The little Prince Series. Spanish version. “What’s that gotta do with a Paris walk?”
“Saint-Ex was French.”
“Yeah, from Lyon.”
“Moving on.”
Tian’ anmen square. Le Marais. That IS in Paris. Le Marais. Not Tian’ anmen. 40th anniversary.
I don’t break only hearts. Butte-aux-cailles, Paris, 2018. Artist: Miss Tic.
Place Blanche, 1924, by Fernand Andrey-Prevost, Musée Montmartre. Complete with Moulin Rouge.
Oops! Near Beaubourg, 2018.
Do I need to say more?
Museum of Modern art, Paris, 2018. By a Japanese artist whose name I forgot. (See Dr Freud on the mechanisms of oblivion. There is a reason one forgets.) The center rabbit is about 3 feet tall.
Maple Town, Mexico city, 2019. By grandson G. Using his mother’s and aunt’s vintage figurines, little G. produces a scene of family balance and harmony where little bears and rabbits partake a colourful meal by a chimney, symbol of homely warmth. (Loosely inspired by many silly labels at Paris museums trying to decipher – invent – the meaning of the artist’s work.) When interviewed, little G. said: “I don’t know, they’we just wabbits and beaws.”
The Consulate, Embassy of Savoie. Montmartre, 2019.
Miss Terre. Literally Miss Earth. Also a play-on-word on “Mystère”, Mystery.
The adventures of Panama Joe. Musée Montmartre, Paris. A very nice garden, where Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Utrillo and Renoir painted. Pleasant snacks and salads for a light lunch. Can’t for the life of me remember what the white wine was. Not Meursault, but decent.
Tea shop, Paris, 2018.
Van Gogh, Atelier des Lumières, Paris, 2019. In December 1888, Van Gogh has a fight with Gauguin in Arles, and later cuts part of his own ear. Painting is from January 1889. Van Gogh dies in Auvers-sur-Oise a year and half later, in July 1890. At the age of 37.
Suzanne Valadon’s workshop, Musée Montmartre. On the wall is a portrait – by her, or a copy – of her son, Maurice Utrillo, another renowned painter of the early 20th century.
Bansky’s world. Paris, 2019. Well, they are. In charge. And I ain’t laughing.
WWF Panda’s reaction to the above. At Rosa Bonheur, Buttes-Chaumont park, 2019.
Cassandra places herself under the protection of Pallas Athena. By Aimé Millet, 1877, Tuileries garden. I just read that UNESCO put underwear on nude statues in their entrance. “So as not to offend some delegations!”. I wonder how long the hundreds of nude statues in Paris will remain so?
Clothes for the Ladies? I mean, statues? Rue Bonaparte, 6th arrondissement. A nice walk, straight to the Seine. (To the right)
The “new” Louvre from the Tuileries garden. That wing, on Rue de Rivoli, long housed the Ministry of Finance and economy. AND IRS! (OMG) Thankfully they were moved to Bercy a few years ago, almost doubling the surface of the Louvre Museum.
Van Gogh self-portrait, Atelier des Lumières. One of of the many benefits of this fantastic way of showing Art with Light, is to give a better insight in the artist’s technique. Or talent. One can almost count the hairs on Vincent’s beard. And the brush strokes.
Thank you for walking Paris with us. Until next trip… take good care of yourselves.
Equinoxio 
I enjoyed the stroll – Thanks!
Prego. 🙂
Very entertaining post!
I had no idea Van Gogh died so young. Was it from cutting off his ear? I guess I should just research that.
I adore the painting: Place Blanche, 1924
Underwear on the statues… why???? Insanity!!
No. Nothing to do with his ear. Supposedly he shot himself. He was subject to acute bouts of depression. Alternate theories say it was an accident. Some kid(s) accidentally fired the gun and he covered it up. We’ll never know.
