Petit Palais - City of Paris Fine Art Museum - A Few Small Details

A few details from the Petit Palais art museum in Paris. The space is cool, quiet and filled with extraordinary art. There's plenty of shady outdoor space with comfortable reclining chairs, there's a satisfactory restaurant where they serve Diet Coke in bottles designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Dayglo Lime Green Camera Strap

This is my latest camera strap, Dayglo Lime Green. It's for photographers who like a stylish accessory and also for those who need a little help with their memory.

The inspiration for the Dayglo strap came from a conversation I had with a friend and fellow photographer. He told me that had lunch in a motorway service restaurant near Toledo, Spain, and didn't remember to pick up his $9000 camera which he'd slung over the back of a chair. Fifteen minutes after leaving the restaurant and on his merry way to Madrid he realised the he'd left the camera behind.

The story has a happy (and lucky), ending because a waiter had picked up the camera when the table was cleared and my friend was re-united with his pride and joy.

Paris Street Art - Graffiti

Above the door of Notre Dame Cathedral

While editing and filing my recent photographs, I've fallen in love with the intricate detail of Notre Dame cathedral and started looking at Gothic architecture with new eyes. The photograph above is a small detail from one of several entrances. Each figure is life size, carved from limestone that has aged with a golden hue.

The trouble is Notre Dame is very popular and very busy with thousands of tourists wandering around, it's not my cup of tea. I didn't enter the cathedral or take a photograph of the main entrance which is is even bigger and more impressive (but more crowded), so I can't imagine the sights that await me inside. I simply walked to the entrance, pointed the camera up to avoid the heads of tourists and took the two photos below. Notre Dame has whetted my appetite, I'll do a bit of research and return to have a better look.

 

I'm reading: Pure by Andrew Miller

The book I chose from Shakespeare and Company in Paris, and my current read is Pure by Andrew Miller. The choice is unusual for me because this book won the Costa book of the year in 2011 and I generally avoid paying for any book that has won a literary award. After reading all the accolades on the cover (Irresistibly compelling, Superb, Dazzling, Gripping), I'm usually dreading being under whelmed by the contents. No so with this book.

I'm half way through and Pure is shaping up nicely and well worth my twelve euros. Set in pre-revolutionary Paris, it's the story of a young engineer given the task of demolishing the oldest cemetery in the heart of the city. The cemetery is overflowing and casts a blight on those who live nearby. The project starts as a great opportunity for the young engineer to make a name for himself. But obviously things don't go to plan. I wont say anymore as it would spoil it for you. Miller is a very good writer, the book is packed with energy and colour. It's an ambitious novel that I'm finding hard to put down.

Shakespeare and Company Bookshop Paris

 

Just across the bridge from Notre Dame cathedral you enter the Latin Quarter of Paris on the left bank of the Seine, it's of my favorite haunts. On my previous visit to Paris I stayed in the Latin Quarter and explored area for three days. Alas I could only afford one day on this visit.

I'm delighted to report Shakespeare and Company hasn't changed since George Whitman died in 2011, aged 98. The shop is now run by his daughter, Sylvia Beech Whitman, and everything looked exactly the same as on my last visit.

Whimsical Carousel, Montmartre

Gallerie Lafayette Paris

Gallerie Lafayette, Paris. An amazing shopping mall that reminded me of Harrods in London.

Paris weddings - Hard work but great fun

Wedding at the Petit Palais

Just returned from Paris it was an excellent trip, lots of fun and lots of photos. I have a mountain of work to catch up with so I'll put some photographs here as I work throughout the week.