Paris and I

You know, when I first saw it, it made me think uncannily of the upside down Louvre pyramid which, of course, it isn't. I wanted to find a picture I'd taken for Paris & I to prove my point, but unfortunately my effort was so searingly artistic (right?) that it didn't actually resemble this much at all (but it does in reality, honest).

So anyway, what is it, if it isn't an upside down pyramid, or triangle at least? Well, we're actually looking down onto a grid of flat screen monitors showing a composite Google Maps image of the city of Paris. It's part of an exhibition at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal at the Bastille showing the evolution of the urban landscape over the centuries. It also devotes a lot of space to the imagined or planned Grand Paris of the near future and is quite an eye-opener.

If anything, there's information overkill - this thing is DENSE - and the Google Maps thing is a bit of a gimmick, but I shouldn't really complain for having too much choice, now should I? That would be wingeing pom territory, and I wouldn't want to go there.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Facelift Time

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Facelift Time ~

Facelift Time, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Sous les pavés, la plage (Under the paving stones, the beach) is a famous Paris '68 student uprising slogan.

Whether Sous les panneaux publicitaires, la Concièrgerie (Under the advertising hoardings...) can be considered in the same quad is debatable, but that's what we've been faced with for the last few months.

Paradoxically, it's given me more fodder for my frantic fingers than any other single Paris site in recent times.

Here we can see the Swiss Swatch company pretending to be fervent French patriots, which it has to be said is a bit less crass than the stupid perfume ad which started the whole thing off.

Also quite pleasing is the fact that the renovations these ads are theoretically 'sponsoring' include the oldest public clock in Paris, a fuzzy representation of which can be seen on the far left.

The poor old fella on the side of the appropriately named Tour de l'Horloge ('clock tower' - did you guess?) was looking a bit down in the dumps, so the anticipation is mounting as his brand new look is set to be revealed later in the year. Who says facelifts can't hold back the hands of time, at least for a little while?

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Fat Lot of Good

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:11:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Fat Lot of Good ~

Fat Lot of Good, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Bathroom scales have a perverse sense of humour. I don't know about yours, but mine tell me that I'm 10kgs more than I should be, despite my best mental imaging of an idealised svelter me.

Yesterday on French TV was a documentary about twins from the south who took around six hours to eat a bowl of rice because they had to do so grain by grain, making sure that they each ate exactly the same number of grains so that one wouldn't sneakily become a hair breadth's skinnier than the other (they are twins, after all).

They weren't fat. They weighed about 35kgs. Each. They'd probably have liked that to be the cumulative figure.

Parisian women are reputedly slimmer than most and the apparent envy of wannabe waifs the world over.

They're not all slim though, although quite a few of the supersizers we see may not be native noshers.

Anorexia is also a huge problem here, so to speak, and you often see someone painfully thin on the metro or in the streets. You can't help wondering to what extent the incessant images of 'perfect' people plastered on every wall and magazine cover, all airbrushed to hell, are to blame for this epidemic of under-eating.

Competing in the advertising stakes of course are thousands of products designed to slam on the killer kilos in the most unnourishing and addictive way possible. Sweet.

It makes you wonder, what with the certain 'poor me' satisfaction that comes with being constantly 'over' or 'under', if anyone would actually openly admit to being 'just fine' the way they are. It's a well known fact that advertising agencies are paid millions to convince us in no uncertain terms that we shouldn't be.

For me it's the smile that counts. That's worth it's weight in gold(en maxi best-of menus) any day.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Vaulting Partition

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:03:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Vaulting Partition ~

Vaulting Partition, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Popping in to a church is becoming a regular pleasure for me in this city. The thing is, you never know what you're going to find, from intriguing architectural treasures to surprising exhibitions of exotic art or, quite simply, people exercising certain personal preferences.

I honestly couldn't say which of the above is more fascinating, and sometimes they turn up in twos or even threes, a sort of holy trinity if you will, but manifestations of the latter are rare to say the least.

Here we have worshippers enjoying another extremely rare sight: the only remaining jube, or rood screen in Paris. I kid you not. It's the delicately sculpted passageway we can see separating the nave from the chancel. It also has the most sumptuous double spiral staircase on either side. Stunningly capped by the fabulous rib vaulted ceiling.

