“Midday” in Paris

Dalí. Atelier des lumières. Paris. Summer 2021

Alevtina Valentine. First I thought the name was misspelled. But no. She is a Belgian-Ukainian artist. The area we stayed at is full of art galleries. Always the temptation to push the door and ask: “how much?” and go back out with your head down. As a backup, art displayed in a shopwindow is street art, right? Free.

Paul Signac (1863-1935) is less known than Seurat (Afternoon at la Grande-Jatte), though both promoted the “pointillist” approach, a successor of sort of impressionism. Just tiny little strokes of paint with a small brush, “points”, to create the whole picture. Come to think of it, Signac and Seurat invented pixels.

“Disappearing species. Geneva Zoo: one of the last couples of booksellers. Please do not feed.” (Photographer unknown)

Petit Palais. The Seine and its tributaries by Maurice Ferrary (1852-1902). The sculpture was inaugurated as the rest of the building for the 1900 Universal Expo in Paris. One of Ferrary’s last works. Moving.

“Le retour.” “Coming home”, by Magritte, 1940. Early 1940, at the beginning of the war, Magritte is shocked by Hitler’s advance and flees to Paris. Only to be caught up by France’s surrender in June ’40. Magritte goes back to Brussels a few months later, and paints this “Coming home” in occupied Brussels. (Orangerie temporary expo. This summer)

Picasso. Lithograph by Vollard. Petit Palais. Didn’t get the title. Looks like a blind Minotaur led by a little girl. The Minotaur theme is recurrent in many Picasso’s engravings.

“Ariane ma soeur, de quel amour blessée,

“Vous mourûtes, aux bords où vous fûtes laissée?”

(Ariane, my sister, of what love were you hurt,

(To die on the shores where you were left?)

Phèdre by Racine, 1677. Phèdre is the second wife of Thésée, King of Athens, who vanquished the Minotaur with the help of Ariane, and then abandoned her.

Persian Poet, by Gustave Moreau. Late 19th century. Wouldn’t mind hanging this one on my wall.

Opera metro station. Very neat.

“Marble at all cost”, by Isabeau de Rouffignac. Born in 1963, she did this series on marble production in India. India, and Rajahstan in particular, is one the world’s major exporters of marble. (What happened to Italy?) The eyes of the worker above and the squatting position reminded me of Shah, the cook who taught me Urdu. Shukriya Shah.

Magritte. One of his many “Odalisques.” Another painting I could easily hang on my walls. 😉 “What? Millions of Dollars range? Hmmm. 🤔 “

Rue Jacob. This little beauty dates back to the Vietnam war at least, if not Korea or WWII. Several little cuties (a Jaguar amongst others) appeared and disappeared on that street. A collector or a thief with taste?

Monet’s nympheas again. Sans Travellers. Orangerie. In “normal” times, it was practically impossible to look at the entire paintings without crowds in front. This time, even the Louvre was not so crowded.

Sacré Coeur, Montmartre. Always represented – to me – the epitome of Kitsch. But it’s all right. One has to look for different angles…

Courting at “La Mandragore”:

Love those shops.

Down our windows, Rue des Saints-pères. One of the French favourite activities: protest. This one went on and on for many a Saturday. A protest against the Health Pass. Many or most participants wore masks though. And French flags. Though the antivax movement is sheer stupidity, often led by the far right – as in this case – no commentator has picked up the fact that those protesters – as the Yellow jackets – wave a lot of French flags. Blue, White and Red. No analysis, no wondering about the symbol and meaning of carrying the flag… or singing la Marseillaise. (I have the videos…)

Ile de la Cité, from the Pont des Arts. Must have taken this shot a hundred times. The barge has been there as long as I remember but every picture I take is different. A little to the left. A little to the right. Morning light. Not good. Counter light. Early afternoon. Late afternoon. Much better. A good exercise in light. Compare with the one below:

Ile de la Cité, Cartier-Bresson, 1951. Probably in winter. Taken from the same Pont des Arts just a few yards to the left. (This was a much better Cartier-Bresson expo than the one I’d seen two years ago.)

Another Centaur, by César (1921-1998). One of the most prominent sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. He worked with metal. The statue is at the end of Dragon Street. Travellers? Not identified.

“Lack of flair. Walls have ears.” An interesting series of Street Art across the Latin quarter, working on French sayings.

Liberty. More than ever in peril. There are half a dozen such smaller versions of Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty (A gift of France to America a while ago. Might want to remind that to Biden.) All around Paris. This one, in the gardens of Luxembourg where the Senate is located, was the original bronze model that Bartholdi used for the final statue.

Traveller 996 at the Comptoir des Saint-péres. Excellent breakfast. And the owner is a great guy.

Captain and crew hope you enjoyed your breakfast. Grand crème, orange juice, one tartine with butter and jam and a croissant. Until next flight… Stay safe.