Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Feb 8, 2012, 6:00 pm
« Nonoise, no pollution” is the slogan of the new service that is offered toParisians: “Autolib’”, an electric car sharing scheme, which started by the endof last year. More or less following the example of “Vélib’”, which waslaunched in 2007 and which today offers some 20.000 bikes...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Feb 5, 2012, 6:00 pm
Thewinter has been quite warm in Paris… until last week. Officially day temperatureshave been – and still are - just below freezing point, but due to the easterly,Siberian, winds, during morning hours they are felt like -15°C (5°F). (Fortunately I wasin Siberia and Mongolia in September, not n...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Feb 1, 2012, 6:00 pm
In arecent post, I made an « excuse » about maybe too often posting aboutchurches. Obviously, according to the comments, I’m “allowed” to make a fewmore and I’m so far still only on a 17-18% level when it comes to the coverageof the Paris churches… so here is about one more. Genie (‘...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jan 29, 2012, 6:00 pm
The oldest,still existing, covered market in Paris has the surprising name of « LeMarché des Enfants Rouges » (Red Kids). The explanation is the fact thatin this area used between 1536 and 1772 to be an orphanage and the kids weredressed in red; red was the colour representing Christian charity...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jan 25, 2012, 6:01 pm
I havealready made a few posts about the « Grand Palais », but I thought Imust make another one, covering the present event “La France en Relief” (Jan.18 – Feb. 17). It takes place under the great nave, the part of the “GrandPalais” which is the most spectacular with its large glass ro...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jan 22, 2012, 6:00 pm
It has been saidthat it was in this modest bar, “Au Rêve”, on the northern slopes of Montmartrethat Jacques Brel wrote one of his most famous songs, “Ne me quitte pas” (Don’tleave me, "If you go away"). He observed the apartment of the young lady Suzanne Gabriello, justin front, on the o...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 30, 2011, 7:01 pm
To finish my reporting on the recent Transsiberian / Transmongolian trip, here are some pictures from the train trip as such. I have no pictures from the first night between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, but officially the Transsiberian train leaves from Moscow. I travelled with our blogger friend...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 26, 2011, 6:01 pm
After six nights – and days – by train, with stops at a number of places (see previous posts) and after about four weeks of travelling, Beijing was the final destination. I had already visited Beijing and this time it was for a short visit before the flight back to Paris, so the few pictures I s...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 23, 2011, 6:01 pm
After a short return to Ulan Bator after our first tour of the Mongolian countryside (see previous post), we took a local train, a full day, to Sainshand, one of the little towns in the Gobi Desert in the southern part of Mongolia (see map on previous post). During the Silk Road times, there were so...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 19, 2011, 6:01 pm
We left Ulan Bator (see previous post, including a map) for a trip towards the west. We followed first one of the few paved roads in Mongolia, but spent also considerable time on tracks. A jeep like car, with a driver and guide are needed. We visited Karakorum (Kharakhorum), which Genghis Khan use...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 16, 2011, 6:01 pm
After Irkutsk (see previous post) and the Baikal Lake (see previous post), one choice is to continue with the Transsiberian Railway to Vladivostok … or to deviate southwards towards Mongolia and Beijing. The train then changes name to the Transmongolian. After a five hours stop for customs on the ...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 13, 2011, 6:01 pm
From Irkutsk (see previous post) we took a small local bus the about 70 km (45 miles) to Listvyanka on the southern shore of Lake Baikal. The weather was a bit colder and greyer than what we would have wished and the high mountains reaching some 2600 m (8500 ft) in the background were not easy to di...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 9, 2011, 6:01 pm
Three days and nights after leaving Ekaterinburg (see previous post), we reached Irkutsk. One major reason for a stop at Irkutsk is the nearness of the Baikal Lake (next post). The city lies at the Angara River, the major outflow from the Baikal Lake, some 70 km (45 miles) away. Irkutsk is one of th...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 6, 2011, 6:01 pm
Still on the way eastwards… Less known than Saint Petersburg and Moscow, maybe a few words about Ekaterinburg (also written Yekaterinburg…). You reach the city just after having crossed the Ural Mountains, which also means that you have reached Asia. The city was created during the 18th century...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 3, 2011, 6:01 pm
On our way to the east... a few pictures from Moscow.
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Oct 1, 2011, 5:21 am
Well, I'm back! I will publish a few clips. Here is a first one from Saint Petersburg.