Enrapturing, you might say.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Of Shadows 'n' Shards

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:20:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Of Shadows & Shards ~

Shadows 'n' Shards, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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A curious shot, to be sure.

I had intended to take a few pics of the atmospheric Cloître des Billettes, a rare mediaeval cloister dating from 1427 which these days is often used to hold temporary art and sculpture exhibitions. The 'billettes' of the name, by the way, comes from the heraldic designs the monks had the habit of sporting, and meaning literally 'little beads'.

It's a modestly charming place I've stumbled across more than once on my Marais meanderings, and on this occasion there was, indeed, an exhibition of mind-boggling African sculpture in wood, metal and stuff.

In the end, however, there were a few too many of these sculptures to do justice to the origins of the place, puritanically speaking, which can hardly be said to be African, and I wasn't feeling particularly inspired anyway so was about to move on when I spotted the image you see here.

What we've got is the shadow of the top of the neighbouring Eglise des Billettes being cast upon an adjacent building. So not much to do with cloisters in the end I'm afraid, although it was taken from one, but the images come to me, you know, not the other way around!

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Life, The Universe & Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:10:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Life, The Universe & Everything ~

Life, The Universe & Everything, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Back in my student days I think it was, there was a radio and then a TV show and somewhere around then the scripts and books came out and so on and they were called the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe".

And in one of those programmes the not insignificant revelation was shared with us, and it was the answer to life, the universe and everything.

And the answer is 42.

This seemed pretty cool at the time; concise, elegant and fairly easy to remember.

Now that time has gone by, along with the years, including the year I was 42, I am able to reassess this fundamental (if admittedly humorous) conclusion.

And you know what? It still pretty much holds up!

Given the alternatives for the answer to what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything being, most probably, "There isn't one", or far less probably "There is one and I just happen to know it so you'd better listen to me and preferably give me all your money", I think I'll take 6x7...

Paris is in on the act with a little twist to the tale: perhaps there's something more to add to the classic if symbolic and tongue-in-cheek '42'.

Maybe there's more to it than that. Maybe we can create our own meaning. Maybe there's a '42 Bis', as the walls of Paris are hinting. That suits me fine too.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Serendipelicious

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:33:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Serendipelicious ~

Serendipelicious, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Serendipity is a beautiful thing.

And also getting off your arse and wondering what could be.

I saw this street-level bridge crossing the line 6 of the metro, as it happens, in one of its spooky excursions above ground, on its way to Nation, or is it Picpus from Bel-Air, but whatever, I almost passed it by.

So I didn't and this is the result. Irrespective of what you think of the shot, I'm pleased that I've added another slender slice of Paris existence to my life, and I thank the city for that.

Perhaps if I died tomorrow, or why not today (we all die today, don't we?), this pic would symbolically sum it all up. A ghost soul diabolically destined to ride the Paris metro on an endless loop from Nation to Charles de Gaule Etoile, with the occasional light relief of a day trip to Porte Dauphine. Are day-trips allowed in hell?

Serendipity will tell us.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Wet Weather Warning

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:33:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Wet Weather Warning ~

Wet Weather Warning, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Collecting plaintive Paris 1910 flood plaques has become a semi-obsession of mine.

Not to mention the fact that this mega-flood is supposedly operating on a 100 year cycle, which suggests we could be swimming any time now...

If you check the records, the people actually paddled around Paris, and the pics are amazing.

As are the gentle reminders you come across on a regular basis if you keep your sea legs on as you wander around the city in the vicinity of the flukily furtive fleuve.

Closing your eyes is one option but me, I just imagine being up to my thighs or worse (I'm a wet-water-wimp) in stinking Seine sewage as the waters rise...

Don't forget your paddle.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Talking Head Tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:14:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Talking Head Tsunami ~

Talking Head Tsunami, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Nightmare, this time of year here in France. Election time I'm talking about, unless you love watching a million people talking and talking about politics pretty much non-stop, 24/7.

And the French love talking politics. The TV is full of talking heads as it is, people blah-blahing on channel after channel, so this is just a slight change of emphasis.

