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This evocative and beautiful bistro is on one of the oldest courtyards in Paris, called Cour du Commerce St. Andre. The cobblestones are the old style stones, large and multisized. The sidewalk too is ancient. Just down the way is Le Procope, the oldest traditional style Parisian cafe in the world, opened in the 1600's, when Louis XIV was king. At the time coffee was the new sensation, even considered a 'radical' drink that excited the mind and loosened the tongue. Coffee and tea houses were also springing up in England. And here is a detail from the side of the cafe, one of its cheerfully decorated windows. www.flickr.com/photos/44548980@N00/522608460/in/set-72157...
This little courtyard gives on to Cour de Rohan, an equally historic place. All the people who have walked here, loved here, had intrigues, planned revolutions, walked through on the way to the market, stopped to visit friends, looked up at the sky, thought about their loved ones, felt afraid of the king or a lord or felt proud to serve the king, have run after a carriage, got off a horse, enjoyed the sun, run for shelter from the rain or snow....wondered when the war would be over, idled happily on the corner, celebrated holidays, saw the moon waxing and waning as it made its way across the night sky.
It is just a dream to be in a place like this. Truly. And kudos to France for protecting and maintaining her national cultural treasures.
... and another view
Published in YSE#18, Inside-out issue:
"What are the new ‘definitions’ that would be needed to articulate codes and communication channels valid in a time where the rivers flow of pure strong noise?
Are freedom and society antagonistic concepts?
Are communication and freedom values that are canceled each other?
What are the ways in which (among all the noise) the information runs?
Filters?
An out-icon for player from / with / on which elaborate or stating a point of view or propose an option or modus operandi?
What are the mechanisms of deactivation of a system that eats everything?
How to avoid entering the game? / Or how to get out? / Or where to go out? / ¿To re-enter?
Where is the outside?" Fernando Prats
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Featured in my photo-book ABSTRACTED ARCHITECTURE.
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This is a beautiful historic restaurant in the St. Germain district of the Left Bank, down the street from Cafe de Flore, right around the corner from Les Deux Magots, and not far from La Brasserie Lipp. Situated as they were near the oldest church in Paris, the Eglise St Germain and one of the main intersections of the Left Bank, these places have been and are still a busy hub for social gatherings. The images on either side of the door are actually TILES that were designed and painted separately then attached to the exterior wall to create two scenes of peasant women in full traditional dress. To the right is another image, a maritime scene made up of many tiles, advertising the fact that fresh oysters and shellfish are sold here. Check out the street sign.
Belle facade et entree du Petit Zinc, sur la Rue St. Benoit, pas loing du Cafe de Flore, Les Deux Magots, et la Brasserie Lipp. C'etait le matin, juste avant 8 heures et meme qu'il y avait bien sure de la circulation et des pietons, j'ai profite' d'une seconde ou deux quand ce serveur est sorti modifier la carte du jour et ni voiture ni pieton obscuraient cette scene classique.
The fourth of a set of thirteen images from my recent show "Historic Cafes of Paris" that I'll be uploading today and tomorrow. The best way to see them all - including the ones that I already posted to Flickr last year - is to visit the set and see them as one show.
Is this the essence of city life? Several people sharing a public space but having no connection with each other. Who are they? What are they doing? Where are they going? Were they ever aware that for this fleeting moment beneath an elegant arcade in the Palais Royale on 20th February 2012 they came together to create this picture for an un-known photographer?
La Vagenende across from L'Odeon is known for its fantastic glass and mirrored interiors and fine woodwork -- all dating to the early 1900's -- that you catch a glimpse of here.