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Aug 30, 2011, 6:01 pm
I’m off again, for a rather long trip. I’m going by the Transsiberian / Transmongolian train all the way from Saint Petersburg to Beijing via Moscow, Ekaterinenburg, Irkutsk (the Baïkal Lake), Uulan Bator (a longer stay in Mongolia). I will be away the whole month of September  - and will not ...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Aug 26, 2011, 6:01 pm
I feel a bit embarrassed about this last post from our Spanish vacations. As many, I have very mixed feelings about the corridas … but we went to see one. Of course the “Plaza de Toros” in Sevilla is something special and is worth a visit already for itself! It was the first circular bullfight...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Aug 22, 2011, 6:01 pm
Sevilla is the capital of Andalusia, on the river Guadalquivir. Following the Romans, Vandals and Visigoths came the Moorish era, as from 712 to 1248. The Moorish architecture survived somehow also through the Christian times, the Mudéjar style. The Moor’s Palace became in the 14th century the C...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Aug 18, 2011, 6:01 pm
More from our Spanish vacations - Granada with Alhambra at the foothill of Sierra Nevada. The place became really what you would call Spanish in 1492 - the year Columbus made his discoveries - after having been Ibero-Celtic, Greek and Roman and for more than 700 years having been occupied by the Mo...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Aug 15, 2011, 6:01 pm
So, I'm back from vacations (although as retired, you may say that I'm always on vacation). First a little visit to Cordoba, the ancient Iberian and Roman city, which in the Middle Ages became the capital of an Islamic caliphate. In the 10th century it was the most populous city in the world. It's p...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 20, 2011, 6:01 pm
I will be away for a few weeks. Going to Andlusia with kids and grandkids, where we have rented a house about half way between Sevilla and Cordoba. Then, a couple of days in southern France, Provence. I should be back mid August. In the meantime, I will not blog. Vacations!! In the meantime, you may...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 17, 2011, 6:01 pm
What was originally a Carmelite Convent is today a Catholic Institute (University), which you can find on the corner of Rue de Vaugirard and Rue d’Assas. Carmelites moved in here in the beginning of the 17th century. Some original buildings remain, including the Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes Church, b...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 13, 2011, 6:01 pm
Well, I know, it’s July 14th and it’s time to celebrate! Just as a reminder, here is photo I took two years ago (more of these fireworks photos here). If you take a look at Virginia's Paris blog, you will see that I was not alone, when I took these photos. I imagine that something similar will ...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 10, 2011, 6:01 pm
Rue Oberkampf is an ordinary street in the 11th arrondissement, which during the 18th and 19th century developed with a lot of small industries and was inhabited by their workers. Today, there is an architectural and social mix, with some old, disappearing activities, some popular bars and restaur...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 6, 2011, 6:01 pm
Some four years ago, I very briefly mentioned the what is mostly referred to as the Saint-Paul Church, but where the full name should be the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church, in a post. Last week I had the opportunity to make a closer visit, together with someone who also could open the gates to the...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jul 3, 2011, 6:01 pm
Sorry... this is perhaps not a typical Paris subject, but at least the photos were taken in the Batignolles-Clichy Park, close to my home. There were a lot of bees around and I wanted to get a nice photo of at least one. It seems today that insects have a better life in cities than on the countrysid...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 29, 2011, 6:01 pm
I already posted about the Luxembourg Gardens, a long time ago (see here), but passing by the other day, I thought that the Medici Fountain was worth a new and specific post. It dates from about 1630 and was created on the initiative of Maria de’ Medici, the widow of King Henry IV, regent of the ...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 26, 2011, 6:01 pm
There is so much going on with Street Art at present, so I have (the pleasure) to make another report! For the first time, a “Street Art Paris” market took place last week (June 20-22), occupying the Place Saint Sulpice, in front of the church (see previous post), which recently has got its seco...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 22, 2011, 6:01 pm
The “Fête de la Musique” was organised for the first time in France in 1982. It is now celebrated in more than 100 countries. It takes place June 21, summer solstice. So, this year for the 30th time. It brings out large crowds, especially in the evening hours and if the weather is correct. This...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 22, 2011, 12:34 pm
I was preparing my future post. I can't upload any photos. Am I the only one?