What's the most difficult to swallow is that politicians in particular, and their interviewers often enough, insist on talking all at the same time, so you end up with a bunch of people shouting over each other and you can't understand a thing, and this is considered good programming.

Obviously I can simply ignore TV, which is what I do most of the time, but sometimes you can't escape it.

The problem is, with the massively increased personalitification à l'Americaine of the whole thing, you end up getting caught up in the process as you get interested in the people involved, which is yet another major waste of creative time of course, and particularly futile for someone who can´t even vote in the country.

So spare a thought for your Paris correspondent trying to stay productive as the full weight of the French presidential election process does its best to throw me off course. Only two or three months of braincell bombardment to go. Good grief.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Overwintering It

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:13:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Overwintering It ~

Overwintering It, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Summertime would find these shores swarming with salsa dancers and sultry happenings of all sorts.

Windy winter is a different story, with only the occasional shady figure scuttling towards one of the riverside party boats without the slightest intention of spending more time outside than is strictly necessary.

For myself; well don't ask why, but I was reading a series of panels detailing the reacquisition of some formerly industrial areas of the left bank to create a continuous walk along the Seine right through the city.

Having said that, they're also in the process of revamping the old dock areas and assigning more and more cargos to barges, or 'soft transport', as they call it. One vessel charged with gravel, for example, can avoid a whole fleet of lorries from thundering through Paris with all the noise and pollution that involves.

For the time being though, with some exceptions, the outerlying arrondissements still harbour some pretty spooky and less than inviting riverside experiences, to sample at your own risk...

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Spy-Fi Sagas

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:16:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Spy-Fi Sagas ~

Spy-Fi Sagas, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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'What's this old relic?' I wondered to myself whilst I was waiting for a connection at a typically banal suburban Parisian train station.

It looked like something from a 1950s cops and robbers show or something, and I smiled that they would hang onto it, even though it must have gone out of service about 50 years ago.

As a joke I lifted the 'bras du poste' (arm of the device), leant in close to the grill, and 'announced' myself as instructed on the corroding metel plaque, in a low, conspiratorial voice:

"Allo allo? Special agent Sab Will checking in, sir. All calm on platform F, but it's fucking cold, over".

Imagine my surprise, when an utterly unconspiratorial voice answered back:

"Allo?!"

I dropped that thing like it was on fire and pretended to be attentively studying the times of the next trains, checking my watch and tutting indignantly. There's a hefty penalty for any improper use of station equipment in France, including making prank calls to emergency services.

This is a slightly sheepish special agent Sab Will checking out until the next exciting episode of the Paris Photo Chronicles. Stay on this frequency.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Culcha Clash

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:12:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Culcha Clash ~

Culcha Clash, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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It certainly is (London, calling), and this clash of cultures will be filling my head again shortly when I spend a few days over there allowing little brother and big sister to get to know each other a little better as the former develops his language and is able to remember people more easily.

I don't know if the satanically coiffed girly above is supposed to be typically Londonian - the usual groaning stereotype is a punk - but there sure is a massive difference between them and Parisian chics, that's for sure, bum cleavage being one of the major ones, if I remember rightly.

It's funny now, after all these years in France, that when I visit London it's as much as a tourist as anything else. I wonder where I could visit and what I haven't seen yet in a way few locals would ever do. Having said that, I'm never that inspired by London, in the same way, I suppose, that some Parisians demonstrate a certain disinterested 'whatever' about Parisian attractions a London tourist might drool over.

Personally, I like to think of the Eurostar as line 15 of the metro; you get on at Gare du Nord from a perfectly normal platform - admittedly access to it is slightly unusual - and get of a couple of hours later in the middle of the British capital.

There's a marvellous statue awaiting your arrival at St. Pancreas of a clutching couple. Paris greets us with a loopy woman-and-egg conundrum. You can't see the egg in the pic I link to, but I assure you there is one. Whether it came first or not is anyone's guess. But for me Paris comes first every time.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Bridge Spotting Bozo

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:47:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Bridge Spotting Bozo ~

Bridge Spotting Bozo, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Just been watching an impressive documentary on the construction of the Panama Canal, the incredible feat of engineering it represented at that time, and the shocking number of innocent lives which were lost in its realisation.