Here is a photo of the gorgeous interior from Wiki Commons: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VAGENENDE.jpg
It had been raining on this chilly winter evening, so no one was outside. The lights were welcoming people to dinner, but mostly Parisians were just getting out of work as it around 5:30. It being February it was already dark and this shot was taken without a tripod, by propping the camera up on the roof of a car. There was just barely enough light to get detail in the shadows, but the Canon's histogram helped a lot to determine a good exposure, and so did bracketing. How to do all this between dozens of pedestrians streaming by? That is the trick and not always easy!! Often I just have to return another time, when it is less busy. ;-)
Paris hier et aujourd'hui. Rue de Tolbiac. In the distance is the church Sainte Anne de la Butte-aux-Cailles. It is found on the corner of Tolbiac and rue Bobillot. Building began in 1894 and progress was slow due to a lack of resources. The façade was built in 1898 from a donation from the Lombart family of chocolatiers, which earned it the nickname “chocolate façade.” The towers and bells were completed in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle de 1900 (the 1900 Paris World’s Fair). The church was finally finished in 1912. The old photo has the name of the church as St. Jean, the only information I found on that was in 1840 there existed a chapel in the same area, in 1848 it became the Bréa chapel in the memory of General Jean Baptiste Fidèle Bréa who died that year. Is that why it says St. Jean? Today rue de Tolbiac is a busy shopping street with many restaurants and businesses.
Dawn at Les Deux Magots, (pronounced kind of like "lay duh mah go") Latin Quarter. Despite my getting to the area early early in the morning to photograph these historic spots, about one minute after I took the picture, a gigantic white tour bus parked smack dab in front of our view! Luckily I had gotten the angle I wanted for this picture ....
Je n'avais que 4 minutes pour trouver ma prise de vue avant qu'un autobus enorme plein de touristes est arrive. Il c'est gare exactement devant moi! C'etait l'aube mais on commence de bon heure a Paris!
Here's their website: www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/ and there's an English version too....and a brief history for you below from www.paris.org
"Where: 170 blvd, St Germain, 6th
Métro stop: St-Germain-des-Prés.
Open: 8h - 02h Daily; closed second week of January.
Named after the two wooden statues which still dominate the room, Les Deux Magots is one the most famous cafés in Paris. Jean-Paul Sartre, and Hemingway were both patrons in an earlier era. Its rival - Café de Flore - is just next door.
Paris' OLDEST cafe, dating to the 1600's! The French Revolutionaries met here to plan their moves. Their American friends, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson wined and dined here, and enjoyed the exciting new beverage of the day: coffee! When it was first introduced into France coffee was considered a 'radical drink' and Madame de Pompadour apparently tried unsuccessfully to have it banned from court. !! The back entrance to this cafe is on the ancient Cour de Commerce St. Andre which has remained unchanged for centuries, and has some of Paris' oldest cobblestones that you can see quot;Bistro 1900" - a wonderful old bistro which is situated gives on Cour de Commerce St. Andre - right behind the Procope.
And here is some helpful information from a Flickr email I received:
"Le Procope was founded in 1648, yes, but it derives its importance from the fact that The Enlightement of the 18th century can be said to have been hatched there and that it continued to be a source of intellectual and artistic ferment until the end of La Belle Epoque (World War I, 1914 - 1919) when the Western world lost its innocence. Without this new step in thinking - the second one after the Renaissance - all of us might still have been humble servants to the Catholic Pope and the stifling religious views of the old Roman Catholic Church - comparable to the current views of orthodox Muslims and Amish (or any fundamentalist creed). It does not derive its importance from a visit of Benjamin Franklin, of course, because he went there precisely because of the reputation that Le Procope, at his age, still had."
This is one of the cafes from a set of nineteen images from my recent show "Historic Cafes of Paris" See the rest of them in my Cafes of Paris set. :o)
Gentlemen — What is Nightlife on the Vegas Strip? Is it Big Dinners, Stage Shows, Swanky Bars & Shadowy Speakeasies, Gentlemen’s Clubs (Strip Shows), Glittery Nightclubs & Dance Lounges — Or is Vegas Nightlife just an endless string of gambling at the Roulette, Craps, Poker, and Blackjack Tables?!?! 🤔
Or is it all of the above?!?! 🤔
So in the meantime — what’s it going to be tonight — The Bedford by Marsha Stewart, or Vanderpump Paris? 😁
Au revoir, Paris! Late afternoon on a soft grey Paris day. This is the last of my "Postcards from Paris" for a while. Spring flowers are blooming all around me here in Northern California, so I'll be posting those next.