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 19, 2011, 6:01 pm
There are a lot of Street Art (see previous posts) activities going on at present. The Street Artists get more and more support from the City, from galleries… One City sponsored (4th arrondissement) event was the spectacular enormous self-portrait (world's largest?) by “Jef Aerosol”, coverin...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 15, 2011, 6:01 pm
I already posted about Place de la Bastille and the Bastille prison, tried to describe what it looked like, where it stood until it was attacked July 14th, 1789, what remains…. It took about a year, to have it completely demolished. It was then decided to make an open place here, celebrating liber...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 12, 2011, 6:01 pm
In my preceding post I promised to come back with a new visit to what used to be the Saint-Martin-in-the Fields (Saint-Martin-aux-Champs) Abbey with origins well before the year 1000. I already posted about the “Arts et Métiers” museum, which today occupies part of what used to be the abbey. Th...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 8, 2011, 6:01 pm
As you may have seen in a previous post about Rue Saint Denis, there are a lot of passages, galleries. I we take a walk through the Passage de Ponceau, which has been there since 1826…… we will arrive on Square Emile Chautemps, and if we cross this square, we will arrive at “Arts et Metiers”...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 5, 2011, 6:01 pm
Under the metro station Palais Royal, with its very special entrance design ... ... there is a corridor linking metro lines 1 and 7. This is where you for a couple of months can find an exhibition about “recycling”. I had to take my photos through reflecting windows, but I feel that there were...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Jun 1, 2011, 6:01 pm
I was invited to make a tour of the ”Jardins des Champs Elysées”, guided by a horticultural expert from the City of Paris. I was impressed by his knowledge, not only of trees and plants, but also about history in general and of course also about this park. I already made a post about these Gard...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 29, 2011, 6:01 pm
I have already made a post about the Grand Palais, built for the World’s Fair (Exposition Universelle) 1900. The building is large and proposes several exhibitions simultaneously, a few of them in the nave, under the fantastic glass and iron roof. The one that takes place at present (until June 23...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 26, 2011, 6:01 pm
I took these photos in the “new park”, Clichy-Batignolles, close to where I live, a recent park which somehow has replaced what could have been the Olympic Village in 2012, if London hadn’t got the games! I talked more about this park in a post some two years ago.
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 22, 2011, 6:02 pm
I had no intention to post about Palais Royal again; I have already done it a number of times as well on this blog as on my previous one. My intention was to visit what may be considered as the first “skyscraper” in Paris, situated just behind the Palais Royal. But… I could not resist against ...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 22, 2011, 6:01 pm
The building you see below, just behind Palais Royal, was constructed around 1780 with, for those days, some exceptional 9 stores. Inside there is a double-helix staircase, meaning that each level can be reached by using one or the other of the superimposed stairs. This was obviously helpful as it s...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 18, 2011, 6:01 pm
There are still a few herbalists’ shops around in Paris. This one has kept its original charm from 1880. Some 900 plants, herbs, mixtures... are available + I guess some special and individual variations. I have not been a fan until know, but the professional service by real pharmacists gave me t...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 15, 2011, 6:01 pm
Referring to the previous post about Grenelle, my intention was not really to show a church again, but this one is so different. It is called Saint-Léon and was built 1924-33, in concrete, covered by brick. Both the exterior and the interior are in a for those days typical art deco style.The origin...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 11, 2011, 6:01 pm
I don't know hat happened, but this post was published May 12, got some comments, disappeared, lost its comments... Now published again, May 13 late. I noticed that after some four years of blogging about Paris, I had not yet published anything about this part of the 15th arrondissement, referred to...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 8, 2011, 6:01 pm
During a walk last week, I found all these old legendary Citroën 2CV cars parked outside a hotel … and also some of the drivers. I had seen a few of them around in the city now and then, but not this concentration. I looked up the site. It looks like a nice way to visit the city. A long time ag...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 4, 2011, 6:01 pm
In the previous post about Avenue de Breteuil, I “promised” to revert with a post about the Saint-François-Xavier Church, so here it is. Not so much to say about this church, which is fairly new, “only” about 150 years old. I would say that it’s another example of a type of churches buil...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - May 1, 2011, 6:01 pm
If you thought I had finished with the Montmartre Cemetery, you are wrong. I have still more in stock. :-) This time it’s about some specific, spectacular, tombs, rather than about personalities. The first one was erected for one (or two?) families: Delamare-Bichsel . I have not been able to find...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Apr 27, 2011, 6:01 pm
Behind, south of, the Invalides is a long park-like avenue, Avenue de Breteuil. Let’s start from the middle, at Place de Breteuil. From here we can see the Invalides (see previous post), the Eiffel Tower (see previous posts), the Tour Montparnasse (see previous posts) … and a monument honouring...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Apr 24, 2011, 6:01 pm
Today, just some Best - somewhat delayed - Easter wishes from “my” park. Still summer weather here! From what I can guess, the little bird on the top photo can hardly have been out of the egg for long; still not "clean". As usual, there were a lot of birds around. Some had thus got their kids.I...
Comment - Like

Peter O. posted an article on Peter's Paris - Apr 21, 2011, 6:01 pm
Rue Royale in its more or less present shape was with its buildings created between around 1760 and 1785. It has changed names with the history, from Rue Royale des Tuileries, to Rue de la Révolution, Rue Royale Saint Honoré, Rue de la Concorde. Since 1814 it’s just Rue Royale. There are two pas...
Comment - Like