The past week has been a bit hectic with library work. Janice has been working most days during our stay(while I frittered away time taking photos). She and Yves built up quite a pile of newly-catalogued books needing numbers to the spines, pockets for borrowing cards, borrowing cards, tape, etc., so I essentially spent all day M, T, Th on that project and possibly processed several hundred books. Janice's primary goal for this visit was to recatalogue all of the Amish materials. They had been spread all over the collection, but a newly released cataloguing system makes it possible to bring those materials together. Since the Amish and Hutterite portions of this library are unique to collections in France, the Centre thought this project would be very helpful. In a year or two, it is hoped that the software will be finished so that the Centre's catalogue can be dovetailed into the national catalogue at the BNF (French National Library). This will then let scholars all over France (and beyond) know about the Centre's holdings.
On Wednesday I went with Neal to the Protestant Seminary at Vaux and took another some 400 pictures. The pictures will have to await my return to Vancouver so I can process them correctly on the calibrated monitor (dark skin against bright background is very tricky and requires many adjustments in postproduction). The seminary was very gracious about last year's photos, showing me several instances in which they used them in publications. The IT volunteer looking after their website had to leave school during the economic downturn in order to devote more time to his young business enterprise, so they are looking for another volunteer, who they they hope will mount quite a few of my photos. The Dean also told me that he wanted to use my shots in powerpoint presentations faculty and students can take around to the various churches, promoting the work of the seminary. Marie-Claude had quite a list of specific types of shots she wanted, but I only got partway through. They were very pleased to hear me talk about returning for several more years; that sort of takes the pressure off and allows them to rethink photo ops for me.
Yesterday (Friday), Janice and I worked again all morning. She did some more library stuff and I mowed the lawn (not a big deal, 15 minutes max). She also did two loads of laundry while I finished adding numbers etc. to the remaining books and processed some photos for Neal and Janie to use.
Then Janice and I set off for République for lunch. We didn't see anything we particularly liked, so we kept walking until by 1:30 hunger truly took over. I commented that we were likely the only people in the universe who could not find a place to have lunch in Paris, but we were fussy and apparently kept making bad decisions on which streets to take. We wanted something better than a fancy bar and yet not a full-fledged restaurant, wanted to sit outside but not in the sun, wanted a street with interesting activities and lots of pedestrians but not on a sidewalk so tight that people would almost brush our table while walking by. We finally settled on a restaurant which met our requirements and was also very busy (good sign). Although this picture was taken well after people returned to work at 2 p.m., we were lucky to get the next-to-last table on the left, front row. We shared a tiny round table, making it even smaller by sitting on the same side of the table, so we could both see the street activities, which is what people do. This made me realize the our dining room table is perhaps 10 times as large, quite possibly a waste of space, and that we hadn't sat that close together to eat since our courtship years, when food was hardly my primary interest.
We watched men pushing carts of carpets, carts with bolts of cloth, racks of clothing, etc. This looked just like the garment district in the old New York City, at least the one we so often enjoyed seeing in the 1960s.
After lunch, we walked further along the Rue St Denis, the patron saint of Paris and the road which used to lead pilgrims to the famous basilica, St Denis. I had forgotten that this was also a kind of red light district, and there were some truly sad looking women plying the ancient trade that Friday afternoon (payday?) None of them said anything to me because they could tell I had a wife keeping close tabs on things!
We then happened upon a church I had not entered before, the Eglise-St-Leu-St-Gilles. I had wanted to see the interior in earlier years but it had always been closed, so I was pleased to get a peek and take just a few photos. I want to return and get more next time. I was intrigued by the interplay of light and shadows, and look forward to developing these shots (I'm just giving these to you 'as is').
As we walked further, we came across the Passage du Grand Cerf, one of the largest and best of the Parisian passageways, 111 meters long and some 10 meters high. These are like narrow walkways between buildings, which were covered with a glass roof in the 1800s (?) to protect the passageway year around. The shops looking onto the passageway used to be small workshops which produced various kinds of goods, especially clothing. This passageway was renovated perhaps a decade ago and is absolutely delightful with the lighting from above, the reflections on the windows, the tunnel effect, and the variety of merchandise.
Looking straight up, you see (through the glass ceiling/roof) that people live several stories higher.
Today (Saturday) we will be at the Centre all morning, doing a few more books and possibly looking at the packing situation. We bought some books and things which are going to require an additional box I fear, but we need to find out now rather than Monday. We will head downtown at noon for a light lunch, then likely go our separate ways for the afternoon. Janice is very gracious about letting me stop unexpectedly to take a shot, or to be quietly asked to "stand back, I want to shoot" (when I have to shoot immediately or lose the composition), but she wants to go to a garden show alone, unencumbered, at her own pace, and I spotted another church or two requiring my attention. Then we will have a light dinner at home.
Hoping you are well and the weather is conducive to your getting out and about on your powerchair,
With love from us both, Evan
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