02 – Paris – Day 2
Day 2 – May 1, 2009
(above) Ask either of us about the lock and key, we got a story, we do…Now if we can just get the wasted time back…
(above) G O O D M O R N I N G, P A R I S…!!!...
(above) We walk 100 meters to the third closest café for a couple ‘express et croissant’…Sit outside and watch the holiday (May Day) street come alive…
(above) After our ‘petit dejeuner we stroll to the canal…
(above) Morning quiet…Very quiet…
(above) A city still 99% asleep…
(above) It gives one an unhurried time to appreciate the details…
(above) Today turns out to be another day of perfect weather…Still pretty early, but no need for a wrap…
(above) Spring colors are definitely here…
(above) Outside another café is this Technicolor sidewalk seating…
(above) Both Ann and I agree that a walk of a few hundred meters makes one hungry…Breaky # 2… Cost 3.50 euro…For both…
(above) Double exposure #1…
(above) Double exposure # 2…
(above) Time to go subterranean…Metro entry…
(above) Escalators and stairs get you into and out of the holes…
(above) Tile wall
poster of what will be a show to be at…Too bad we will be in the
(above) A pause to check if we are heading the right way…
(above) Lovers embrace on the stairs…Yeah…Selective blur keeps it discreet…
(above) One of hundreds of metro stops underground…All look just about exactly like this…
(above) ¼ second of covered femurs and feet heading to the light of day…
(above) Out on the street, parallel parking is redefined, Parisian style…You try it…Just hope the other guys know to not set the parking brake…
(above) Alright, on the way to something popular.
(above) No, it’s not the bag as a boot store…
(above) Choices,
choices…How about something simple, like a’ Le Big Mac’…???...Or something from
the
(above) End of the road, start of the stairs…
(above) One of the
classic
(above) As much of a Parisian landmark as the Eiffel tower…
(above) Mind boggling overhead masonry…
(above) I seriously doubt there are enough knowing craftsmen alive these days to do this…With hand tools…And manual labor to place all these elements…Nope, not these days…
(above) Inside, where photography is not allowed…Oops, me bad…Surreptitiously bad…A freakishly good surreptitious snap, if I say so myself…Point blindly and shoot…100% pure luck…
(above) Outside the metallurgy of days past are on display…
(above) Done a century or more ago…
(above) Kind of hidden off the side are details like this…
(above) And way, way up high is Mr. Way Up High…Peace, brother…
(above)
(above) Being that it’s May Day, a national holiday,
and the weather is off the scale, there was a huge pilgrimage to this iconic
piece of
(above) On the way down the hill, we stopped to sit in the shade…It was getting some kind of warm….A nice place to appreciate some of the essence of what is Spring here…
(above) Down at the bottom of the hill this chanteuse was bellowing out the classic French squeezebox classics…She had range and her accompanist had fast fingers…
(above) Guess where I have no desire to go…???...
(above) Instead, on a much quieter side street, these in-trend fashion statements were poised for a quick sale…
(above) Only one
thought… “I wish I lived HERE…” (above) This thing
is like 3,300 years old…A gift from one of .
those countries with more sand than all the beaches of .
(above) Preview of what summer is like around here…A great time to not be HERE…
(above) Early May and all it’s the stuff or artists and poets, lovers and saints…
(above) I
mentioned before that
(above) So much classical architecture… if you simply add up all the man-hours it took to build this city it would equal time well spent is my answer…
(above) Jimi plays
(above) These street lamps would cost how much these days…???...
(above) River boats just cruise up and back all day and night…The tour busses of the waters for those who like everything easy…
(above) A lot of overhead glass…
(above) If Boeing made boats…
(above) Just another street in the city, with a view…
(above) Lunch time… had the steak, Ms. I Love Paris had the fish…Mine was mo’ bettah…
(above) Really trying to avoid the cliché… (above) Trying harder still…
(above) No big cliché here, but it’s getting close…
(above) It is darn hard to get a fresh angle here…
(above) OK, I give up…Print six million postcards of this one…
(above) Back along the canal…Simple steps to get you to the roadway…Ding Ding Ding…!!!...Bonus extra points for this abundance of style…
(above) Almost something from an Escher sketch…
(above) Me and the kid are walked out…Time for the Metro home…
(above) End of the line and where we had a simple meal at the closest outdoor café…End of our day and all is very, very well…Very well indeed…
More later …
Paul