Paris, je t'aime!

It's with mixed feelings I'm leaving Paris.. I'm very happy to come home to my family and friends, but I wouldn't mind staying here longer. As of tomorrow I will continue my daily photo posting from another blog, Eiker Daily Photo, and I hope everyone who has read and followed my Oslo Daily Photo blog (and Paris Daily Photo for these six weeks), will continue to read and follow my new Eiker blog. I would like to say thanks for all the comments that you have left, it makes me happy to know people enjoy my photos! Today's photo isn't very different from millions of other photo's of Paris, but I had to blog it as my last Paris daily photo. I love this photo and I love this city!

André Citroën

I'm posting today's photo after recieving it from my mum who wanted me to reccomend Parc André Citroën. It's situated by the Seine in the 15th arrondissement, on the former Citroën automobile manufacturing plant. It's an excellent spot for running or just taking a stroll, as it got "everything." The parc has mix of small paths hidden in forestlike areas, open squares with fountains and small waterfalls. Today's photo show a few of the wooden sunbeds one might find comfortable enough to rest on after a work out session or on a summer day. The André Citroën Parc also includes six theme gardens, where every garden is associated with a metal, a plant, a day of the week, a state of the water and a sense. For example, there is The Silver Garden, associated with silver, the Moon, Monday, rivers, and sight. I have not yet been in this parc myself, therefore I am very curious to see how these six gardens look like, and as I'm leaving Paris very soon, a visit to this parc will have to be on my to-do-list for my next trip to Paris!

Métro

After six weeks I have become fairly well acquainted with the parisian métro. As the third longest métro in Western Europe, the parisian métropolitain has got 213 km of rails and over 300 stations. The average distance between the stations are 300 metres. The parisian métro contains of 16 lines, where the trains on five of them are driven on rubber wheels, whilst one line is fully automatic operated. The first métro line opened in 1900 (Line 1), the last line 98 years later (Line 14). The longest line is 22.5 km long and has 38 stations (Line 7). Every day the parisian métro transport 3.9 million people, which is just one million less than the amount of people who lives in all of Norway!

Feeding Frenzy

I'm pretty sure I know enough french to understand that this sign which says "Si vouz aimez les oiseaux, ne les nourriturez pas" translates into "If you like the birds, do not feed them." I therefore find it a bit ironic that this little boy and his mum, which you might see crouching down on his right, chose just this spot in Parc Montsouris to feed the birds yesterday afternoon

Comme c'est curieux!

What a culturel afternoon I had yesterday! First, I went to a photography exhibition at Monnaie de Paris, the Paris Mint, with photos by Willy Ronis. The exhibition marks the centenary of his birth and show, amongst a few of his well known photos, many previously unknown works. Read more about the exhibition here. Afterwards, some of my classmates and I went to Théâtre de la Huchette in the Latin Quarter. As you can see in today's photo, it's a tiny little theatre. I don't think it holds more than maybe 60-70 people at the time. Every day, Théâtre de la Huchette show two plays by Romanian/French playwrighter and dramatist Eugène Ionesco: "La Chantatrice Chauve" (The Bald Soprano) and "La leçon" (The Lession). Yesterday we saw both plays and we all really enjoyed them. As Ionesco is one of the most famous playwrighter in the style "Theatre of the Absurd" I had many good laughs and I highly recommend going! Follow these links for Théâtre de la Huchette and Eugène Ionesco

Tree hut

Today I'm taking you from the exterior to the interior of Centre Pompidou, showing you how it looks like from the inside and out, through the bearing structure and technical installations. The tree hut you can see is part of one current exposition Centre Pompidou is offering at the moment. It is by Japanese-born artist Tadashi Kawamata, and you can read more about it here

Pompidou

Once upon a time, two architects wanted to design somthing different, something that would break with the traditional parisian facades, buildings and architecture in general. The architects, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, recieved much criticism for these ideas and the building that arose from them. In 1977, Centre Pompidou were finished, although one could say it didn't look finished, having all its bearing structure and technical installations on the outside. By now, it seems like the parisians have grown used to their modern looking museum/library. I took this photo of Centre Pompidou last night, and only having seen it in daylight before, I quite like it by night

Monsieur Pique!

With only one more week here in Paris, I have spent my Saturday afternoon doing what I love: Wandering around little streets, popping into every shop I find interesting and when my feet gets tired, relax in a little park or garden. Today I started in Parc de Bercy, did some shopping in Bercy Village and finished off with exploring the streets around the Marais area. That's where I met Monsieur Pique, the proud guardian of this art gallery/shop

Room with a view

Earlier I told you my dream of living in Paris started in Place des Vosges. An addition to the dream is that it would have to be a room with a view. Like this for example: The view of Paris from Butte Montmartre

Paris Plage

Every summer for the last 8 years, the Seine's Rive Droit, right bank, and the highway along it has been transformed into a beach. One can argue whether or not it's A BEACH, but everything is relative. Paris Plage stretches from Le Louvre until Pont Sully, which is about 3.5 km. Read more about it on it's homepage

