Place de l’Opéra, Paris, c.1907. No, I wasn’t born yet. (c)ourtesy Roger Viollet. See the sooty façade of the Opera, to the left, horse-drawn carriages mixing with the brand-new “automobiles”. 4th installment of our Paris stroll. Go cat go!
Remember the mural locked up by a fence? Here’s another angle…
Retired Hell’s Angel. Rue Jacob. Peter Fonda had a helmet like that in Easy Rider.
Hope. Hope never runs out. Even when inventory is low. Hope for Ukraine 🇺🇦 . (Detail of the above…)
THE River. Louvre to the left, Pont des Arts, Académie Française to the right.
Speaking of the Louvre…
“Faire la précieuse”. (To act precious). A 17th century word meaning: snob, insufferable. Molière wrote a play called “Les précieuses ridicules” (The ridiculous precious). Snotty is perhaps another reasonable translation. Art by “Les murs ont des oreilles.” (Walls have ears)… Paris, of course. As all this post.
Dressed up Venus of Milo. Boulevard Saint-Michel.
Saint Clotilde, Queen of France. Clotilde (474-575) was a Burgonde Princess. The Burgunds or Burgundians were a Germanic tribe, who settled in a large territory including today’s Burgundy. (Great wines). Clotilde can be considered the first Queen of France. Clovis, King of the Franks, another Germanic tribe, settled to the north and centre of what was then Roman Gaul, married Clotilde who was Christian and convinced the Pagan Clovis to be baptized, thus becoming the first Christian King of France (Frank-Reich = France).
Clotilde’s statue is one of many on the façade of Saint-Germain-L’Auxerrois, one of the oldest Gothic churches in Paris. Built and rebuilt many times, the current version dates back to the 13th century. It faces the east side of the Louvre…
“Man, that was a great jammin’ session, but I’ve got a hangover…” (Could the sax player be Charlie Parker?)
Two more élégantes at La Pérouse. Average price on the menu is indicated at 30 Euros. Hmmm. Might try it…
20th century élégante. Mylène Farmer is a popular French singer. She is the French female singer who’s sold most records, over 30 millions. She was born in Québec. (I’d forgotten that. French-Canadian singer then.)
Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Le Café de Flore is on the left. (Outside the pic. Hehe)
“Honey, don’t forget to buy the baguette, please.” Héra/Juno (left) said to Zeus/Jupiter(right). Boulevard Saint-Michel.
Thank you for rocking with Equinoxio’s band. Go cat go!
This blog will take a break for the summer. Flying to Paris soon. I find it almost impossible to travel and post, but be sure that material will be stored. And I will do my best to visit you guys from time to time. Hopefully. Have a nice summer. Au revoir.
Equinoxio 
Enjoy your time in Paris, Brian!
Thank you Lavinia. 🙏🏻
This is magnificent Brian. I hope your stay in Parée is beyond superb. I think I may know the biker guy ( not really😎) thane care my friend !
Thank you Coeur de Feu. Will do our best.
The biker guy could be a subject for a sketch… 😉
Hugs. 🤗💕
Glad to hear it’s going good! He definitely could make a great sketch. In my IG you’ll find a sketch of a couple of bikers on the wall if The Cabbage Patch ( not a place I would go , wink 😉)
Hopping right there. I need to do something with IG. Just don’t have the time…
Went to IG. Couldn’t find it… LOL. I need more training.
There’s lots of pics in there it’s hard to find a specific one.
I know. It’s also the fact that I haven’t really taken the half hour needed to understand how IG works…
Have a great week-end Coeur de Feu.
💕🤗
Haha, ironically neither have I .
LOL. Makes two of us then. At least you post. I haven’t even come close to that. HUgs.
There’s a few things I feel like posting there. Mostly my pets. Gads !🤗
🐈 🐶
😊
Il était une fois, à Paris, du côté de la Bourse, une vielle dame aux cheveux tout blancs et tout frisés. Elle sort d’un magasin, à pas hésitants, fouille en tremblant dans son sac à main. Elle en sort une clé, ouvre le coffre de la plus grosse et la plus brillante moto du lot garé là et en tire un casque chromé … pas intégral quand même. Les apparences peuvent tromper !
