The music just below is one one of the recordings I made in Paris, this one of an accordion player on a pedestrian bridge. Hit play now so that the sounds of Paris will accompany you. OK. Can you hear the melancholy French jazz?
accordion player on the Ponte Nuef playing a melancholy Autumn Leaves
Maile and I originally planned to travel to Paris together for our 10th wedding anniversary. Two and a half years later we made it, by ourselves, for a full week. We rented a wonderful loft appartment on AirBnb in the Marais, from which we sauntered out an back every day.
I took about 1600 photos with my little Canon G7X and got it down to about 250 favorites shots that I’ve posted as an album on Flickr. See the slideshow at the end of this post. I’ll try to whittle it way down here and tell the story of our trip primarily in pictures and captions.
We arrived on Saturday morning and took the train into the city (with Charles Beaver, Anais’s envoy).Walking from the Metro to find our apartment we stopped at Le Petite Marcel for lunch.the beautiful blue door to the building where we stayedthe reflection of our front building in the shiny black van oppositeThe beautiful classic bicycle that was always locked outside our door
The Pompidou
We stayed two blocks from the Pompidou, passing it every day, eating across from it. Here are a few of the outside and then a few of my favorite works inside.
Pompidou plazaseven people sitting in front of the Pompidoumy reflection in the window of the line and houses oppositeMan Ray’s room of art and beautiful objectsshiny spinning metal shape with divets in a black and white lined boxGiacometti people
I particularly liked the Gerard Fromanger exhibit, his use of monochrome figures and infographics.
painting by Gérard Fromangerpainting by Gérard Fromangerview from the top of the Pompidou; see the Eifell Tower shining it’s spotlight in the distancebreak dancers entertaining a crowd in front of Hôtel de Villebreak dancer balancing on one handreflection on the front of a buswaiting for the light to change on a bridge over the Seinethe view through the menuParis swing on a bridge over the Seinecolorful juice windowreflection in car topreflection in bus window w driver smokingMaile on the Ponte Nuef overlooking the Sieneladies at a cafepeople sitting on the steps leading down to the Seineman running with child. one of my favorite moments to capturing, participating in that pure joy.men in front of a flower shoppedicabbies looking left as the man in black walks rightmannequin with reflection of tower and treeI loved lunching on these fresh baguette sandwichesa perfectly pruned parkthe Mona Lisa hype machine (I found it hard to appreciate the Louvre)
Street Art
There was so much great street art everywhere, from centuries old sculpture to to stickers, art sellers and graffiti, chalk artists and street musicians. Hardly a block went by that I didn’t notice a gorgeous door. I was always stopping to snap something and then running to catch up with Maile.
statues throughout the city had been secretly blindfolded in scarlet (an art stunt meant to draw attention to the ubiquitous – and easily overlooked – statuary)i love this chalk drawing, a face made out of squares, making eyes out of cracks in the wallwonderful street art everywhere. vandals with a nice sense of colorHUMANITY shakes hands with POWERTrust The Classicsturquoise pattern with clothing cutoutsa cup of shit (by Space Invader, I think
Now listen to the slow funky Flamenco sounds of a guitarist echoing in the Subway.
guitarist in the subway
Musée d’Orsay
Musée d’Orsay was a pure delight and inspiration. So many beautiful works of art that I’d never seen, and in a beautifully converted old converted train station.
reflections at the Orsay
Picasso Museum
a window upon rooftops, the distortions of the hand-blown glass making a painting