Grande Bibliothèque in the 13th arrondissement. 

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!). 

People on the street...

You know how I dislike to post photos of people (the French law is very strict about this, even though nowadays, with all the cameras, smartphones and social networks, this law is obviously outdated...), but for today's theme day (people on the street)  I'll make an exception. And I am sure that these two young ladies won't mind ;-) Happy CDP theme day everyone!

Giboulées...

When it rains and gets sunny several times in a row during the day, we have a word for that in French; it's called Les Giboulées (April showers in English, according to Wikipedia!). This phenomenon generally happens in March, but this year the weather must be a little desynchronized, as Les Giboulées have started! I took this photo outside my local town hall, and, well, it's a classic, but I still like it;-)

I can't stand the rain...

Yes, I know, another of these rain photos that I have taken so many times... (It rains quite a lot in Paris!), but I can't help it; it's been only 5 days that I came back to Paris after Thailand and and I'm already fed up with the rain and the cold! Just one positive aspect... humidity helps make interesting photos ;-)

Let's meet at Place de l'Opéra...

In many cities you have meeting points that everybody knows and where it's easy to meet up with someone before going places. The Opera metro station is one of them... There is a large area that allows a lot of people to wait and it's also a big hub for buses and the metro. So next time you're in Paris, if you plan to go to the Rive Droite (near the Grands Magasins) you can ask your friends "On se retrouve à la station Opéra ?"

More rain!

I got stuck yesterday evening in a heavy rain, while I was going to a dinner party in Le Marais. Not very pleasant of course, but it allowed me to take some cool photos, including this one that I love. You can see all of Paris in a nutshell ;-)  

Not ready for winter!

It was supposed to be hot and sunny yesterday and it turned out to be... not so sunny! Worse, I'm that close to turning the heating on! As much as I love the principal of seasons (especially the ones we have in Europe) and spring in particular (when everything comes back to life), I really hate fall/autumn, when it starts raining a lot, when the temperature drops and when it starts getting dark before you stop working! I took this shot on the Champs Elysées, BTW.

Rainy days

First of all, let me thank you all for your get well messages, they went straight to my heart even if for the time being I cannot answer everyone. In fact, I misjudged this operation (gallbladder removal); I thought I would get back on my feet the next day after the surgery, and, well, I simply can't! All I managed to do today was to go out around my pâté de maison (which literally means "apartment buildings pâté" - that's what we call  a "block" in France) and take this photo. As you can see the rain has returned!   Have a great Sunday everyone.

Rainy day

It rained almost all day today and there has been many many storms in France (except in Nice ;-)). Therefore the  temperature has dropped a bit and it's much easier to sleep now. I took this photo at Avenue Foch (I think this is the first time I post a photo that I took there), a beautiful avenue (often called the most expensive avenue in Paris) that goes from the Arch of Triumph until the Bois de Boulogne. 

Sunny side of the street...

Recently France has suffered a lot of strong storms and Paris made no exception. But like we say in French: "après la pluie vient le beau temps" (after the rain, comes the sun), which is a metaphoric way of saying: things always get better. Who knows, even our legendary pessimism will turn into wild optimism... In the meantime, I thought this photo - that I took very quickly from my scooter yesterday in front of Les Galeries Lafayette ! - was pretty nice. 

Big flood!

If you were in Paris at the moment (maybe you are!) you'd hear people complain about the terrible weather, for sure... Today I had to go to the left bank to meet an old friend of PDP and, well, I passed by the Louvre and almost drowned the engine of my scooter there! Here is why! And this shot was not taken after a big storm, just the result of a non stop rain! There are worst things in life, but it's really getting my nerves! Time to go back to Miami?!

An ode to economy?

You see this band in the background of this photo? I photographed them in front of la Fontaine Saint Michel and found later their trace on the Net. It turns out that  and found out that they are the Porto (in Portugal) university of economics chorus! (In Portuguese: Tuna Académica da Faculdade de Economia do Porto, or Tafep). Who knows, the next Finance Minister of Portugal was among them! (Listen to what they do here if you're interested). As you can see the weather in Paris is still... well... humid!

Cool Reflection (part II)

Here is another of these cool reflection images that the rain helps you take! It's not raining at the moment in Paris - it's a shot I took before my departure - but I "heard" on Facebook several Parisians complaining how bad there weather is, so I thought I'd use this shot for today. I hope the sun will shine for the PDP picnic on May 5! FYI, this is a very well known statue of General de Gaulle by Jean Cardot (that I showed several times here already) inaugurated in 2000. As for me, I left Boston and  I'm currently relaxing a nice 76° F, by the pool somewhere in the US... ;-)

French spring!

I was coming back from near the Eiffel Tower today, when I was suddenly blocked by the Police : no throughway, they said... Then I turned my head and saw that they had totally closed the Pont de l'Alma (in the background)... That is how I realized there was a demonstration nearby and that the Police wanted to prevent them from reaching the French Parliament. I could not help but taking a photo of course... The funny part is that when I did, a guy came closer to me and said: it's the French spring! referring to the Arab revolutions who took place in Spring. I doubt it, but I must say the scene was quite impressive...

Somebody stop the rain please!

Ask any Parisian what he thinks of the weather at the moment and he will probably go "pfffffff" and raise his/her eyes meaning "I cannot take this cold and this rain anymore!". And believe me, that is exactly how I would behave if you asked me the question! There is a upside to it though: it allowed me to make this cool photo... You will all have recognized the Place Saint Sulpice I'm sure... And no, the lady in the photo is not Catherine Deneuve, even though she lives right there, in one of the buildings in the background!

Where is Spring?!

Soooo... Yesterday was the 1st day of spring. Too bad the weather gods of Paris are not aware of it ;-) It's cold and rainy, but it's also a good occasion to take cool photos ;-) Here is one I took today (Thursday) at the Hotel de Ville (I'm sure you recognized the building on the left and the beautiful street lamps). I don't know why, but I feel like going on vacation at the moment ;-)