Merci pour le voyage, Brieuc.
PS. Probablement pas Charlie Parker. Un peu trop mince. Et l’homme met la main à son chapeau. C’est pas souvent que Parker portait un chapeau.
J’adore l’histoire. Tu pourrais en faire un dessin?
Et merci pour tes précisions encyclopédiques. pas Parker donc…
Bon week-end.
Je suis également musicien et même chanteur d’une sorte de jazz qu’on jouait entre le 16ème et le 18ème siècle.
Bel après-midi à toi, Brieuc.
Ouiiii. Tu joues d’un instrument pas possible (😉) une sorte de vielle? (Ma mémoire fout le camp)
Viole de gambe et surtout flûtes à bec … même si ma viole attend une sérieuse restauration depuis plusieurs années.
Une belle journée à toi, Brieuc.
Viole de de gambe. Oui, c’est ça. Pas une vielle. Et la flûte à bec en plus… Vous m’étonnez chaque jour cher ami… 🎶
Those murals are spectacular. Well the whole post is wonderful.I really do hve to make my way there one day.
Et tant mieux! Tu pars en vacances, tu ne devrais pas penser à nous (avant de revenir et partager, évidemment!)
Bonne vacances, cher Brieuc.
You do. Have to. Même s’y sont fendants…
Merci Dale. Je ferai un saut de temps en temps.
Bon été.
Arrête! Tu ne tombes pas dans cette gang 😉 Tu pars combien de temps?
J’ose à peine le dire… six semaines? 😬
Wow! Super contente pour toi!
T’es trop mimi. 😍
Mimi… il a fallu que je “google” ce terme 🙂
😘
C’est drôle les expressions locales. Abréviation de mignonne, ça veut dire gentille, charmante… 😉
Oui, oui… J’ai tout checké ça… vous les français avec vos p’tites expression quétaines 😉 (comme si on en avait pas nous aussi!!)
“Quétaines”? What on earth is that? 😉
Hahahaha!
Une personne, un comportement ou un vêtement quétaine est passé de mode, pas du tout au goût du jour. Très utilisé au Québec, “quétaine” est associé à un manque de finesse notoire, de raffinement, pas loin de la grossièreté.
Exemple : Avec ses fringues quétaines, on le croit sorti des années 1970
Mais je trouves la définition un peut trop dure…
j’aime mieux ceci… https://www.lalanguefrancaise.com/dictionnaire/definition/quetaine
Je dit que mon chum et moi sommes quétaines avec nos “dates” via video chat – or regarde un film ensemble les vendredi soir en partant nos tv en même temps… genre 😉
Vu la définition… J’adore le mot. Je crois que la quétainerie est en progression partout… 😉
Bon ouiquande.
Hahaha! Effectivement 😉
Et toi itoo!
J’avais le mot sur le bout de la langue. En “French” de France on dirait, ou on disait “ringard”.
Voilà. J’essayais de me rappeler du terme utilisé dans Emily in Paris. Tu m’a aidé!
Pas vu Emily in Paris. Mais ma femme m’en a parlé. C’est donc à peu prés ça, je crois?
C’était le fun.
Oui. En plein ça!
‘Oh… and what about some pain au chocolat aussie? Cool set again, Brian! You are in Paris now? Clotilde lived to be over a century! Must have been the wine. 🙂
Pain au chocolat definitely… 😉
No, not quite yet. a few days away.
We will work on the wine too…
Have a nice summer Peter.
So much to like here (I mean love) and the hells angel rider was my fav.
The cigar and his coat and Peter Fonda like hat!
But the bottle
Of sanitizer on the table too! Indeed time stamped with a pandemic feel
“Peter Fonda” was cool. And yes the times are marked… And the cases are up… 🤞🏻
🎶
That was supposed to be this emoji- “😊”
LOL. I like the music Emoji too.
Oh good
Beautiful images that made me want to go back to Paris❣️❣️❣️
You should. Before Anne Hidalgo destroys it for good. 😉
Let’s hope she doesn’t 🌷
Have a great weekend, dear Brian 💙
Anche tu. 🤗💕
🙏😘🙏
– and a Dennis Hopper cigar.? 😀
Absolutely. Monsieur est un connaisseur…
I loved this post. Beautiful and of course a Hell’s Angel. Fabulous.