Wandering around the city, I'm often struck by the immensity an impressiveness of the structures which surround us. I suppose that in terms of time taken and lives lost, something as relatively modest as the Pont de Bercy must rate lower down the list of major human achievements. Having said that though, admiring this superb double decker bridge, with vehicles below and metros above, I can't help smiling in admiration.

Just down the road I also enjoy watching line 5 metros burst out of the wall of Austerlitz station straight onto the Viaduc d'Austerlitz which takes them across the Seine to the right bank, without a road underneath this time.

For a third example of such a phenomenon, I can't recommend the Pont de Bir-Hakeim highly enough. Another double-decker, this one is even more pleasing than the Pont de Bercy, backdropped as it is by the Eiffel Tower, possessing its own island hop-off, and being swallowed up mysteriously by a couple of beautiful classical Parisian apartment buildings as it flies into the 16th arrondissement at a rate of knots.

Is bridge-spotting more or less nerdy than train-spotting, I wonder? A swear I don't own an anorak though. Well, not one with a hood and everything. Not yet.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Too Old To Smoke

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:15:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Too Old To Smoke ~

Too Old To Smoke, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Paris and chimneys go back a long way together; of that there is no doubt. In fact, all manner of tubes, pipes and other hollow cylinders sprout up all over the city.

Not many look like this tall red brick structure, however, and indeed it belongs to a unique and impressive monument to the bygone industrial age: the old compressed air factory of the 13th arrondissement.

The factory lies almost in the shadow of the now defunct Petite Ceinture railway, and its chimney proudly proclaims 1890 as its date of construction.

So what did Parisians need compressed air for back at the end of the 19th century.

Well, I imagine new possibilities were springing to inventors' minds as the new technology was emerging, but three of the best known uses include two rather surprising ones. The most obvious or least surprising today, I guess, would be for hydraulic lift systems.

The next two were new to me and utterly fascinating. Did you know you could make a clock function with compressed air? Well you can, and clocks in railway stations in particular employed this system, which was handy as most of the station clocks were in highly inaccessibly high-up places.

The other interesting use was in a legendary system of pushing despatches along tubes which linked some of the most important buildings in the city and were known as pneumatics, which were finally abandoned in 1984. You can imagine some of the history-changing messages which must have been propulsed through these intriguing tubes over the years, especially during wartime.

Another intriguing aspect of the factory is that it has some of its insides out, which might remind you of another, rather more famous, central Parisian building with the same characteristic.

Now its future is as a branch of an architecture school, which is rather fitting really.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

A Corner To Call My Own

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:57:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ A Corner To Call My Own ~

A Corner To Call My Own, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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If you live in France and watch the TV you can't escape the cold, at least in images and probably in shivering person too if you have to stick your nose outside or have less than effective heating.

People have started suffering, and despite a far better system for helping people in difficulty, as with the summer heatwaves, the danger is still huge, an in particular for the thousands of SDF (homeless) of the country.

The TV stations are digging deep to find new angles over and above the standard 'it's very cold' and 'another record broken' angle, which we are all very well aware of and are boring us silly.

Right now I'm watching a slot showing little kiddies, a couple of what look like 9-year-old girls, taking part in the effort to offer a sandwich or a cup of hot soup under a wind-swept overhead metro to those desperately in need of such succour.

Many of the ads are also now making reference to the arctic conditions. The swooning 'Attractive World' dating site couple I referred to in a recent posting who 'bring us' the incessent weather reports are now wrapped up warm and clutching umbrellas. I'm expecting them to be trudging through snow and fighting off starving polar bears in their quest for lurve any day now.

And they mock the British for talking about the weather all the time.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Charlie Parker and the Blockheads

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:20:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Charlie Parker and the Blockheads ~

Charlie Parker and the Blockheads, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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It's probably just me, but I just can't decide whether this... collection of stone lumps, for want of a better expression, is intended to be some sort of extremely primitive art brut statement (of intent to be art?), or simply part of the foundations awaiting the construction of one of the many planned new buildings in this quartier to begin.

