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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 12:24:25 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Oct 19, 2015 13:40:34 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 13:50:38 GMT
On returning back to Paris I was treated to a drive through the streets and a whiz around the Arc de Triomphe....Yikes!
Next: I track down more vines in an odd places.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 19, 2015 14:56:11 GMT
Wonderful, Tod! Love that leafy vine-covered neighborhood, which looks comfortably lived in. Also loved your "bee-loud glade", especially the picture of the bees flying around the door of their house. Right afterward, it was funny to see people swarming like bees to the cooking school samples. The memorial is beautiful and moving. You'd think that a visit to a place like that would make people come to their senses and end wars forever.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 16:20:49 GMT
Thanks Bixa! I never expected the bee-hives. I know where quite a few secretunmentioned ones in Paris so maybe that will be my next "Bee Quest", not grape quest! The neighborhood of the 15th is not a tourist attraction and believe me, I, moi, was the 'Lone Ranger' walking through the neighborhood with my shooter(Camera!) .
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Post by tod2 on Oct 20, 2015 14:20:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2015 5:54:29 GMT
I really enjoy the way you leapfrogged all over Paris from parks to architecture to restaurants. And as I have told you in the past, you manage to research hidden corners of Paris that I have never seen myself. Some people would consider that an exploit. Are there any North African restaurants in South Africa? I see that you seem to be particularly attracted to them when you come to France.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 7:24:52 GMT
Kerouac, when I'm Paris hungry I Google the streets and sometimes see things I would like to investigate further. A lot of the books I have suggest some out-of-the-way places in Paris, which I have been finding over the past 5 years.
I can't say there are no North African restaurants in S.A as Johannesburg and Cape Town being very cosmopolitan might very well have one or two. As for my immediate access to restaurants, we do not have any.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 7:35:18 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 8:13:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2015 10:40:19 GMT
I can see that you love checking out the little gardens in front of the individual houses just like I do. And I know it means holding the camera over the fence or sticking it through the bars in the gate a lot of times. The brooms, buckets, random flower pots, children's toys, rusty tables and chairs, watering cans and all sort of random clutter allow me to imagine all sorts of things about the people who live inside and yes, often with a guard cat to watch over everything.
I went to La Lune the day before it closed for summer holidays (yet more proof that the immigrants assimilate French ways very quickly), and the man asked me about my mother even though it's been about 5 years since I was last able to take my her there (we used to go at least once a month). Since then I have only been back about once or twice a year, but they have very long memories in that place.
The eels in the seaweed is one of my favourite wall paintings in Paris because it is so precisely done even though it is monumental in size.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 12:16:30 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 13:35:52 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2015 13:37:34 GMT
I'm sure there are people following this thread who think that it doesn't look like Paris at all!
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Post by tod2 on Oct 21, 2015 17:44:45 GMT
I'm sure that's true! What a shock for the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre brigade! Not knocking the first time or even second time Paris visitor - unless you come to Paris multiple times ( and are interested in loads of stuff all Parisien) then you will never venture further than the 7th arr.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 21, 2015 19:07:30 GMT
Thank you Tod, this report is just so lovely. I really enjoyed your photos, your perspective and your adventurous spirit! You are brave, I do not think I would have the courage to do all of this on my own, BRAVO!
I also think Kerouac was blessed this summer to escort three lovely ladies!
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Post by fumobici on Oct 21, 2015 19:18:55 GMT
Interesting photos, most of places I've neither seen nor heard of. I was curious about the interior of the pool near Place d'Italie. Hopefully there will be more!
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Post by tod2 on Oct 22, 2015 9:40:27 GMT
Thanks Mich64 - Yes, wasn't he the lucky guy Thanks for the comments! Fumobici - Yes that is the pool nearest Place d'Italie but there are at least two more I'd like to find in other areas. Next time.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 22, 2015 10:32:50 GMT
Fascinating. That part around République/Rue Charlot is one of my favourite areas in Paris, but I can see there's much to explore in the outer arrondissements. If memory serves, Rue des Iris was the location for the home of the central character of Michael Haneke's movie Hidden (a comfortable life turned upside down by the revival of an uncomfortable memory raising all sorts of question about historical responsibilities). My blog | My photos | My video clips"too literate to be spam"
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Post by tod2 on Oct 22, 2015 11:47:27 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 22, 2015 12:33:42 GMT
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Post by mossie on Oct 22, 2015 19:13:45 GMT
I suppose a girls school needed creaky floors so that the staff could listen out for suspicious movements at night.
I have eaten a couple of times at Le Pachyderme, OK but not wonderful
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Post by tod2 on Oct 23, 2015 7:52:49 GMT
Ha ha Mossie.... The creaking certainly added some unusual charm to the interior and did not irritate me at all. Nice to hear someone else has had a meal at a place I tried. Yes, not fantastic but better than my next meal...
