This 'n' That (continued)

OK, back to my post with some "everyday life in Paris" pics.



Susanne's reunion with Rachid, an old friend from 1999 when she was in Paris to learn French. He helped her study because he spoke no English. He's gotten alot older in just the past year.














Here's mama with three little ones.

With gas prices so high, motor scooters & 'cycles are very popular....and noisy as hell.










Most people on the Metro spend their time staring off into space or sleeping with their eyes open. (In Japan, they really sleep but somehow know when it's their stop...suddenly wake up & exit the car.)

Some are busy on their cell phones, usually texting, but sometimes talking or checking Facebook.

And then there are a few who are grabbing a sandwich. The French word for "sandwich" is "sandwich". But the French plural is "sandwichs".



A couple of shots taken riding the Metro while crossing the Seine. It's alot cheaper than tunneling under the river.






















There are a number of plaques like these around Paris, this one on the wall of the Ann Frank school.

A rough translation: "A memorial to the young students from this school who were deported during 1942 - 1944 because they were Jews, innocent victims of the barbarity of the Nazis and the Vichy government. More than 1200 children of this district were exterminated in the death camps."


What strikes me is the shared blame of the Nazis & the Vichy government (collaborating French officials installed by the Nazis). For a long time, the French weren't willing to take any blame for what happened in France during the occupation, after all they were just following orders.



I would love to take credit for this shot as one taken while strolling the streets. But in reality, I cribbed it from a local website promoting a photographic exhibition here in September.

Question: Candid or posed???
















Here's a shot after dinner with friends. The restaurant was at Place du Trocadero near the view of the Eiffel Tower from across the Seine. Robert (French) & Sandy (American) split their time between Paris & Scottsdale.









One evening we decided to have dinner at a choucroute place. Choucroute is the French word for sauerkraut. This is cuisine from the Alsace region, close to Germany, so the food has a strong German influence.











My choucroute (with assorted meats) and Susanne's French onion soup.













Our very kind waitress offered to take a photo of us.

BTW, we continue to find the Parisians to be kind & helpful...offering assistance to us even when none is needed. And they are good to each other.

In the Metro on the way to the police museum, I was about to descend a long flight of stairs. About halfway down was a young woman carrying the handle of a loaded personal grocery cart with wheels (very common here). Holding the axle & helping her was an African man. At the bottom of the stairs, she thanked him very briefly & off they went on their separate ways.



The Gare de Lyon (at dusk), one of several railway stations, is just across the street from the choucroute place. This gare serves as Paris' gateway to southern France.









Susanne loved the way our bread wrapper closed. Just pull the red string on one side & the white string on the other......



















...and voila!! The wrapper closes.

Sometimes it's the simple things in life that give pleasure.
















OK, last item is a video I call "Morning in the 'Hood". I shot it on the way to the bakery. As I pan to the right, I stop briefly at a shop...that's the bakery. At the end of the vid where I zoom in, that's the Bastille Column.

I tried to get this video to work in the new blogging interface "compose" & "preview" mode. Couldn't do it so apologies if it doesn't work. If you're an email subscriber, click on "Steve's Travel Blog" at the top which will take you to the blog website where it should work. Again apologies if it doesn't.