… Now go cat go!

/ June 30, 2022

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.

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199 thoughts on “… Now go cat go!”

  3. 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.

    Reply

  4. 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.

    Reply

      • Dag Peter. Hoe raat je? I thought I’d answered you but apparently not. I was in Europe for a few weeks. Battling the heat and the hordes of tourists who are back in force. Paris, London, Paris. I even spent a couple of days to Brussels. (Went back to the Magritte museum. Such a treat!)
        Did you manage to escape the heat?

      • You did answer me, Brian, no worries. I was just pondering about not finding a new post of you for quite while. So I thought a small question wouldn’t hurt. 🙂 So you were in Europe. Yay! Paris, London en Brussels, great places to be. Brussels I find strangely appealing but |I can’t really tell why. There was no escaping the heat, it was everywhere. Only the two days of tropical temperatures I stayed inside my house. Otherwise I didn’t want to be locked up. I like the sun and I’m feeling fine in the heat, wich, I know, is a luxury, lots of people can’t stand (to) hot weather. Even now we have very warm days, up to 29 degrees celsius, that is uncommon for the Netherlands, as you know. But after the weekend it will cool down to still very acceptable 20 degrees. The biggest problem in Europe now is the draught. Rivers are drying up. Even the Rhine is only a narrow brook. In my country a real nuisance is that the dry soil, when peat and/or clay subsides, with all consequences for the buildings and pipes and stuff. Also de dykes suffer. And you know: no dykes, no Netherlands.We desparately need rain! Anyway, so far for this meteorlogical update. 🙂 Groet!

      • Indeed Brussels is a favourite city of mine. I don’t mind the heat myself (been brought up in Africa). Problem is 38-40 or + in a closed city. It sort of stores the heat inside the street. So yes, staying inside a couple of days is fine.
        I vaguely heard about the draught… That is another example of our politicians tunnel vision. It’s not just “warming”, it can be draught, or cold (right now in Mexico it’s 12-14 in the morning), it’s tons of plastic in the ocean. Dykes… Railway maintenance… (Got stuck 5 hours on the tracks near Mons on the way back from Brussels. There was an accident and It appears the power lines are in bad need of maintenance… Going back to dykes and Holland, are we sure enough money i spent on proper maintenance?
        And as for the rain:

        Tot ziens

  6. 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

    Reply

  11. 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

    Reply

  14. 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!

    Reply

    • 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…

      Reply

  17. 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.

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  19. 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! 🙂

    Reply

    • 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…

      Reply

      • 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… 🤞🏻

  23. 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)

    Reply

    • 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)

      Reply

      • 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?

      • The summer here lasts five months so we don’t have a traditional holiday break in our family. Some family do go in December and have a week at the beach. I used to do that when I was an older child with my family but for me it became boring. As an older person, I could now enjoy sitting reading by the beach. However, I live so close to the beach, paying a lot of money to rent an apartment with a water view for a week or two seems silly. So no holidays, just every retirement holidays!

      • I understand the beach thing. In Mexico beaches are so easily available, we don’t feel much need for it.
        What we did last year was buy a small “country house” an hour’s drieve away with a small pool. And since it’s 600 meters lower than Mexico city it is warmer but not hot. Perfect temp. I sometimes spend two weeks in a row there.
        Are you retired?
        Cheers Astrid. 🤗

      • Astrid is retired but works freelance – writing a column and feature stories for a community magazine, a school and museums etc. So I have my own hours, Brian. Although I still have deadlines to adhere to.

  28. Oh, these are marvelous! Loved the first one already, the fox…but the winner is Venus of Milo with this amazing shading. I’ve got the feeling, these artists are on my blog, bit more digging… Long time, no see, hope you’re well!