Bright colours

As today's theme is bright colours, I chose this photo taken in one of the many art galleries in the Arcades surrounding Place des Vosges in Marais. This square is so beautiful. I love the red brick houses that surrounds the square, and it was here my childhood dream of living in Paris started!
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Abbesses

Thanks to Eric Tenin's blog I have now (yet) another favourite street in Paris. His daily photo from two days ago took me to Rue des Martyrs, and yesterday afternoon I found myself wandering up the street. It is full of boulangeries, pâtisseries, second hand shops and small cafés and bars. At the top of the street, right by the metro station Abbesses, where the amount of tourist increases, I found this staircase covered in colorful graffiti. The staircase led me to the top of Butte Montmartre and the museum Espace Dalí Montmartre (www.daliparis.com), which is also a favourite of mine

Buskers

Today's photo is taken right in between Paris' two islands, Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis. Not only situated in the middle of Paris' tourist area, Île de la Citè is also geographic and historic centre. Ponte Saint-Louis, the bridge that connects the two islands is a popular spot for buskers, and a perfect spot for nice views of the French Renaissance style inspired Hôtel de Ville, which houses the office of the Mayor of Paris

Pine

In the beginning of my stay in Paris I wrote about Jardin du Luxembourg, how it's my favourite spot for lunch on a sunny day. I am a little embarassed to say that even though I have been in Paris many times, I have not really visited that many parks and gardens, only because I kept going back to Jardin du Luxembourg. Since then I have spent some of my afternoons and weekends exploring other green lungs in Paris. Of the numerous parks and gardens in Paris, I still have a "few" left to see before I've seen them all. So far I am very surprised that all the parks and gardens are so different to each other. Not all of them has, what is for me a characteristic Parisian style, with the fountains, statues and flowers like Jardin du Luxembourg or Jardin de Tuileries. Today's photo is taken in Parc Montsouris, in the 14th arrondissement. What I like the most about this park are all the trees, in particular the pine trees that reminds me of home, and by reading about the parc I learnd that there are about 150 species of trees and shrubs growing there

Fancy a beer?

Fancy a beer? And not the usual one? My tip is this Belgium beer bar in 19 Rue Sufflot, close to the Panthéon. It's called La Gueuze and serves at least 40 different beers. I like "La fin du monde" (The end of the world), "Bière du dèmon" (Demon beer), "Cochonette" (Piglet) and "Judas"

A cat's life

There has always been so much talk about the thousands of dogs that live here in Paris, and especially about their dirty business they leave behind in the streets, I have completely forgotten about all the cats! That was until I saw this petit chat in Jardin du Luxembourg some days ago. Having this park as you outdoor playground, this really must be a cat’s life!

Same same but different

Another sunset over the Seine, but from another angle. I took this photo on France's national day last week, while I was waiting for the fireworks. It's taken on Pont Mirabeau in the 15th arrondissement. I love the blue colour of the sky and the reflection off the buildings on the right. It's very different from yesterday's sunset, yet it's the same city and the same river. I'm also gonna refer to an old post from this blog (you can see it here) where I find myself in the philosophical corner, if that expression works in English. I describe how you can experience a whole different world if you take time to stop and look back to where you came from. In this case, if you view the Effel Tower from different angles and parts of Paris, the experience can be quite different

Sunset

A beautiful sunset over the Seine. Today's photo is taken on Pont Louis Philippe, a bridge that connects Rive Droit, the Right Bank, and the island Ile Saint-Louis

Exploring

I love exploring areas, places and parks in Paris I have never visited before, except for the getting lost part. Today I got lost in Gare de Lyon, trying to find my way out. When I finally saw daylight, I also saw these photos scattered around the front of the station. According to this webpage, the world-renowned photography festival "Les Rencontres d'Arles," based in Arles, are spreading the festival to six stations across France, with Paris Gare de Lyon as one of them. Read more about the festival on this webpage www.rencontres-arles.com This exhibition of photos in front of landmarks also reminds me of the open-air exhibitions that takes place in Oslo in front of the City Hall every now and again. This is something I posted a photo of earlier. You can see that daily photo here

White facades

Today's photo show a typical parisian facade, as almost every house/facade in Paris are white. I specially enjoy the view from Montmartre and the basilica Sacré-Cæur for this reason, Paris just looks so white from there. This photo is taken on Île de la cité, one of the two islands on the river Seine, on Place Dauphine, a street and square shielded from the noise from the heavy trafficated streets along the Seine. It's a very cosy and quiet place with a few restaurants and bars not far from the busy tourist centre around Notre-Dame and Saint-Michel, worth a visit!

When in Paris..

..do what the Parisiens do. Go jogging in a park. This is one of the most Parisien things I know about. No matter the day, no matter the time or no matter the weather, you are bound to see several Parisians running in the park. I might be here for 6 weeks, but I'm not on holiday so I need to keep exercising, which in this case mean joining in on these guys

Wow

Today it's Bastille Day, France's National Day. Forget about the military parade that goes down the Champs-Elysées in the morning. Go instead to one of the two Parisian Operas, Palais Garnier or Opera Bastille for a free matinée. I went to Palais Garnier, and even though the queues and the wait was long, it was worth it. Not only was the ballet show "La danseuse de Degas," by choreographer Patrice Bart, really good, the Opera house itself was breathtakingly beautiful. I got more and more mesmerized the further inside I got, and the whole experience was perfect when I saw Marc Chagall's roof painting. Wow! Read about the show here

Mission failed!