Ma derniere 'carte postale' de Paris pour le moment. Le printemps tout fleuri arrive chez moi en Californie du nord....alors je vais partager mes photos faites dernierement de callas, rhododendrons, et cerisiers. A demain!
Just pure Haussman Paris......and one of her most beloved cafes made famous by the artists of Montparnasse who, in the early 1900's, were to create the movement we now call Modern Art.
Here are several other photos of this beautiful building:
www.flickr.com/photos/44548980@N00/522608458/
and www.flickr.com/photos/44548980@N00/526196759/in/set-72157...
In the neighborhood of the historic Montparnasse cafes (Le Dome, Le Select, La Rotonde, La Coupole) Le Dome rises like a flamboyant ship's prow on a corner lot. This is a detail of this beautiful building. These cafes played an important role as a gathering place during the international modern art movement of the post WWI era.
What was Montparnasse about in the early 1900's?
Here is a brief essay about an art exhibit honoring the artists of that era: www.parisvoice.com/-archives-97-86/337-exhibition-revisit...
More Paris Film at my Cargo gallery
cargocollective.com/anitawaters/Paris-2015
Olympus OM2N Fuji Superia Xtra 400
Film September 2015
What if you didn’t have to go home Wednesday Night Day Eight? What if you called your boss at work and told him you desperately needed three additional paid vacation days in order to pursue that highly elusive phenomenon commonly known as ‘Island Time!’ 😅 How would you presume to spend the next three nights and four days? Would you shock and amaze your very lovely lady 778 miles away back home by booking a luxury poolside cabana at the NY-NY Hotel & Casino and laying out in the hot October desert sun to work on your suntan? 🌞 Would you go and hangout at Gilley’s Saloon at Treasure Island each night? Would you dance the Cowboy Cha-Cha, and the West Coast Swing, and the Progressive Country Two-Step with any and all female patrons until your legs fell off? Would you haunt every hidden Gin and Bourbon Speakeasy on the Vegas Strip? Would you sleep in late every morning? 😴 Would you take long afternoon naps at the cabana pool every day? 😴 Would your very lovely lady reprimanded you for being selfish and indulgent?
Perhaps you should stop wondering and work harder at finding more time to explore this ever evolving Paris Hotel & Casino? 🤔
You didn’t come to the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip to do hard labor or to chase after that highly elusive phenomenon commonly known as the blessed state of being of ‘Island Time!’ You requested eight days of company paid vacation time in order to rest and to recover from six months of long exhausting work days and too much mandatory overtime! You came here to Las Vegas specifically to Eat Well — to Drink Well — to Sleep Well — and to Vacation Well! So do you feel under any pressure to do something notorious or spectacular or perhaps even legendary to climax your last full day and last full night on the Vegas Strip? 🤔
If you merely return to work well rested, then your company’s paid vacation investment would have been well spent. But if you were to somehow climax this last full day and night before Departure Day by doing something notorious and spectacular and legendary — would it bother you? 😏
So maybe tonight you should celebrate the conclusion of another fine Vegas Vacation by having a luxurious patio dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel & Casino. 😁
The Select is a beautiful place inside with an atmosphere that is still authentic and very special. Artists and writers of the early 1900's spent hours here, exchanging ideas and enjoying good food and drinks. The tables, walls, photographs on the walls, everything about this place resonates with the warmth of convivial company. I just loved it inside Le Select!
A car snuck into this photo -- but it was in a way that I just couldn't resist. The top of this taxi swooshed by suddenly getting in the way (!!!!) while I was desperately trying to get a photo without people on the sidewalk to obstruct the scene. But when I reviewed my shots for the day I noticed how this 'intruder' reflected the wonderful colors in the neon sign above, and it then actually made the shot for me. And of course a glimpse of the bicycle got in there too, as it was leaning against a post in front of the entrance. :o) It was rush hour and you can see the cars on the Boulevard Montparnasse reflected in the window, 'behind' the friends having a chat and a cigarette (or two). One person is ordering from a waiter, and a lone man is reading in the corner nearer the door. You can even see the bottles of 'libations' lined up along the bar in the background, and the pastries in their glass case immediately inside the front door. :o)
Starting January 2007 it will be illegal to smoke inside any public space in France. 70% of the electorate opted to go with this new law, even smokers.
