I'm getting drawn to the Bastille column again. That means more (but hopefully not too many) pics. It's getting close to sunset, off to the left.
Past sunset but with the lights on.
Street art is becoming the thing. (Yes, that is her tongue.) But things aren't always as they seem. I had a mind photo of the artist with all the materials laid out painting this piece. Nope, it's done on vinyl somewhere else and applied here.
Reflect for a moment on this new burger joint. It's all in English. The French word for "frog" is very different so I don't think it's a play on words. The burgers are made from red meat, certainly not frogs. I know this because the grill is near the window. A somewhat pejorative name for the French is "frog". Is that what this is all about...burgers for frogs?
The RATP is responsible for all the Paris area public transport...Metro, bus, RER (rail). For years & years I've seen this logo appearing on every bus & Metro car. All I noticed was an upward looking face in a circle. By itself, it doesn't make much sense.
Then last week I was gazing at it on a Metro car across the tracks down in a Metro station & I finally got it. Boy, am I slow! The circle represents the Peripherique, the the belt line expressway (Hah! The Parisians would call it a circular parking lot) that defines the limits of Paris...inside = Paris, outside = the suburbs. And the squiggly line represents the Seine flowing thru Paris. No, that's not really the shape of the Seine thru Paris but they're in the people transport business.
Susanne had a yen for a crepe in a sitdown place. I checked the web, found a list of the 10 best creperies in Paris & chose one within walking distance. And here they are...hard to tell what's inside. Partially eaten salad, very good, on the left. Susanne's (top) had Camembert & walnuts, mine was cheese, onions, & bacon bits. The crepe itself was thin & crisp. We prefer the street crepes, thick & soft. LSS, these seemed greasy, we were underwhelmed.
Earlier I mentioned the dearth of Vietnamese places. Here's one across from the creperie. It was getting dark so the shutter speed was slow. This is the line waiting to get in...the entire time we had dinner there was always a line. Here's a business opportunity. Get a short term lease, 1-2 years max. Open up a Vietnamese place while the demand & prices are high, then get out when all the clones appear.
Paris has street demonstrations, we usually see one per visit. Place de la Bastille is the traditional spot for all the marches to end. This one came right past our apartment heading there. They are very noisy but usually peaceful. Note the guys in neon vests keeping order. As long as it's orderly, the authorities put up with the traffic disruption. The photos are from our living room window.
You can see by the flags that it's about Iraq & Egypt.
Here is a 42 second vid of the scene so you can get some sense of the sound of it all. If you have an email subscription, you won't be able to see it here. Go to the web version of the blog by clicking HERE.
I'd call this photo "Street Musicians and a Very Young Groupie". Just after I took the shot, the youngster toddled off to his parents off camera on the left.
Note the hat for the money. I dropped in a few copper coins.
I mentioned previously about Tony's Pizza & how it has been shut down for almost a year from the fire. It's near the creperie so we dropped by. Note that the door is open. We peered inside and there sat a very disconsolate Tony puffing away on a cigarette surrounded by a partially reconstructed pizza joint. He remembered us (or had the good sense to say he did) and explained the problem...the insurance company fought him every step of the way, refusing to pay. He thinks he can be open in 2 weeks but I think that's very optimistic. We wished him well then left.
Coffee & pastries at the apt.
Paris weather temp. forecast high/low: Wednesday, 87/60, Thursday 91/61. Friday cooler with rain.
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