Whenever I visit Michel for tea or to talk about music, I get off at the métro called "Chemin Vert" (Green Way/Path). In Paris, street names can change every few blocks. Since I always go west to visit Michel, I was curious about the road going east, the road that was apparently once a nice country pathway, or right of way for the public. Today was the day. I won't pretend this is exciting stuff, but it is part of the real everyday Paris, freed from tourists (save one).
You emerge from the métro and see (of course) a restaurant. Typically, these establishments are allowed to claim a significant portion of the sidewalk permanently, build sturdy glassed-in extensions, and add room for possibly another dozen customers. Hopefully, they pay for this privilege. The rooms are heated and often air conditioned or open for breezes.
This is the entrance/exit for the métro, nicely marked, usually well-positioned on the sidewalk, visible. By comparison, I find the subway stops difficult to spot in New York City.
The street signs are usually a combination of green and dark blue, giving both the name of the street and its district. Each district/arrondissement has its own city hall and mayor, so Paris has 20 of each, plus one overall.
Notice the sticker with the international sign for falling rocks. If you look closely, you will see that people are falling, and the sticker indicates that human rights are tumbling. This refers to the workers' current rotating strikes which affect primarily the trains at this time. But stay tuned. These folks know how to strike.
I was intrigued by this machine. It looked ancient. Since it was being hauled, I could not determine its utility.
OK, so this is a bad photo. Even so, I wanted to honour this very kind lady somehow. She saw me taking photos and stopped to talk, asking where I was from, how long I was staying, etc. She has seen a brochure on Canada and would really like to visit it someday. We had such a lovely chat (well, I mostly listened and agreed), but I did not have the heart to ask to take a photo of her face.
Initially, one thinks, "Ah, what a nice park between two roads, right in the middle of a boulevard. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. At this point, the canal runs directly under the park for perhaps a km or two. This stretch is a green space with many benches and playgrounds.
If you click on the photo, you may be able to tell that these gals are eating plain baguettes for their lunch.
The Rue du Chemin Vert then descends a bit. I'm guessing that much of the area along this stretch of the canal was built up, literally the ground made higher.
The bicycle paths are all over the place and heavily used. Unlike many of Vancouver's, these bike ways have cement dividers which clearly signal to both cars and bikes which part of the road is to be used by whom.
I first wondered why these gals were staring at me, and then realized it had little to do with my handsome features.
I'm glad they kept the facade of this bakery, even though it is now a dress shop.
I was struck by the fancy clothing stores in a somewhat less-than-fancy area. The approaching girl likely doesn't shop here often.
This shows the road's layers: sand/cement, granite stone cut like bricks and then laid out in beautiful patterns, and finally tarmac.
I must see if I can find any music by this band on YouTube.
Children still get around on their little scooters with amazing efficiency. They are so safe and enable children to keep pace with parents. However, grownups are increasingly turning to motorized scooters, just larger versions of these little things.
Now I know where to get my nails done.
This piano was cut in half, top to bottom. (The result of a bad divorce?)
Some paint jobs are costly, others are free.
As you know by now, I enjoy graffiti (thanks to Jesse). This involved two artists. The first did the stencil (on paper? I forgot to check) and the second an ink drawing which cleverly transformed the meaning of the man's expression.
Tomorrow is a rehearsal day, so I don't know what will happen. Janice's laptop seems to be completely unwilling to go to local wifi after she upgraded the software. We phoned the store in Burnaby (Canada) where we bought the machine, and they transferred us to India. You can well imagine how helpful that was. She tried to sell us a new laptop!
Bye for now,
Evan
P.S. Sorry, Brother Bruce, still no food porn.
No comments:
Post a Comment