Interesting how the biker got many votes… 😉
There’s certainly no place like Paris 🙂 I love all the street art photos 🙂
It is. Unique. Thanks for the visit and comments. All well?
All is well, thank you and have a good summer 🥰
Thank you Aiva. You too. 😘
Merci de me faire revoir Paris et le découvrir sur certains aspects A Paris l’histoire de France est omniprésente
Ton entrée me rappelle aussi bien des souvenirs . notamment le quartier latin , le Louvre et l’opéra .
Amitié
Michel
Je suis bien d’accord. Paris est jalonnée d’histoire…
Bons souvenirs n’est-ce pas?
Amitiés et bon week-end.
I never get tired of your Paris tours. There is always something new to see. Enjoy your summer, Brian!
Thank you Liz. Any plans for your summer?
You’re welcome, Brian. We don’t have anything special planned, just get out and enjoy the nice weather while we have it.
That’s a nice plan… ☀️
😀
A good summer to you too! Have a nice and safe to beloved Paris! 🙂
Viel Dank “Brigitte”.
… nice and safe trip … of course, but I am sure you guessed that … 🙂
🙏🏻🤗
Great pictures, as always! I shall miss your blog over the summer, but I hope you have a wonderful summer in France, and I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun pictures and stories to tell at the end of summer. Take care and have a wonderful time, my friend!
Thank you Jill. I hope that when I come back you will be fully back up. Have you scheduled your cardio-whatever yet?
I hope so too, my friend. No, I haven’t … I need to do that, but … I dread it. Sigh.
Dread? I can imagine. What pros and cons does the doctor list? S/he must do a list.
He … I guess he seems uncertain that it will help too, and no … no list … just a “it may reset the heart into a more normal rhythm and help you gain more energy and feel better”. Which would be good, but … there are dangers and I’m left to decide if the possible benefits outweigh the possible dangers. Sigh.
A tough call. Has he not suggested a slow physical exercise build-up?
Enjoy the break and be sure to come back with photographs
Thank you Derrick. I will. On both counts. Enjoy your summer.
You’ve given us a fanfare of a gallery to mark your summer break, Brian. Safari njema!
Asante sana Memsahib. I am thoroughly enjoying West with the wind… Every detail. She is magically drawing me back to another place and time. And thinking about time, we were there in ’67, a mere 30 years after her prime…
I must give her another read, when I’ve finished with Hemingway for a while.
So you do have a copy. How wonderful. I’ll see if I can find Hemingway this summer.
Yes, I have an edition that includes lots of old photos. Also am currently enjoying the unabridged Hemingway much more than than the several times read True at First Light.
Old photos of Markham? That must be a treat…
And Nairobi.
Historical definitely. Where did you live in Nairobi? We lived in Lavington, close to Saint-Mary’s and Loreto Convent.
We lived in Lavington too. Mbabane Road, up the hill from St. Mary’s. We were there for nearly 7 years. Somewhat bizarrely I’ve since found I have Lavingtons in my family tree (from Hampshire). I’ve never read anything to explain how that part of Nairobi came to be called Lavington.
Amazing. We were neighbours of sorts… I now see there’s a mall. And I can’t find my old street. We lived on Quorn close. They probably renamed it. Looking at the map, Nairobi seems so… built up…
No idea why Lavington either…
Almost finished Markham. What a wonderful book.
Have a lovely week Memsahib…
I do hope you have the most wonderful time Brian, if your expectations aren’t too high then it will undoubtably be brilliant, or perhaps that would make you more English, stoic. Be French, have a fab time.
I basically know what to expect. And remember I had an English grandmother, it sort of rubs on you…
Thanks Paul. Be good.
Good, ha! I’ll give it a shot. In other news our PM has repaired what our former idiot PM did to French Australian relations, which is great news.
That is good news. Problem is the new one spends his/her time fixing the stupidities the former did… It’s gonna take some time. Enjoy the week.end Paul. (Though it must two hard days’ work for you… 🙏🏻)
Not any more, I have retired from all of that 😉
Have you? Goof for you. I thought you were still “in action”.