Insanity indeed. To put it bluntly Islam is a growing force all over Europe. And some go out of their way to “please” some delegations. 😦 Note: I have seen nude street art defaced in the streets of Paris. 😦
And the PLace Blanche painting is great. A somewhat obscure artist, but a very pleasant result. 🙂
And one more word on Van Gogh, he came to France in 1886, at the invitation of his brother Theo. And died in 1890. Only 4 years of pure genius. Think what he could have done with a few more years?
So wonderful to see your walk I feel I’m there…I enjoyed it Brian ☺️🤓 thanks for sharing Paris it’s never dull…I’d love go there right now 💫☺️ smiles Hedy
Glad you enjoyed the walk Hedy. It is, with all its flaws, a magic city. 🙂
thank you for this eclectic and enriching walk. 🙂
like those white statues with blue outfits – and the first van gogh – with the people seated below the mural – gives us scale, mood, culture, etc. Going back again to peruse it. And like how you noted you can count the hairs on his beard –
and the miss terre/ mystery play on words reminds me of the mushroom beverage packs my son likes – they are called Four Sigmatic – and it says FORCE igmatic when you say it- so clever
–
hope you have a great week and merci for Paris today
De rien. May the Force be with you. 😉
hahah – yes – the art force amigo
😉
Le petit Prince, Miss tic, Banksy (aussi) … I like it a lot, although in very different styles.
Yes. I like the different styles. Le petit prince was actually drawn by Saint-Ex, who had a good “pencil” (comme on dit). I always think that when we see a painting, or a drawing, what we see comes from inside the artist’s head. So we are in fact looking inside their head. 🙂
Yes, but it’s not indiscreet, since it’s their choice most of the time 🙂
I was wondering why “indiscreet”. But you’re right it’s not. Just as when you read a book. It’s the author’s choice to put hose words on paper, or on screen. Les mots que tu publies dans ton blog sont ceux que tu partages avec nous. 😉
A +
Such a fascinating tour through Paree Monsieur Brian. I can’t think of a more lovely destination. Thank you for the gorgeous photos, some very familiar spots , some not! Have a wonderful day. Congrats are in store and once again salut !
Salut mon amie. 🙂
That Musee Monmartre looks fabulous. I always snicker at the pretentious, fabricated interpretations of art in museums. I adore G’s response – “they just wabbits and beaws.” That’s right, G. 😉
Hope you are well, cher Brian. Bises.
Bises back Julie. (By the way, little G. has a little sister as of last Friday.) 🙂
And yes, I snicker too. Pretentious is the precise word. They can’t draw a straight line and think they can get into the artist’s head? Tsss. But, I now tend to photograph the labels just to remember the title, author sometime, and date. The rest? Haha!
Biz again.
Félicitations, grand-père!! I can only imagine G’s delight at his new little sister. A perfect gift for your family. 🙂
Merci Julie. We’ll see how things develop. Right now I think he sees her as very little. Things will change in a year or so.
I also appreciated Little G’s answer to the art critics. Sometimes a wabbit is just a wabbit and a beaw is just a beaw. I could have used him as an ally in certain literature seminars in grad school.
Absolutely. A wabbit is a wabbit. Which is why I found that sculpture by the Japanese artist so… pointless. That visit to the Museum of modern art at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris was very disappointing. I go once every 10 or 20 years, only to swear I’ll never come back. Pretentious stuff. I much prefer a piece of street art anywhere. 🙂
I’ll pass your remark to little G. 😉
🙂 Modern art is very much a hit or miss affair for me, with more misses than hits.
Haha! I have come to like Modern Art in a MOMA sense. But I tend to draw the line after Pollock. 🙂
As Little G. might put it, Sometimes a uwinal is just a uwinal.
Exactly. 😉
What a fabulous ally G would be in intellectual discussions. The bestest. 🙂
❤
😀
One of the most enjoyable walks I have had in a very long time. I look forward to more. Every single image is exquisite.
Thank you Michael. Glad you enjoyed the walk. And as you can imagine each image is carefully selected. 🙂
Take care
Brian
You know I love it.