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Post by tod2 on Oct 23, 2015 9:19:51 GMT
I found the No.86 bus a wonderful way to leave Nation behind and get to the banks of the Seine. This particular morning I started out late - first picking up the 86 going in the other direction of Saint Mande`- Parc Zoologique. Well, I'll visit the zoo today. Except when I got off the wind was blowing so cold I cancelled that idea of walking around freezing, so I hopped back on and took it all the way to Pt de Sully-Quai de Bethune. Before departing I took this snap. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/6VFm42.jpgHaving skipped breakfast I decided on an early lunch. Too cold to sit outside so I chose this little restaurant at the junction of the Pont St-Louis bridge between Ile de la Cite` & Ile Saint Louis. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/9zxkO0.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/oBJLgh.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/907/hrr2Es.jpgI decided on the beef bourguignon. It was probably the worst I've ever eaten but I was pleased to get some vegetables with it. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/633/1FrvHR.jpgMy adventure today was a bit unusual, to say the least. I had read about ‘James. B’, the fifty-something man who has called a tiny room under a bridge and called this place home for over 20 years. He is a squatter, who after serving seven years in the French Foreign Legion traveling the world, settled at the Pont Louis Philippe in 1989. Well what better new tourist attraction was waiting for me! Walking along the tip of the island - Quai de Boubon - I could see the river weed through the water. Usually the colour is so cloudy you can't see a thing. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/911/vHdl6K.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/908/BMzys0.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/4KSvkj.jpgAs I crossed the bridge I looked down and could see the place looked abandoned. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/sfmw7Z.jpgCrossing over I saw this doorway, slightly ajar with a clothes line and dog bowls outside. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/907/MFsP9H.jpgI noticed an elderly well dressed man pacing up and down as I walked down. The cars were whizzing by and there were a few people around. First I inspected the first doorway - definitely nobody living there. I came back and decided to knock on the door. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/911/zSe5rZ.jpgI wasn't surprised when a young man came to the door. I shook his hand, asked if he was James B then and asked if I could photograph his 'apartment'. He shook his head to say 'No', so I started walking on and taking photos of the water level against the wall. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/907/mKubcv.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/Hz0W7F.jpgAs I looked back he beckoned to me and was holding a notice. I walked back and realised he wanted money so gave him a ten euro note. This was my passport to photo freedom! I was invited inside ( I never thought he might attack me and rob me as there were other people nearby). I complimented him all the time on his wonderful room. I asked where were his dogs ( my French was improving as I remembered 'chien' was a dog), and pointed to the bowls. He said he had 2 dogs and that his father was up on the road with them. Well if that was his papa, the dogs had bolted...He kept telling me 'Romany', which I take it was his nationality. We shook hands again and I was as pleased as punch I had met someone who lives in Paris, under a bridge, with a trillion-euro view! imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/r7Me8H.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/633/SK6hMi.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/hMutiX.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/euDnrC.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/IxBUet.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/633/Xq7gLw.jpgWhen I review the photos I notice he has a bike and wasn't dressed badly even down to his nice shoes. I walk to Rue des Barres for a lovely slice of tarte tatin and the best cafe` noisette. imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/903/dN2M2k.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/77VJQ1.jpgimagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/910/6tEsJl.jpgOn the way home I pass this little toy shop - the gentleman inside wore a bowler hat with a light-globe on top and a clown's nose. He was a salesman of note! Soon he was showing me the unusual toys for my grandkids. A soccer ball that floated on air (and which caused the security at Munich airport to search my bag), books which had drawings that could appear and disappear, and lovely educational games. Boy, did I buy a bunch of stuff! imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/907/uAQsj0.jpgWhat will tomorrow bring... I don't know yet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2015 17:01:18 GMT
Well, you certainly had adventures, Tod, & made some very interesting ones for yourself! Any idea why those two apartments(?) are there in the bridge? They both have substantial doorways, steps and windows. Wonder what the history is. Super lucky to be invited inside -- clever, clever you!
The toy store looks magical and your restaurant, despite the indifferent entree, must have been the perfect warm haven at the time.
Wonderful pictures -- looking forward to more!
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Post by tod2 on Oct 23, 2015 17:42:56 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 23, 2015 17:52:55 GMT
Thanks Bixa - I have not a clue about those doors under the bridge. I bet Kerouac does though! I think they could just have been be storage for the city of Paris.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 18:47:36 GMT
The Piscine des Amiraux is closed for renovation until September 2017. I would never have known that if you hadn't made me look it up.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 24, 2015 5:23:31 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 24, 2015 5:50:04 GMT
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