No, and it’s only recent, had enough, decided to go early and escape the policy makers.
A wise decision. Hello from London… Haven’t been here in five years, the place has changed enormously… Beer 🍻 is still great though
One of the few things the English can still manage is beer. Can’t manage a country though, lol, was that you booing Boris at number ten a couple of days ago?
Not me. I sent a representative. Cheers 🍻
Lol, Have a beer for me 🙂
Will do. Already have had a few. Nice to be back in London, though you would not believe the heat and the crowds… 😳
I would not, as a child it was never that hot.
It wasn’t was it? We’ll be at 40C in Paris on wednesday… Weird…
O dear, that is our normal summer temps here never in europe, well, it does point to changes.
Changes indeed. I do remember hot periods in Paris summers, followed by thunderstorms. But never that high.
Yes, never that high, well – stay cool, more beers.
Indeed 🍻
Love the murals but the photo of the retired Hell’s Angels is pretty cool!
Thank you. Funny how one picture takes it all. I put him “just like that”. Wasn’t one of my favourites for this post… But so be it.
It works!
What beautiful images. So alive and vibrant. You have a wonderful collection. Please enjoy your summer and add to your treasure trove. Take care. Say my hello to Paris! 🙂
Bahut bahut shukriya…
I will convey your hello to the old city…
Phir milenge ma’amji… 😉
Great stuff! Fascinating!
Thank you Nancy… 🙏🏻
Have a great week-end.
I’m usually so busy looking at the architecture in Paris that I often fail to notice the outdoor murals. Fantastic to review the ones you’ve found so far. Enjoy!
Haha. I too walk around with my head up looking at the architecture…
How have you been? All well?
Greetings form London, staying a week, then back to paris for a little while…
Doing well, thank you. Learning to adjust as always to the ever changing world around me. Hope this finds you thriving in your travels back and forth.
Adjusting is the current key world. I am probably getting old, too many aspects of that current world I don’t like much. Though at the same time wishing humankind took advantage of all the “black swans” to change things siginificantly… 🤞🏻
Nice post 🤠
Thank you. 🙏🏻
My pleasure 😄
Have an excellent day!!🤠✌️
Butterfly 🦋
U 2
😄✌️
J’adore le “Hell ‘s Angel à la retraite” 😀 (Bien qu’il n’ait pas vraiment la tête de l’emploi, ni la moto, d’ailleurs)
Tu connais mon goût pour les licenses littéraires… Greetings from London. Tu pars quand en vacances?
Demain 🙂
Et ça fait du bien
Tres bonnes vacances ma grande. Profites-en bien. Biz.
Pas de souci !
Merci 🙂
Fascinating and delightful post….👏👏❤️❤️
Dhanyavaad… 😉🙏🏻
😍🙏😍
These images are absolutely stunning 💜
Thank you. Glad you liked them.
Safe travels 😊✈️🔆
Thank you. Mind the heat. All time highs everywhere… 🤗
Unlike many others, the desire to see Paris want strong for me, but I would have liked to see summer of those magnificent church architecture.
Want? wasn’t? 😉
I love the Seine, the bridges, the buildings, the churches, the monuments. The city is a jewel. (A tad dirty for lack of attention by City Hall. Politicos everywhere)
The dark web of auto-correct ensnares me again!
LOL. (That is why I have disabled it on all my devices.) 😉
I might follow your lead in disabling auto correct/predictive text . Or else learn to double check/proof read better.
I prefer disable. Which allows me to make mistakes that I generally notice after sending. LOL. So I send a correction… 😉
All well?
Haha! Hitting the send button seems to initiate a more efficient proof-read doesnt’ it? And then it must be post-edited, of course. It is so annoying as one can’t correct comments on other blogs! Almost like the brain catches up to what the fingers are doing, but is like that runner lagging behind the pack in the running race. We are okay here Brian, clawing our way back to normal health and heartiness after the post effects of Covid. You have been a bit quieter on the blogging front of late, were you away on a break?
Post… 😉
Glad you’re back to okay…
I’ve been in Paris (+ London + Brussels) since early July. Leaving next week. Then will have to sort and edit. PLanning to go back to Blogging in September. Have you taken some holidays? Or do you do that in December?