No computer!

In Paris there are a lot of cafés and public parks where you have internet access via WLAN, but there are still some places where computers are not welcome.

Hyacinths

A foretaste of spring...

Le Château de Versailles #6

The Palace seen from the garden on a cold and rainy afternoon in November.

Le Château de Versailles #5

When I was at the Palace of Versailles in November 2010, there was an exhibition of 22 eye-catching sculptures of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. I liked the contrast between the old and the new, but I guess not everybody shared my opinion...

Le Château de Versailles #4

The hall of mirrors or Grand Gallery served as passageway and a waiting and meeting place, frequented by courtiers and the visiting public. It was only used for ceremonies on ecceptional occasions, when sovereigns wanted to lend splendour to diplomatic receptions or distractions on the occasion of princely weddings. It was also here that the treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919 which sealed the end of the First World War.

Le Château de Versailles #3

The construction of the Royal Chapel started in 1689, in 1710 it was finally consecrated. During the 18th century it witnessed many court events, as for instance the wedding of Louis XVI to Marie-Antoinette. This photo shows the chapel from the "tribune royale" where the king and members of the royal family heard the mass.

Le Château de Versailles #2

Le Château de Versailles #1

This week I´m taking you to the Palace of Versailles. As of 1661 Louis XIV (the "Sun King", 1638-1715) transformed and expanded his father´s hunting lodge and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. In 1682 the court and government of France moved to Versailles.

Monsieur au chapeau de paille

Sunday morning at the Marché de la Bastille, a lot of people running errands, tourists taking photos... and then this young man, lost in thought, unaffected of all the turbulence! I also love his jacket, his scarf and above all his straw hat (a little out of the ordinary for the month of November).

Blue Door #5

It goes without saying that there´s also a blue door on Place Vendôme.

Ma Bourgogne

Voilà, here´s one of my favourite cafés for breakfast: Ma Bourgogne, located under the arcades of Place des Vosges.

Sweet Paris #9

Green is my favourite colour, I love macarons - what more is there to say?

La Tour Eiffel #3

The Eiffel Tower by night seen from the second floor.

Colours of Paris #9 : Orange

A girl like me with glaring red dyed hair who often gets wondering looks in Paris, just has to love this mannequin with its orange "hair"!

On the métro

Taking the subway in Paris is rarely boring: There are often musicians or other artistic interludes. Normally nobody takes notice of these artists who try to "earn" money this way as you can see in this photo.

Merci

Last november I finally made it to the the concept store Merci on Boulevard Beaumarchais and I loved it. The store stocks furniture, fashion items as well as other pieces for the home, and there´s also a used-book café. All profits from the venture are donated to charities.

Doorway #3

The last time I was in Paris, a lot of blue doors caught my eye, but there are also red doors like this one on Boulevard de Beaumarchais.

Mansart

Francois Mansart (1598-1666) was a French architect, he introduced classicism into the French Baroque architecture. Since the 1620s he was highly recognized for his style and skills as an architect, but he was viewed as a stubborn and difficult perfectionist, tearing down his structures in order to start building them over again. I discovered this statue on the facade of the Louvre.

View of the town #1

The view from the top floor of the Centre Pompidou towards Notre Dame and the Panthéon.

Musée Nissim de Camondo #3

The Hôtel Camondo, located near the Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement, was built in 1911 for the banker Moise de Camondo (his family owned one of the largest banks in the Ottoman empire, established in France in 1869) to set off his collection of eighteenth-century French furniture and art objects. After the death of his only son Nissim in World War I, the banker decided to bedqueath his property to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. The Museum at the hôtel Camondo opened in 1836, one year after Moise de Camondo´s death. His daughter, her husband and her children died during World War II in the Nazi camps - the Camondo family died out.

Les Rogaleh

Here is an example of what you can buy at Sacha Finkelsztajn: Rogaleh, small croissants filled with chocolate.

Colours of Paris #9: Yellow

"La Boutique Jaune" de Sacha Finkelsztajn in Rue des Rosiers in the Marais was founded in 1946 and offers since then ashkenazic pastries and delicatessen.

Collage

I discovered this collage at "Merci" on Boulevard Beaumarchais. The lady with a gun to the left of the Eiffel Tower is the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. She and her husband Jean Tinguely created sculptures of the Stravinsky Fountain adjacent to the Centre Pompidou.

Blue Door #4

Here´s another blue door, this time a rather decent one. I discovered it on Rue des Rosiers in the Marais.

Fabrics

Fabrics in front of a shop on Place Saint-Pierre near the Montmartre.

Fontaine Igor Stravinsky #2

The Igor Stravinsky Fountain next to the Centre Pompidou, ornamented with 16 mechanical sculptures inspired by Igor Stravinsky´s compositions, was inaugurated in June 1983. The scultpures are works by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle. I´m working in a museum where the oeuvre of both artists has already been on display, so this fountain has a special meaning to me.

Boulangerie

This bakery with the beautiful portal is located on Boulevard Beaumarchais in the 11th arrondissement and I just love it. But to be honest I love every Parisian bakery. My favourite "viennoiseries" are pain au chocolat and croissant aux amandes. Which one do you prefer?

Audrey

I saw these Audrey Hebpurn cushions in June 2008 in one of my favourite shops and immediately fell in love with them. I didn´t buy one, but took only this photo.