There's about five of these huge, double-stacked block things not far from the Bibliothèque François Mitterand, which are also four huge ugly blocks, albeit smooth ones, so maybe there's some sort of connection intended here. I couldn't see any indication of artist or construction company either for that matter. I wish I could be of more use here, but my investigations have so far come up against a stone wall, so to speak.

OK. I couldn't leave it there.

After several hours of intense research, nibbling and a couple of half-watched episodes of something called N.C.I.S. (Enquêtes Spéciales), here in France anyway, which I don't really watch, you understand.

So, to cut to the chase, it I.S. a sculpture, and not just a handful of lumps of stone. Well, it is a bunch of lumps of stone, but they've got a name, and a daddy. The daddy's name is French sculptor called Alain Kirili, and his bouncing baby was christened 'Hommage à Charlie Parker'.

The artist's site tells us nothing more. Wikipedia gives us the dimensions and tells us usefully that the sculpture is composed of five blocks of pink Burgandy stone arranged in a circle. It continues that each piece consists of two parts, a crudely cut lower block and an upper block including geometrical elements. What it doesn't tell us is that these geometrical elements includes bits and pieces of squares, triangles and the odd wedge or two.

Wikipedia also doesn't tell us what the link is between the legendary jazz player and the lumps, blocks and wedges. Obviously I could enlighten you all, but hey, isn't it much more fun, not to mention satisfying, to work out the mysteries of modern art (and indeed modern jazz) all by yourself? You're welcome.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Poor Blonde Polemic

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:01:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Poor Blonde Polemic ~

Poor Blonde Polemic, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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This blog isn't here to flatter Paris or insult the intelligence of its readers.

My aim is to reveal, quite simply, what this city is all about, avoiding shallow eulogising, if possible, about the wonders of the 'city of light', unless I'm in that sort of mood.

The city of light has seen me in states I still shrink from sharing.

One day maybe.

In the meantime, I'll supply you with a fair dose of the underbelly of the bitch, as well as its glories. As it were.

Here we see part of an underground movement which hates ads which belittle women and our intelligence in equal measure. I have to admit I tend to side with them.

Defacing public property is a long French tradition, of course, but these people would argue that ads themselves deface our urban environment and should be banned from the facades of the planet.

It would be easy to agree with them if I could imagine an ad-free environment. Just think of no publicity anywhere - can you do it?

Unfortunately irritating product placement has spoilt our favourite movies and sports stars are plastered from head to foot in flagrant advertising attire. What happened to integrity?

I must admit that I find 90% of advertising routinely stupid, with about 10% amusing or clever, which doesn't really justify the cringy stuff. But this is the world we live in. And some of those who rail against it. I wonder what this pauv' blonde (poor blonde) thinks about it.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

More Gut-Wrenching Meandering

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:29:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ More Gut-Wrenching Meandering ~

More Gut-Wrenching Meandering, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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This gruesomely graphic, dare I say 'gut-wrenching', event happened in a cemetery near you, just the other day; Père Lachaise, in case you were wondering.

The protagonist seems remarkably unperturbed by the fact that some pelican-like avian is in the process of gobbling up his insides. Downright defiant, you might say. Silly him. After all, there goes his liver, a kidney and, I kid you not, a lung, a lunge and a hearty feast not to be sniffed at, if sniffing were still on the agenda.

Such is the daily grind, down here at Père Lachaise cemetery.

Bon appetit.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

All Going Swimmingly

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:08:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ All Going Swimmingly ~

All Going Swimmingly, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Hey! Fancy a swim? Well that's great, because you can actually swim ' in' the Seine (despite it being illegal), as it were, without even getting wet. Errm... in a manner of speaking.

I didn't have particularly high hopes in terms of Paris street photography when I set out in the strangest of moods on a searingly chilly Tuesday afternoon.

Night fell. As is its wont.

I walked from Bibliotèque François Mitterand past Austerlitz towards Saint Michel and the Latin Quarter. As is mine.

I thought I must swim in the Josephine Baker pool one of these months, moored on the banks of the river as it is, having replaced the sunken Piscine Deligny, and hopefully a bit more trustworthy, although its predecessor did stay afloat for a darned long time before ironically drowning in its own mooring space.