Oh, how completely different today's post and photo is, compared to how I planned and hoped it would be. Tomorrow is Bastille Day, or France's National Day, so tonight and tomorrow night, several fire stations around in Paris are hosting big parties, called "Bals des Pompiers de Paris." I had one mission for tonight. That mission was to go to one of these parties, have a drink and take a photo of one smoking hot firefighter. They are, as I have read somwhere, seen as major sex symbols here in Paris (and I won't argue that!). Anyways, I chose the fire station close to Église Saint-Sulpice in the 6th arrondissement. The queue you can see on today's photo is about 1/5 of the whole line of people waiting to get in. I probably don't need to say I wasn't up for that, no matter how sexy the firefighters. But what I need to say is: Mission failed!

Viva España, again

You might not believe me when I say I'm no big fan of football, since today's photo is the second football related photo on this blog in just a few days. But I just had to see the World Cup Finale. Again I spent the evening at Trocadéro, with good friends and wine. Yesterday the crowd got even bigger than it did last Wednesday for the semi final, so we kept a little in the back. That turned out as a good idea, as people managed to push down fences and find their way through the barriers and into the Fifa Fan Fest area. Crazy football fans!

Libraire

Just a quick post today! I think this libraire, bookshop, has a really smart solution to show off books outside the shop. This is a bookshop at Place de la Sorbonne!

Viva España

Today I spent the evening at Trocadéro, amongst thousands of football fans. I'm no big fan myself, but I came along and hoped Spain would win. Which they did, after scoring a goal in the 73rd minute. As Trocadéro is my favourite spot in Paris to view the Eifel Tower, this was a perfect spot to view the last semi final in open air. I love the colours of the sky behind the tower at sunset from this angle, and together with the atmosphere from the crowd a minute after the scooring, I think this makes quite a nice photo for today!

Carefree cooling off

It's hot in Paris, and hotter it will be! While some people are worried about a new heatwave hitting town, this little girl in pink, cooling off in a fountain in front of École Militaire, seems to be very carefree!

Les fleurs

One of my followers commented on my post yesterday asking where all the flowers in Jardin du Luxembourg were. To be honest, I didn't notice or think about that my photo yesterday from the garden was one without all the beautiful flowers they use to have in their flowerbeds. The photo i posted yesterday was taken last week, when I was here in Paris for a quick two-day meeting. I guess the gardeners have been busy since then. Compare yesterday's flowerless photo to today's photo I took yesterday. It's the same flowebed, just from another angle!

Jardin du Luxembourg

One of my favourite things to do when in Paris, is to have lunch in the Luxembourg gardens. The park is the garden of the French Senate which is housed in the Luxembourg Palace you can see on today's photo. Jardin du Luxembourg is the largest public park in Paris (22.5 hectares), its located in the 6th arrondissement and not too hard to spot on the Paris map. There are still places in the park I have never been, like l'Orangerie, where lemon and orange trees take shelter from the cold or Rucher du Luxembourg, where bees have produced hunny centuries. I think today is a perfect day for lunch in Jardin du Luxembourg!

Place de la Sorbonne

First of all I have to say I don't have much background knowledge of Paris and its buildings, squares, monuments etc, but as this 6 week long stay will be my 9th time in Paris I do know my way around in the city so some extent. This "new" Paris Daily Photo blog will be more of a means for me to show you the places I already have been and love, and new places i will pass through and most definitely love as well! Today's photo is of a square or place where I'm sure I'm gonna spend a lot of time sitting in the sun, cool down in the water from the fountains and do some french class homework. This is Place de la Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter, in front of La Sorbonne, the historical house of the former Univeristy of Paris

100 reflections of Oslo

From this blog's very first post in February, I have today posted exactly a 100 pictures from Oslo! With this I will end this Oslo Daily Photo blog. I have not grown tired of this daily habit, the only reason for me to stop posting pictures from Oslo is because I have moved from the city and back home to my hometown. I will continue posting daily photos from my municipality, Eiker, in a new blog although this blog will not be up and running until 15th of August. From tomorrow and for the next 6 weeks I am a Parisian!! I urge you therefore to keep following this blog for a Paris daily photo, until mid August, when I hope you will follow me to my new blog and see many beautiful pictures from my little hometown! Please stay tuned!! Not forgetting about theme day today, I have chosen to give this month's theme "reflections" a wide interpretation. As reflectins can be representations or images I will mention again that today's picture is the last in a series of one hundred photos, images, representations or reflections of Oslo. The building you can see in today's photo is the Oslo Opera House. It was finished in April 2008, after about 5-6 years of building. In just one year, the Opera House had 1.3 million visitors, making it one of Oslo's most popular tourist spots. It's roof is open for the public to walk around on, giving some nice views over Oslo, and in summer time the roof is also used as a concert venue.
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