    Reply

    • Hallo! I’ve been out of the blogosphere for a few weeks, traveling in Europe, fighting the heat wave and the tourist hordes…😉
      I thought of hopping to Berlin for a few days, but I was a bit exhausted. Next time.
      How have you been? ☀️

      Reply

      • Hi there, Brian, I’ve been out a bit, too, due to travelling and I have not really found my groove just yet. I was actually preparring a travel guide for you for Berlin and that gives me a wee bit more time now 😉 I hope you had a wonderful holiday, my friend. Catch you soon!

      • I’ve seen a lot of wasps in Paris. A result of draught I’m told. They look for water and sugar, so there are many on restaurants terraces.
        Having said that, if you were discovering Italy for the first time: “Bravo”! It is marvelous. Not a country. An open-air museum…
        Buona notte. 😉

  30. Hmm my reply doesn’t seem to have come through. Second attempt. I hope that you have had a lovely summer. Nice to read you visited London I hope that you had a super time. Shame I was up in Scotland at the time. I look forward to seeing your great photos.

    Reply

    • My timing wasn’t the best. I knew you were in Scotland. And a dear friend of mine who’s in London picked that very same week to go to Paris! LOL.
      London was nice. Though very hot and our Airbn’B sucked. But it happens.
      Cheers

      Reply

  31. This morning was a perfect time for me to sit back and have you take me on a tour of the artistic streets of Paris ~ and as you quickly pointed out, real humans often are great objects of art themselves… love the “Retired Hell’s Angel. Rue Jacob” photo. Excellent. As I’ve mentioned to you before with your photos of murals, the quality these days is extraordinary ~ the “Hope never runs out…” mural is emotional. I wonder what the artist feels when creating such a work?

    Wishing you well in your travels, and hope there are a few nights where you are feeling a bit like Charlie Parker before, during, and after a great jammin’ session… The benefit being you will always be able to walk out the door and find something enticing such as the “Two more élégantes at La Pérouse” and great food to energize you for another day of adventure. Cheers to your spirit, Brian, and enjoy the autumn ahead!

    Reply

    • On essaye. Moyennement aimé mon séjour en Europe. Trop de monde. Trop chaud. Les Français psychorigides… On a choppé le COVID. (Léger). Mais je me demandais justement comment tu vas? (Je passe à l’autre commentaire)

      Reply

    • C’est surtout à toi qu’il faut demander ça? Comment vont tes enfants? Ton mari en CH? Et toi? Arrives-tu à adapter ton petit monde? J’avoue que la France m’a “gonflé” cette année…
      As-tu des nouvelles sur ton blog? (je n’ai rien posté depuis fin Juin…)
      Tiens-moi au courant.
      Biz

      Reply

      • alors ici on commence à s’habituer aux autochtones, et helas je l’avoue a hausser le ton puisqu’il s’agit la de leur systeme de communication de base.
        Ma fille est entree en 5e, dans un college qui est probablement le meilleur de la region. La prof d espagnol a fait une furtive apparition de 2h en debut de rentree et plus rien, ni date de retour. La prof d histoire geo s’est tout de meme fendue d une semaine avant de disparaitre a son tour.
        Heureusement pas le brevet a la fin de l’annee…
        Mon mari lui est en France, son contrat avec sa boite suisse est fini<. Il est donc en mode de recherche intensive..
        La proprietaire nous fait toujours vivre l enfer dans cet appart. Nous avons tout fait a la legale, constats d experts, avocats.. resultat: rien. elle ne repond a rien et se moque completement de nous. Notre avocate a pres de 300e de l heure nous deconseille de monter devant le juge "perte de temps et d'argent". Franchement on marche sur la tete dans ce pays…
        sur une note positive tout de meme: je monte ma petite boite, l ecole primaire de Leandre est top, et l automne en foret, sans masque, ca nous change de Hanoi pour le meilleur. Pas eu le temps de beaucoup poster sur le blog, mais je vais m y remettre 🙂
        J espere surtout que vous etes tous dé-Covidés
        et que ca va de mieux en mieux de votre coté du globe
        Bises 🙂