But this isn't about all that, this is about the fact that a casual glance to the right as I was trolling by revealed an unusual sight. A young Asian was painting the pool. No, I don't mean that the pool was being painted, I mean an artist was creating a pleasingly impressionistic representation of serene swimmers swimming of a January evening, albeit a brass monkey's one.

Quite made me all misty-eyed imagining my lost (French) youth of about 16 years ago when I lived on a barge in the erstwhile valley of the impressionists out at Vesinet le Pecq. But I digress.

The two likely lads in the picture above didn't like the fact that I was taking a picture of what I was taking a picture of. About one second after I took this shot they started wagging fingers at me and gesticulating 'No, no!' as if I were stealing their very souls.

I'm not quite sure what their problem was. Could it be people's modesty they're angsting over? Because as you can see above, you'd be hard-pressed to identify anyone apart from the two jokers and the dabbing dude, but there you go.

Anyway, swim on and, if this isn't a contradiction in terms, wrap up warm!

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Bum Unrap

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:01:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Bum Unrap ~

Bum Unrap, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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OK, I readily admit that this has very little to do with Paris, or anything else for that matter, but there you go.

However, it was taken in Paris, in the 11th or 12th I believe, and is fairly representative of the bizarreness lurking in the most seemingly innocuous shop windows.

It's enough to break a healthy red bloodied young middle-aged chap like myself out into a sweat, if I didn't know better...

It's all in good fun, of course, 'fun' being the operative, and decidedly un-froggy word. But a stroll down any of the Asian sweatshop infested streets around these parts will reveal a mind-boggling assault on the dignity of the English language.

Somehow, somewhere, at sometime, for example, someone decided that suffixing any, and I mean ANY random word with an apostrophe s ('s) instantly renders it irresistibly 'English', and therefore 'cool'.

Go figure. But that'll be for another post.

In the meantime let's content ourselves with your average guy's wet dream courtesy of 'Fun Kiwi II' (yes, that's really what they've called their shop) whilst waiting for something resembling the real thing. This is Paris!

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Numbers Up

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:06:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Numbers Up ~

Numbers Up, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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As someone with a borderline obsession with blue Paris wall plaques, here I'm 'bien servi' (well served), as the French would say.

Not only do we have a classic Parisian street name with its arrondissement, but a legendary 'Gas à tous les étages' plaque and a most curious street house number, or rather numbers.

It took me a while to work out what was going on when I first started to see such weird things. I mean, how can a house be number 147, 138 and 142 all at the same time?

I think I've got it now, and the answer is both intriguing and embarrassingly simple. Have you got it?

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Year of the Undead

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:24:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Year of the Undead ~

Year of the Undead, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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Talking about Parisian Sunday afternoon possibilities, which I was if you've been paying attention, dawdling through the dead is another very real option.

While everyone else here is probably watching dancing dragons and other oriental liveliness, it being the Chinese new year here in the city, there's a real temptation to run in the opposite direction and seek the tranquility of a place with practically no life at all, in one of the capital's many cemeteries, catering to all tastes.

Personally, I never tire of visiting these peaceful places (give or take the odd screaming couple on a moped I came across in Père Lachaise last week where this was taken). And I always discover something new, like this dandy chap above, who doesn't look at all disconcerted by the trifling fact that he's dead. Good for him.

By the way, and I have a feeling I've mentioned this before, so forgive me, but there's a curious story that the Chinese in Paris never die, hence the relentless increase in the Chinese population here.

This is apparently both true and apocryphal. The story goes that deaths are rarely declared so that old papers can be admirably recycled with a conscientiousness that any ecologist should admire. Where do these official documents end up? Well, slightly doctored in the possession of one of the countless illegal Chinese immigrants working in behind the scenes and underground basements and overhead attics to support the ultra-cheap textile and Asian fast-food joints populating every corner, hence creating a brand new 'legal' French Chinese citizen in the slant of an eye.

And as for where the dead bodies go... didn't I just answer that question..?

