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Gallery: seeing wintery Paris in black and white

December 7, 2023 / 34 Comments

When we came back to Paris it was clear and cold and lovely. The city had accommodated itself to winter …

Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

A beautiful city can never be unbeautiful, whatever the weather, and Paris is certainly a beautiful city. And although we have often visited in late summer and in the autumn, and occasionally in the spring, we had never until very recently been in the winter. But a football competition changed all that.

This season, for the first time in twenty years, Newcastle United have been competing in Europe’s Champions League, against some of the top clubs on the continent. As soon as the draw for the group stage was announced we were keen to see which matches we might attend. With trips already arranged to Chicago (me) and Madagascar (both of us), the options were limited. But the key away game against Paris Saint Germain was to be played on a date we could both make, and some of our friends were also up for the trip. So Paris in late November it was.

We had two full days there. The first was match day but with the game not kicking off until 9.00 PM there was plenty of time to enjoy the city and the company of our friends. So we spent the day strolling around the Rue Rivoli area, eating, drinking and chatting.

Don’t mention the football!

I should draw a veil over the football perhaps. We didn’t go to the match as it was impossible to get tickets in the away end. And unlike two of our friends we didn’t want to pay over the odds for a seat among the PSG supporters. All six of us went to the Newcastle fan zone for a beer before the game. Then the two with tickets set off for the ground while we and our other two friends decided to return to the city centre to watch the match in the comfort of a pub we had taken a liking to the previous day, the Pub Saint Germain.

As I said, I should draw a veil over the match. Having beaten PSG at home with an impressive 4-1 scoreline, expectations were high but realistic. Most fans would have taken a draw before the game. But the eventual 1-1 result felt like defeat, with the Paris equaliser coming deep into injury time from a penalty that all commentators (including neutrals, both at the time and since) felt should never have been awarded. Ah, such is football …

But Newcastle fans are rarely down for long! So the next day saw us all ready to enjoy a bit more of the city, with a walk over the Pont Alexandre III and around the Tour Eiffel. On both days we were lucky to have bright if chilly weather.

For this week’s Monochrome Madness I’ve edited some of my wintery shots with Silver Efex Pro, as I think black and white suits this weather best. My feature photo of the Eiffel Tower appeared in another recent post, so here I’ve given it a slightly different edit.

River with an island with buildings, boats and a bridge

The Pont Neuf and Île de la Cité from the Pont des Arts

Lamppost with street signs

Old street signs

Couple in wedding outfits at a table

Wedding shoot on the Boulevard Saint Germain

One of the towers of the church of Saint Sulpice, seen from our hotel room

Detail of stone tower with carved figures
Carved stone figure with pigeons

Detail of a building on the Rue de Rivoli

Roman Equestrian statue of Louis XIV, Place des Victoires

Statue of a man on horseback
Stone lion with distant metal tower

The Eiffel Tower from the Pont Alexandre III

Street near the Eiffel Tower

Narrow street leading to tall metal tower
Digital display of days, hours, minutes and seconds

The Olympic countdown clock by the Eiffel Tower (selective colour seemed appropriate here)

Looking up at solid modern building with domes

Modern Russian Orthodox church near the Eiffel Tower

I visit Paris often; these shots were all taken in November 2023

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