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Gallery: yet more street art in Paris
I never tire of wandering the streets of Paris; there is always so much to see and to photograph. From elegant buildings to quirky details and of course plenty of street art.
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Gallery: seeing Paris in black and white
Paris, like most cities, is full of colour. Street art, flower markets, shop windows, mellow old stone, green (or autumnal) trees … I could go on. But it is also full of striking details that translate well to monochrome images.
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Gallery: on the streets of Paris again
Jean Cocteau said that, 'In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator'. I disagree. For me, there are few more pleasurable ways to pass the time in Paris than sitting on the terrace of a pavement café watching the world pass by.
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A stroll through the Marais
The Marais is one of the loveliest and most fashionable districts of Paris. The name means ‘marshland’ because the original village here was built on a marsh, but there are no signs of that these days! Instead there are elegant buildings, pretty squares and of course the Parisian staples of great little cafés.
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The best views of Paris?
It’s hard to ignore the Tour Montparnasse. This 210 metre high skyscraper dominates the skyline on the southern fringes of central Paris. Its monolithic appearance has often been criticised as incongruous or inappropriate for this proudly elegant city.
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Gallery: a street artist at work in Paris
We only occasionally get the chance to watch a street artist at work. Somehow these works of art seem to appear almost magically on our streets, created perhaps overnight while we sleep? Some of course take many hours, even days, to complete. But others are much simpler and while they may have less impact still brighten our day.
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Postcard from Paris: le Metro
A year ago we were in Paris, on our first trip abroad since the pandemic had started. It felt strange, but good, to be travelling again after almost two years.
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Le Sacré Coeur de Paris
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, to give it its full name, seems to divide opinion. Built only in the early 20th century, I have seen some commentators criticise it as an eye-sore. Others (actually often the same people) abhor the reasons behind its construction. Its inspiration was the defeat of French troops during the Franco-Prussian War, which some felt was due to spiritual rather than political causes.
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A visit to the Musée Rodin in Paris
Over breakfast on a damp Parisian morning we discussed our plans for the day. Maybe rather than a walk a museum visit would be a better option, given the weather? This museum occupies the Hôtel Biron, where Rodin lived for the last decade of his life.
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Rising from the ashes: Notre Dame in 2021
Television has brought our world together, never more so than at times of great historical significance, and times of great tragedy. Together we watched as Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon. Together we watched Live Aid. Together we watched the planes fly into the twin towers on nine/eleven. Together we watched the fall of the Berlin Wall. And together we watched Notre Dame burn.