😉
Ah, mais c’est superbe tout ça. Ce que j’aime c’est qu’on est dans le bain chaque fois 💜
Merci ma grande. 🙂 “Dans le bain”. Hmmm. Ce genre de feedback est tellement important. 🙂 Oui, je crois que c’est – en partie – ce que je cherche à faire.
Good night and sweet dreams. Tout va bien chez toi?
❤
love love love everything!!! Musée Montmartre is now firmly on my MUST SEE for my next visit!
Absolutely. It is a very neat little museum. With 3 parts, Suzanne Valadon’s flat and workshop, a gallery on the garden where they hold very good temporary expos, and the main museum down to the left of the garden. You won’t regret it.
Cheers.
Brian
Ah, so good, especially my namesake at the end.
I was wondering… Paul? Where did I put a Paul? 😉 Got it.
Namesake? It’s what they call a “Tocayo” in Spanish.
Cheers
Lol, Vincent of course, 🙂
I have a Gauguin somewhere. Let me post it. 😉
Lol
Que c’est beau les souvenirs!
Oui. C’est vrai. Même quand ce sont des souvenirs récents… Bonn soirée.
I love the Suzanne Valadon’s workshop. I find them all so charming and wish I had one like it for myself. Maybe some day…I like the panda, and the laugh now some day we will be in charge…and the Van Gogh at the end. Make me ready to go back to Paris again…some day Colin will take me.
I agree with you on all. Maybe you can add on an office/study/workshop to your house) Shouldn’t be that complicated. 🙂 (Do you paint or draw?)
I know I’m very happy to finally have a library/study/office and even a workshop for bookbinding.
The Banksy “thing” is very good.
I’m sure Colin will take you to Paris. The main problem now is the walking. A stroller is complicated because of the metro. So many stairs and so few elevators and lifts. And he’s probably getting too heavy to carry in a special backpack… 🙂
I’ll probably wait to take him there until he is older. Other places seem more kid friendly for now. And yes he is getting very heavy.
I don’t paint or draw but I do my photography and love to read and just enjoy the space.
Yes, kid friendly seems a good criterion.
What are you reading right now?
Nothing at the moment sadly. (Unless you count IT Contracts. Lol) Life is too busy.
I know, I know. I must say this is one of the perks of retirement. I’ve always read a lot, but now I can read more. Nothing pressing if I want to read more of a book? One hour more? No problemo.
Have a great week-end Jenny.
I was fine until Colin… 😉
I understand. The little dears are quite demanding. We had little G. Here almost nonstop for several days before his sister’s birth. When they all went back home we were exhausted. 🙂 Enjoy a nice family Sunday.
I envy your day! A treasury of life. The Little Prince always reminds me of a. trying to learn Polish some years ago and hacking my way through a Polish translation of it (my poor teacher), and b. coming to my current house and finding the garden exhausted of life and nutrients but for one persistent rose – of course I cast ‘her’ in the part of the demanding little miss from the book.
Paris is a treasure. 🙂
So is the little Prince (and Terre des hommes which he wrote before, and recounts how he fell in the desert, and where and when the Little Prince idea came up)
Polish now? That must be so hard. I had immense problems with Czech when in Prague. I tend to learn local words easily wherever I go. But Slavic languages? No dice.
Roses are brave. 🙂
Roses are brave – I like that image. For all their seeming delicacy, they dare climb into places others don’t, armed with thorns.
I think they’ve always been fascinating to poets (Ronsard was one with his poem “Mignonne allons voir si la rose…). Beauty and danger.
Cheers
Après la récurrente polémique pré-électorale sur le port du voile, vous prendrez bien un petit débat national, et enflammé, sur la nudité des statues ? Miss Tic a bien raison ! Il est des costumes sombres qui me les brisent.
Merci, Brieuc, et une belle journée à toi.