This is one more in the set of thirteen images from my recent show "Historic Cafes of Paris" that I've been uploading.
Gents — How do you feel now that all the hotel thermal checkpoints have been removed, and that all the COVID-19 security guards have been moved away from the entrances? How do you feel now that all the bars are up and running? 🤔
And Yes — Even though it’s unworkable for a solo guest to purchase a single seat for a Vegas production stage show, it’s still a relief that stage shows are slowly making a comeback on the Vegas Strip! 😔
And Yes — It’s bothers you that it’s still unworkable for a man and a woman to dance together in a ballroom, or in a cocktail lounge, eventually one day it will be possible for men and women to go out dancing again. 😔
So Gents, do not allow yourselves to be mad or sad that the Governor’s state order to open bars and stage shows hasn’t gotten everything back to normal yet, in time, everything will get better. So continue your night explorations, and do so because even in the midst of the Coronavirus Global Pandemic and the Coronavirus Recession, Life Is Still Good Here!! 😷😉
Here is the first of three posts on this page. See the detail and full view of the building (below) as well. Le Dome is across the street from Le Select (uploaded yesterday) at the famous Blvd Montparnasse and Blvd Raspail intersection in the Left Bank.
The reflections tell the story of the intersection if you look closely. Trees along the boulevard, and the rooftops and facades across the street. All I can say is the current explosion in digital photography technology has brought to us all an entire world of possibilities, because our equipment, if carefully used, is just amazing. This is taken with the Canon EOS 20D. Late afternoon, rush hour. I stood at the island in the middle of traffic for a half hour, waiting for the light to change, waiting for a gap in the crowds of people crossing the street .... but for such a gap I would have had to return at 5 AM when - it being February - it would still be dark. :o(
And who is going to leave the apartment to go take pictures before ones little cafe creme and croissants on a c-c-c-cold morning?!! :o)
So this is the best I could do!! I'm pretty happy with it, given especially that the reflections -- when the image was enlarged -- were a detailed world in themselves and a super bonus as far as I was concerned. Thanks Canon for making such a great digital SLR!!! =)
This is yet another of the new photos from my recent show posted to Flickr as the Set called "Historic Cafes of Paris".
Ferris wheel and Musée du Louvre
Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup!
(Update: The city of Paris has voted to remove the Ferris Wheel!).
On the right bank, near Place Vendome is this beautiful little place, with its classic and elegant facade. Monet the painter used to go to the Louvre to study the masters there, then go to Le Souffle for his noonday meal. It has most likely gotten gentrified a bit in the last few decades but still has an air of charm, and it's great to think one of my favorite painters used to come here regularly to get his meals. :o))) I love that cute little neon sign, which is a souffle'. Just priceless!
I just finished reading Jean Renoir's biography of his father where he explains that Monet and Renoir were room mates at one time, struggling to make it in a Paris that did not yet recognize their work as art. They ate a lot of lentils and beans during that era, he explains, and Monet would bring home a good bistro meal at least once a week, offered to him in a little cafe, and share it with Renoir. I wonder if that generous cafe that Jean Renoir doesn't mention by name, was in fact, the Souffle' ? I like to think that it was.
Best viewed large to enjoy the amazing details of this window which is a work of art www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=522608460&size=o.
The Relais Odeon (Bistro 1900) is located on one of Paris' oldest little squares - La Cour du Commerce St. Andre'. At night it greets you with cheerful lighting and warm wood interior and exterior. You can see the lights shining inside, so very inviting. Not visible at this size is the fact that the signs on either side of the window are actually made of mosaic tiles. Lovingly designed and beautifully crafted, these signs are made of thousands of little mosaic pieces that you can see in the large size I posted.
The cobblestone here is some of the most ancient of Paris and escaped being torn out, unlike much of Paris' cobblestones were after the Commune of 1870 or the 1968 student demonstrations.
Just a few steps away is the Cour de Rouan, and Le Procope, Paris' oldest traditional cafe serving coffee.