      • C’est tt-à-fait ça: Tout le monde s’en fout. Et n’on n’obtient rien si on ne gueule pas. Et encore pas trop, car ils prennent ombrage…
        Je suis personnellement épouvanté. Même pas sûr d’y aller en vacances l’année prochaine. Ils me gonflent trop. Catastrophé. Sérieux.
        Par contre, que tu montes ta petite boîte, me paraît excellent. Sur un plan fiscal, ça peut aider bcp. Tu mets tout en frais, ton loyer, tu embauches ton mari, tu déduis tout…
        Covid? On l’a attrapé léger à Londres cet été, mais maintenant il semblerait que ça me donne de la tachycardie” Je rêve. (Une des conséquences possibles du COVID paraît-il. On suit ça)
        De quoi va être ta boîte?
        Ici ça ne va pas mieux. La violence est hors de contrôle. le prèsident local s’en fout. La semaine derniére il y a eu deux morts par balle, un à chaque coin de la rue où habite ma fille…
        Re-bises… 😀

      • alors ma boite sera vraiment dans le ton du moment: des ateliers de gestion du stress pour preado et educateurs. C est une methode developpee outre Altlantique et outre Manche depuis des années, qui vise a developpper et renforcer leurs competences sociales et emotionelles pour les rendre plus resilients, et surtout – ce qui fait cruellement defaut en France- leur (re)donner un “growth mindset”.
        C est un programme que j ai suivi l an dernier avec l Uni de Yale dans le but d aider Maelle a passer les roller coasters emotionelles de notre arrivee en France – surtout a l ecole.
        Ca m a tellement convaincu que j ai cree des ateliers pour le enseigner, et les copines de Maelle ont ete mes premiers cobayes (happy ones though :))
        Maintenant j ai de la demande, alors je les developpe en presentiel et online.
        Et bien sur j ajoute tjs une dimension yoga parce que la santé mentale c est aussi la santé physique pour notre epoque collee aux ecrans ..
        La il me manque juste un webdesigner pour m aider sur mes questions techniques. On n a qu’une chance de faire une premiere impression alors autant la menager ..
        Un beau programme qui me tient à coeur. J ai aussi des profs interressés donc ca me donne aussi de l ‘espoir pour la suite …

        Je ne savais pas que ca degenerait comme ca chez vous. Ta fille est dans un quartier un peu chaud ou c est general?

        Bises et belle semaine !!

      • C’est super! La France a besoin de “growth mindset”. L’excellence est devenu un gros mot. Je te raconte pas l’étude que vient de faire mon école (de commerce) sur les talents de demain. A pleurer!
        J’adore ton idée. Et un brin de yoga en prime, c’est sympa.
        Un webdesigner Français va te coûter la peau du dos… Ma fille (l’autre) vient de créer son site pour sa boîte de conseil ici. Sûrement des ami(e) à elle. Elle connaît plein de créatifs. Veux-tu que je lui demande qui lui a fait le site? La com peut toujours se faire en Anglais?
        Que ça dégénère ça fait belle lurette. 40,000 assassinats par an pour une population de 120 millions. (en France 756. Y’a pas photo). Et ma fille habite dans un quartier hyper résidentiel. Mais c’est général…
        Bises back et toutes mes félicitations. C’est un projet d’enfer (dans le bon sens du terme)… Génial.
        👍🏻

      • oui oui avec plaisir pour les conseils pour le site 🙂 ici rien à moins de 1500E pour juste ajouter 3 pages et revoir le lay out, j ai deja le contenu en plus..
        Et merci beaucoup pour tes encouragements ca me fait vraiment chaud au coeur. Il y a tellement de boulot que des fois je ne sais pas par ou commencer;, mais je vais lancer la version beta pour tester le programme la semaine prochaine, “mieux vaut fait que parfait” 🙂
        Je prepare le prochain post pour ce site, special pour toi .. wait and see , des bises en attendant !

