France, lots of graffiti, a little JR

I was in Le Croisic for a wedding. My bedroom window offered a view of the ocean

The sky would melt into sunset.

Le Crosic graffiti

The wildest time on my trip was on my birthday when I was stranded in the walled city of Guerande with a lovely Spanish lady.

We wandered around the city and spent hours chatting on a cafe terrace about the importance of letting adventures happen. I tried to keep the spirit of the day throughout my trip.

Then to Paris, and this was the view from my window.

There was no light in the wc for a few days, which gave me a chance to take a picture by candlelight.

I went to see the JR installation at the Pantheon.

 The photos were printed on plastic that would sometimes reflect the light.

All of those faces looking straight at the viewer were very intense.

I visited the petite ceinture which is like the high line in New York, but left to run wild. It is unlike the French to let nature do its thing but they were very proud of protecting the abandoned railway's ecosystem. I thought it was far better than the fussy nyc park.

Here are some thistles behaving a lot like weeds.

On the parapet walls of the railway, the graffiti blended with the vines.

Sometimes a tagger would paint over the dead branches.

I had planned on taking photos for my dream project, but the light was never what I expected

There always seemed to be additional layers things were never as they appeared. It was like living in one of my dreams.

I wandered through the neighborhoods where I lived, remembering lost adventures and enjoying the colors.

My dream project will just have to fit with the images I have.

Paris and Spring's Arrival

It was early March when I arrived in Paris but already the trees were flowering and everything was green.

(click for bigger)

There were cherry blossoms. My experience with cherry blossoms is usually a bit later into spring. The heat of the afternoon sun dissipates under the shade of the flowering cherry tree.

The weather was not kind. It was typical of Paris in the beginning of March, sometimes raining, brief flashes of sun, maybe a little snow flurry for fun. Yet here was all this greening, riotous springtime.

It even took over the streets and I felt a little giddy. It was odd because Paris has always been a serious place for me. It was where I learned that things were not so simple and one cannot just come in and do whatever one wants. I learned that my written French was so wrong, things were not expressed in that way. I always felt poorly dressed. Yet there I was in a taxi late at night, trying to keep track of our direction, remembering that Paris is a city of points not streets. I felt a warm tingling in my core and I realized how much I loved this city. There was the old city all romantic and stodgy with a little edge. I suppose it has always been like that. I had just never noticed.


There was some cool graffiti around the city. I particularly liked this tag on the torn plastic sheet.


There have always been tags in the train culverts and tunnels, but it seems to have spread. The tunnels on the number two line were covered with tags, streams of pastel colors glimmering in the dim light. Even the supports of the elevated tracks were painted.
The metro aerien is so beautiful, it's one of my favorite parts of the city.
There was a bit of Shepard Fairey's work in with the graffiti near Stalingrad.

And some more near the new library.

I am not sure if the television is his though.


Also near the library is the fabulous new metro line and its pharoanic Biblioteque Francois Mitterrand station. When I think of our own MTA that is so adamant about not building cathedrals I just want to say 'Look at how cool it could be'


The windows looking down on the tracks are etched with the words of poets. These are by Coleridge

a flight of large green butterflies alighted on the leafless tree/ all shot through with Sunshine







I am afraid there won't be any metro stations named after the current president. He isn't very popular.



Well, Mitterrand was caricatured as Kermit the Frog so perhaps there is hope for Sarkozy.



Now I am back in New York and spring is happening all over again, including the crazy weather. I didn't balance eggs for the equinox this year. I have been remiss in properly noting the seasons recently. Perhaps I can do better for the solstice.