Pas de quoi cher ami. Bonne nuit. ZZZZZZZ.
My favorite is Cassandra places herself under the protection of Pallas Athena. What an arresting image!
I am always interest at how different people are drawn to an image another. 🙂 There are so many similar statues in the Tuileries. But I liked the angle, and the colour negative changes the way we look at an image. Not all, but this one worked. Thanks for your visit and comments as always, Liz. Have a lovely week-end.
Brian
Thanks, Brian! I hope you have a lovely week-end as well.
Love these pics!!! My favourite, I think, is Place Blanche, but the Maple Town one with the ‘wabbits and beaws’ wins my heart, also! The bigger-than-life Van Gogh is pretty cool, too. In fact … all great pictures, my friend! Thank you for a beautiful ending to an otherwise horrible day!!!
Maple Town (little G.’s version is da best!)
Glad to have improved your day. 🙂
It never ceases to amaze me of how much beautiful art there is around if I’d only take the time to look ~ granted, I think you’ve photographed all of these shots splendidly which adds to the appeal. A diverse range of emotions and characters, but each one up lifting. The street art is simply outstanding. A great walk ~ and I am also happy to see the “new” Louvre from the Tuileries garden in your shots, I must return for a visit.
A long time ago when I got my first reflex camera, and Asahi-Pentax (which I still have) I wanted to roam the streets of Paris with my nose up in the air and photograph the details. A balcony, a door, a carved statue on a façade. Never did it for lack of time, and money too, the cost of films would have been outrageous on a student budget. Oly 36 shots per film! But now, with almost unlimited digital “space”, I can really walk anywhere with my nose up in the air and shoot. Then select, edit, and voilá.
(Keep the other eye down for dog poop, especially in Paris) 😉
Be good my friend
Ha, yes I remember the same with film and a limited budget…every shot counted 🙂 And, yes, unfortunately always looking elsewhere does often lead to a misstep 🙂
Counting the rolls of film. Then buying bad-quality film in out-of-the way places. Happened to me in Brazil a couple of times, back in the 70’s. When you develop, the film was bad. 😉
Let us avoid missteps. Cheers
How lovely:-)
Paris is for walking. Glad you liked it.
Wagnificent 🐾💜🐾😆
Thank you. 🙂
G. feeds his animals well 🙂
Haha! He does. I was wondering which animals. Maple town. He seems to love “cooking”. And cars. Will he be a cook or a car mechanic?
Both would be useful skills to have for a fine young man 🙂
But cars will be banned by the time he grows up. And replaced by horse drawn carriages.
Hahaha you wish
😉
Glad top see the Atelier des Lumières has made a reappearance,Brian, it really is wonderful. It’s not dissimilar to the Berlin Festival of Lights, at least in principle, but seems way more intimate and detailed.
An old friend of mine is a strategy consultant, his firm was hired to “work” on Lyon’s 8th December festival of light. He tells me that th e Atelier’s technology has been around for a while, but is now spreading across many cities. I find a fantastic way to show art to people who may never go to Berlin museum island or the MOMA and Met. Cheers
Great post and gorgeous photos. Thank you.
Have a good day!
Thanks for the visit and comment.
(How come you speak 4 – or 5 – languages?)
Well, long life taught me! 🙂
E a boa vida… 🙂
Tian’ anmen square. Le Marais. That IS in Paris. Le Marais. Not Tian’ anmen. 40th anniversary.
I love this? What is it, though? A pewter wall plaque? A tile?
Not pewter that I recall. I think some kind of ceramic. Lemme check again.
It’s done with a mould. Possibly some kind of ceramic, or maybe, more easily some kind of resin. The artists tend to hang those works high up, otherwise they get broken, tagged, stolen… Resin is my best bet. I liked the art too.
Have a nice week-end “Ally”. 😉
I liked that resin tile very much.
It was good work, both in form and meaning.
Loved this, thanks
My pleasure. Thanks for visit. 🙏🏻