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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 23:15:27 GMT
That time of year is creeping up on us again, and the department stores have a head start as usual. This year Galeries Lafayette has chosen an all-white polar bear theme. This is probably their last chance while people still know what polar bears are. They chose an origami style paper technique which is both very clever and disconcerting. I think it works least well on the indoor Christmas tree, but that's just me.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 19, 2016 23:33:15 GMT
That is very strange. Nanuk looks so sad. Is she/he trying to eat fish skeletons because there is no more food? Or is this an Arctic riff on the Day of the Dead? Is the designer subversively conveying the message that buying useless plastic tat is threatening life on Earth?
I'm sure some artists from Oaxaca could add a dose of colour...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 23:37:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 23:38:49 GMT
That is very strange. Nanuk looks so sad. Is she/he trying to eat fish skeletons because there is no more food? Or is this an Arctic riff on the Day of the Dead? Is the designer subversively conveying the message that buying useless plastic tat is threatening life on Earth? I'm sure some artists from Oaxaca could add a dose of colour... I think the bears are sad because they weren't allowed to chew on seals in the windows.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 23:54:32 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 20, 2016 0:30:18 GMT
We're probably not supposed to be interpreting the displays, but I think LaGatta is on to something about the polar bears and a message about saving the planet. I love the music for the video and find the animated displays with the lovely cool blue and purple lighting much more interesting than the giant paper tree. I think I like the white origami windows more than the Printemps ones, although again a great choice of music. I do love that under-lit awning over Printemps' windows and their fashionable animals.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2016 1:02:32 GMT
Note that the elegant felines are SNOW leopards (and more than a bit lounge leopards too), alongside Nanuk and the reindeer/caribou.
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Post by mossie on Nov 20, 2016 17:14:35 GMT
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to show these. I am glad I didn't shell out for a trip now to see these, Galeries Lafayette I found particularly disappointing. Am I right that there is a company which devotes much of its time year round in making these displays, perhaps the stores have caught the cost cutting bug this year.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2016 17:07:21 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Nov 28, 2016 17:11:19 GMT
For some reason, that display inspires sadness and desolation in me... I don't know if it is the setting or just my dislike of Christmas. (I manage to have fun with friends despite that aversion).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2016 17:32:28 GMT
I admit that the Forum is a pretty barren place, so just about any sort of decoration improves it. Imagine how it normally is: with no decoration at all.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 28, 2016 18:38:50 GMT
I remember the old one, which got quite decrepit; have never been to the new one and doubt I'd have any reason to go there (one never knows, they might have some shop selling something I'm seeking), but they managed to make what I see of the new one look just as desolate as the old, if cleaner.
I always thought destroying Les Halles was a huge urban planning error; obviously it could no longer function as the wholesale hub for greater Paris, but other cities have conserved their old central markets for retail, including food stands and shops as well as restaurants, cafés and other related businesses.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 29, 2016 6:02:57 GMT
You have done us proud once again Kerouac - For me, the Printemps store was more entertaining and very clever in it's puppetry. Some of the movements were incredibly subtle. I like seeing the puppet strings which were missing in the Galleries Lafayette whiteness of snow and ice and polar bears.
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Post by bjd on Nov 29, 2016 6:37:43 GMT
Those "reindeer" look more like moose! I even googled pictures of reindeer and their antlers are much bigger.
That Forum des Halles does look rather barren and empty. Maybe once the Christmas shopping crowds come in it will be more cheerful. Have all the businesses moved in yet?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 7:18:05 GMT
Well, I took those pictures around 8am and the stores don't upen until 10am. Most of the stores have stayed open through all of the transformations. During the heaviest works, I would say that about 20% of them were closed at any given time. Right now I would say that maybe 5 or 6 shops are closed while their façades are being changed (which also means in most cases a full remodeling of the interior. There are now 150 shops with the addition of the new ones in the Canopée and others down in the metro/RER level.