      • Ma fille m’a donné deux noms. Ceux qui lui ont fait son site et image corporative. Un gros travail. Et aussi une de ses amies d’enfance, du Lycée Français qui est graphic designer…
        Peux-tu m’envoyer un mail (le mien est sur Gravatar) je ne suis pas sûr d’avoir le tien.
        Si tu m’envoie le lien je peux aussi te faire mes commentaires…
        Biz too.

      • Mais alors ton prénom c’est Stéphanie? Pas Estelea? J’ai vu ton site. Première lecture. J’ai gardé le lien. Je te ferai mes commentaires. Pas sûr que tu aies besoin d’un designer à ce niveau… Au revoir Stéphanie…

  34. Paris looks amazing, Brian. The murals are gorgeous. There is the odd building up here in Canada with murals on the side. The original intent is to see if they would curb graffiti. So far in my area anyways they are holding up. Architecture is so stunning. 😀

    Reply

  35. I just had a look on your site, if there was a new post. I read from the comments that your travel to Europe was a longer one. It is hardly worth the while otherwise, isn’t it? It must have been near to beyond bearing in the big cities this summer. We were once in Paris when it was hot, but not as hot as this year, and it made us go north again. And you got COVID, male chance! I hope that you will recover fully soon.
    Violence seems to increase more and more all over the globe. But if it comes so close it is all the more frightening.
    There is a lot of shooting in Sweden of all places. They are usually calm and collected and friendly people.
    It is a time with more and more tension in the atmosphere, and if people just react to the pressure without thinking, mankind might not survive. Putin is threatening to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine now. He can’t go back it seems, has to go through with the madness so he doesn’t lose face. He will lose much more than that. Russians are fleeing Russia, this is bizarre. Although in Denmark they have the attitude “let them come, the fewer Russian soldiers are fighting, the better”.

    But it is good that we still can see and appreciate beauty, when we find it. Your photos always bring back memories of Paris. It is a fantastic city.

    I wish you all the best for you and your family, stay safe!!!

    Reply

    • Hi! Can’t complain, can I? despite the heat I was able to travel to 3 cities. And the COVID was mild. Though with possible long-term consequences. We’ll see about that. Right now I am fine.
      P*tin’s madness may kill a lot pf people. Unless the R*ssians get to him first. I feel like we are in a bad B-movie of the 50’s. Remember Dr Starangelove? (Not B-Movie though)
      It is difficult to have a clear position about letting them in? I think it depends on the profile. Family with children? Ok. 30-40 year bachelor? No proven work record? Could be infiltrated.
      Crazy.
      I hope your summer was good. I still haven’t decided how I will restart blogging. Or when? 😉
      Tschüß

      Reply

      • There are many former recruits leaving R*ssia, who don’t want to fight in Ukraine. Many R*ssians have relatives there.
        Other Scandinavian countries don’t want them, especially Finland. They think they should have protested more against the war. Only now, when they are involved themselves, they are reacting. You think it is a planned infiltration? Unfortunately nothing is unthinkable anymore, there is no limit to evil it seems.
        Here is a good forum just to stay in contact, I think. Over the years one gets a bit “attached” to people. 🙂

      • One does, doesn’t one? 😉
        I hear people in Finland are very, very concerned. They know their history and what the R*ssians can do. So do the Poles…
        Yep. Evil is back. In the shape of a little bald man. (And a few others…)

  36. I’m linking this post to my Photographing Public Art Challenge, Brian because you have so many lovely examples of public art. Paris is an amazing place, isn’t it?

    Reply

  38. Pingback: PPAC #66: Portland Public Art – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

  39. I’m always happy to see reminders of Paris 🙂 I love the street art you found on the Boulevard Saint Michel. It’s a while since I was over that way, must go back when we’re next there (hopefully next September).

    Reply

    • Sadly that street art is gone. It was on a scaffolding in the summer of ’21. This summer the scaffolding had been taken down. Street art doesn’t last.
      September 23? September is a good month for Paris. Nice weather but not so hot or crowded. I’m not going back in July-August ever… 😉

      Reply

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