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Welcome To My Local

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:47:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Welcome To My Local ~

Welcome To My Local, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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When it comes to Sunday or even Saturday afternoon activities, there's not much nicer than sitting sipping in a Parisian café or brasserie somewhere. Thiswhere happened to be at Nation over in the east of the city, but it could have been anywhere.

In fact I've got a bit lackadaisical about it and hit the terraces far too little these days. Actually, much as the outside areas are 'the place to be (seen', I much prefer little nook and crannies tucked away inside where you can gaze out discretely on all the hustling and bustling from a corner of calm and plan your latest opus on good old paper, without a bit or a byte in sight, remember those days?

We're still spoilt here in Paris, despite reports that there are only half the number of cafés there used to be, and of course many of them have very specific styles which don't have much to do with the Paris of yesteryear, but variety is a good thing, right?

In any case, I still haven't succeeded in my quest to find a 'local' which I can truly make my own, which is maybe symptomatic of my state; believing that any café in Paris is 'my local', in the way a true local never would... Given the choice, however, I think I'll keep it that way.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Box Hedge Beatitude

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:11:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Box Hedge Beatitude ~

Box Hedge Beatitude, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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What's this? Oh, just another utterly charming view into one of those hidden Paris courtyards you spy from time to time...

In keeping with my current tendency of not telling you everything until you've made a bit effort all on your own, where do you reckon this is?

I'll give you a clue: you can get into this stalwart Parisian landmark for free (during opening hours) and gaze out onto this view through the subtly variegated panes to your heart's desire whilst admiring some of the most ~~mindnumbingly boring~~ beautifully preserved royal-backside supporting antique furniture and about a million old portraits of people you don't know and have no intention of knowing.

The more I go to this place, the more I realise that the Musée du Moyen Age (musée Cluny) was like Space Mountain at EuroDisney in comparison.

Be that as it may, the oddly moving moment occasionally creeps up and nudges you, as it did above. Elegance manifests itself when you're least expecting it. So I've taught myself to expect it constantly, and that way I end up spotting it more. See if it works for you.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Forbidden Fruit

noreply@blogger.com (Sab Will) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:59:00 +0000

iPhone Photo Chronicles

~ Forbidden Fruit ~

Forbidden Fruit, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

BONUS: For Street Photography Fans!

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On watching certain channels here in France, such as BFM TV, a French business and news station, you'd think we were all desperately desperately single and suffering.

If we're not being subjected to a terribly earnest demoiselle from Meetic bemoaning the difficulty of finding her other half through the usual channels (work, parties, bars, soirées...), it's an eDarling babe biddiing us sign up and hook up through 'quality introductions'.

Not forgetting the weather spot, which is bookended and supposedly 'brought to us by' another bunch of would-be match makers, Attractive World, this time for 'demanding singles' if you please.

But here in the Paris metro at this beginning of 2012 we have something a little different. Gleeden (.com) to be exact.

Gleeden suggests you taste some forbidden fruit, and will help you do so if you like. It's the site for 'extra-marital relationships'. If you wanna cheat on your husband or wife, here's the place you can risk your life.

What I want to know is, what would happen if both people in a married couple signed up to Gleeden, were attracted by the profile of their other half, and arranged to meet up. Has Hollywood covered that one yet?

It seems like pretty dodgy territory to me though. Imagine trying to say as much about yourself as possible, without saying so much that your wife or husband will recognise you if they happen to be reading. But then again, they shouldn't be reading at all, should they? What would that mean? That they were planning on being unfaithful? Disgraceful.

And why not...

J è GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW! ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Paris and I

You Are Here

Facelift Time

Fat Lot of Good

Vaulting Partition

Of Shadows 'n' Shards

Life, The Universe & Everything

Serendipelicious

Wet Weather Warning

Talking Head Tsunami

Overwintering It

Spy-Fi Sagas

Culcha Clash

Bridge Spotting Bozo

Too Old To Smoke

A Corner To Call My Own

Charlie Parker and the Blockheads

Poor Blonde Polemic

More Gut-Wrenching Meandering

All Going Swimmingly

Bum Unrap

Numbers Up

Year of the Undead

Welcome To My Local

Box Hedge Beatitude

Forbidden Fruit