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Post by chexbres on Nov 29, 2016 20:44:16 GMT
Those sure look like caribou to me... Here's a story in French about the man responsible for the marionnettes in the Christmas windows. There was a feature on TV a few years ago, too. www.lci.fr/noel/jean-claude-dehix-le-gepetto-des-vitrines-de-noel-1562872.htmlThere are a few restaurants in Les Halles shopping center, but the prices are much higher than most people are willing to pay, and the interiors resemble hospital waiting rooms. I noticed that there are many more upscale stores than were here before - probably more will follow.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 29, 2016 23:46:19 GMT
Maybe Les Halles can leave the moose Capreolinae up in the forum all year round. I've seen jollier-looking airports. Still, the idea of Santa's sleigh-pullers is clever and who doesn't love lots of sparkly lights.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 16:04:08 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 3, 2016 16:48:17 GMT
I suppose those are mostly students with part-time seasonal jobs but it must be a pain to work outside without moving much when it's cold.
The cheese is terribly expensive!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 17:06:27 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Dec 3, 2016 18:09:42 GMT
Except for some weird foods, and the Russian dolls, just about the same junk one finds at any street market - and yes, the cheese is overpriced. Why would people want fur hats with pompons in Paris?
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Post by lugg on Dec 3, 2016 19:17:14 GMT
As always I do really enjoy seeing this annual thread Thank you K2. Re chocolate and weird foods , I saw some chili chocolate covered nachos in M&S today and am now left wondering if I should have bought some.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 22:32:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2016 22:36:52 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Dec 3, 2016 22:46:29 GMT
I wouldn't mind some of that goat cheese with white truffles...
As for the chocolate tools, you did notice that there were chocolate "love locks" among them.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 4, 2016 4:12:43 GMT
Never seen truffled chevre I don't think. In Italy, truffled cheese is either (usually) sheep's or cow's milk. That tomme lavande is something to see. That's even wilder looking than crazy green Dutch basiron. I wonder how it tastes?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2016 5:40:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2016 5:43:35 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Dec 4, 2016 6:54:45 GMT
That was soooo nice! Bright and glittery, a delight for the eyes. Thank you Kerouac! The man with the embroidery machine is using a much older model than we use today and I can see it is maneouvered/manipulated by his hand/eye co-ordination which requires some concentration. The spools of thread are just normal 5,000m polyester and not the silk embroidery thread used on peak caps and other clothing.
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Post by gabriele on Dec 4, 2016 10:39:27 GMT
I came to Any Port looking for something for a poster on Thorn Tree going to be in Paris over the holidays, and found this! What a great thing to offer them! Not that I'm not enjoying the visit myself... I do appreciate the delicacy of the all white display. I think sometimes one can capture peoples' attention and sympathy more with beauty than with factual pictures which make them feel guilty. In this case, I hope so. The baby dolls....they actually look more lifelike to me than just angry...babies seldom smile and look sweet as most dolls would have you think. I could go down the line and say 'that one's teething, the next one has an ear infection, the third is constipated, the one after that was given cold formula...' and so on. I'm not a parent but I do know it's the rare child which makes you want to be around it all the time. They're little tyrants because it's all they know. Perhaps these dolls represent the acceptance that children are not always wonderful and it's ok to dislike them. Although I am sure there will be people who will at a pouting child and say 'oh how cute' (in whatever language they speak).
I went to the market today and they had Xmas music playing. A man getting dried apricots while I was looking at the dried cranberries looked at me and said "I hate Christmas. Always have. I really hate it". I told him it was ok with me, I found the music not at all pleasing and some songs made me want to scream out loud to shut them up (hint: Little Drummer Boy...it makes me want to be physically violent). I was talking with an employee working in the produce section and we exchanged the usual how are you, etc. I said I was fine but I was in no mood for Christmas. At least the secular Christmas. If people want to observe it in church fine, but don't inflict it on others. And I told him I hoped his family would enjoy their time together and doing what they wanted to do (make enchiladas). Funny thing was later (I had to wait at the deli counter for a while) the music didn't seem as loud....But I am seriously thinking about taking ear plugs (from my air travel days) so I can mute the noise.
But I don't really think "Christmas" in the same way when I see the wonderful displays and lights and even the Market. Maybe it's because it's another culture or because the displays create fantasy worlds and we certainly do need some fantasy to help us escape from what's going on elsewhere. So on these pages I can suspend my disbelief and say "it's wonderful" and mean it. And hope that there will be people who will be captivated and enchated by what they see. It's like merry-go-rounds in Paris. Few things have given me as much pleasure as coming across a merry-go-round and being able to watch people ride on them, adults and children. The one near the funicular up to Sacre Coeur was a favorite.
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