Toothless Wonder

This scaredy cat has every reason to be scared, as her two young'uns are in mortal danger, as is she, from these mean fangs of death.

Although come to mention it, the sculpture's python doesn't actually have any fangs, which doesn't do his jungle cred much good.

And where can you find this dramatic scene? In my local park, where i'm preparing some special photo walks and quizzes! So which park is
it..?

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)

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Wakey, Wakey!

Wakey, Wakey!, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

A lazy, if darned early, Sunday morning at... La Cité Universitaire of
course! Did you recognise our favourite Portuguese church on the other
side of the périphérique?

Anyway, there's nothing beats a good snooze in your pushchair, or why
not slog your guts out under a rapidly rising July sun if that's what
caramelises your onions...

So i've decided: Sunday AMs from now on will be devoted to early
starts, leisurely strolls and iPhotography - could be worse i guess.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Too Old To Smoke

The area along the Canal St. Martin, and in particular from Jaurès
metro to Parc de la Villette, is rich in architectural oddities and
photographic opportunities.

In fact, the area around the Basin de la Villette is a strange mixture
of stark modernity (the Cité de la Science, for example) and
industrial relics, such as some of the bridges and the chimney in this
picture.

i liked making the lamp post look far bigger than the chimney, and the
two 'mountain peaks' of the building corner and the gutters lend a
landscape feel to the composition.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Symptom of the Universe

The world is a strange place; the universe weirder than we could ever
imagine. Despite being quite comfortable with the idea of never really
understanding how it all works, i must admit to still being unable to
fully grasp the concept of existence. If there is an outer limit to
the universe, well, then what does the external wall look like? And
what lies beyond?!

Of course, as i said, it's all vastly more complicated than that, for
us mere mortals in any case. Time and space all twisted and turned in
on itself and probabilities of reality and parallel universi and the
like - it's enough to put a bear of little brain right off his honey...

And all that brought on by a simple stroll at La Villette in the north
east of Paris. Wonders never cease.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Oohh, La Vache (Noire)!

At last - i've found her!

Grazing out the back of the 'Vache Noir' (the Black Cow) shopping centre just to the
south of Paris, she seems blissfully unaware of her fame. Here she's
nibbling on some of the Truffaut garden centre's wares, and they
generously don't seem to mind.

Unlike some of her sisters, who prefer the busier thoroughfares like
outside McDonalds or even overlooking the main entrance, Blackie shies
away from the limelight and prefers the simple life any day.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Slice Of Light

Another shot of this sombre and sobering place: the memorial to the
deportation during the 2nd world war.

i recommend that you discover it, with your camera, the next time you
have the chance.

On a day when i went out to photograph the 14th July parade and was
too late for the umpteenth time, then it started pouring... i'm
struggling for inspiration!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Beating The Bard

Ahh, good old Shakespeare and Company, where would my Latin quarter
tours be without it?

You may or may not be able to work out what's going on in this photo -
have a good look around, there's plenty!

Here are some comprehension questions to help you get the most out of
your viewing experience:

1) Where is the Bard, exactly?
2) Whats the significance of the 'picture-within-a-picture'?
3) Spot anything else particularly clever about this shot (and i
didn't set it up, i swear!)?

i'll invite the first of you to send me some good answers to 'sab (at)
parissetmefree (dot) com' to stroll around Paris shooting Parisians
together and other malarky, so what are you waiting for?!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Plus ça change... (no photo)

...plus c'est la même chose.

i'm assured that the last time i was here it was a typical Parisian
brasserie/bistrot in the vieux Paris style at Alésia in the 14th.

Well all that's changed now. It's now called 'Le Bouquet' (well ok,
that hasn't changed) and the decor has been totally revamped to
resemble a sort of... old French brasserie/bistrot kind of thing.

i'm not in the restaurant critiquing business, so i'll leave the
description of the burgers and suspiciously McDonalds-like fries
(McDonalds is right next door) to the specialists. But i will say that
the decor's pretty cool, right down to the varnish dripping down from
every corner.

i wanted this picture to show some of this inherent grunginess, but i
may have gone a bit too far...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Adios, Green Rectangle

For those of you who have been paying attention, The Curse of the Green Rectangle was lifted today...

      

      

But as someone who lives with a Spanish football fanatic, i suffered right up until the very last minutes of extra time!

And in the end it was unmitigated joy all round of course, and feverish phone calls back to Barcelona to share the joy. The fact that the scorer of the winning (and only) goal plays for Barcelona allowed the Catalonians to join in the celebrations.

Happy World Cup, and good night!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)

Empire Of The Dead

Not actually inside the famous Paris Catacombes, but a nice indication
of its proximity, written on the paving stones beneath our feet - how
appropriate...

Next floor, going down, mind your heads please!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

The King Has Come

...which just goes to show: well, two things really.

The old computer programming adage, 'rubbish in, rubbish out' (or was
it 'garbage'?), is never truer than with creative street photography.

If i hadn't worked hard to get that wonderful light flooding the
picture; if i'd chopped off his tail; if i'd let the camera (an
iPhone, remember!) underexpose like it was trying to; if there'd been
no hint of place (see the metro line?): it would have been a weaker
picture.

And the other thing this shot tells us? That if you have done your
best to avoid starting with... crap, let's say, you can perform some
small miracles these days with your (very) smart phone.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Peck On The Neck

A certain Claude Maréchal apparently spent three years working on this
splendid mosaic which greatly livens up... well, do you know where?!

i think it's called the 'Chantecler', which sounds like a made up word
to me - hang on, i'll check...

OK, i'm back, and having discovered tangentially that 'Chantecler' is,
variously, the name of a campsite, a garden, a dramatic poem and a
blog, i finally discover that it is also, and quite probably
originally, a type of chicken, normally white.

Now, i do feel rather justified in researching this topic in depth, if
that's what a quick Google search can be called, as judging by M.
Maréchal's work you might be forgiven for thinking that a 'chantecler'
was, in fact, a peacock. In any case, i'm sure there's a perfectly
rational explication behind all this, it's a lovely name (translating
as something like 'sweet songbird' -ish) and it looks like that chap's
going to get a rather sharp peck on the back of the neck if he doesn't
watch out!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Boat On The River

Boat On The River, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

'Take me back to my boat on the river' sang Styx a long time ago now
and since then i've often had reason to appreciate the gentle flow of
a peaceful stretch of water.

i even lived on a barge on the Seine for a year, where the scene from
my window looked like a Renoir so i speak from experience!

This was taken right in the middle of Paris, probably from Pont Neuf
looking towards Pont des Arts at sunset, and taking me back to river
days gone by.

Look, i've even found an old poem or two...

www.parissetmefree.com/poetry/1997/rush_hour.htm

www.parissetmefree.com/poetry/2000/back_to_the_river.htm

www.parissetmefree.com/poetry/2005/bridge_girl.htm

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Miles of Smiles

Miles of Smiles, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Thought i'd show you just how wonderful my photo tour and lesson
clients really are!

This is Carolyne from... guess? Australia, that's right- Queensland to
be precise! We spent a great afternoon-evening wandering along the
waterways of the city looking to create extraordinary images from
everyday scenes. If you look carefully you can see the reflection of a
typical Parisian building in her big ol' lens.

I won't mention the name of her camera or my sponsors will get upset,
but it begins with '5' and ends with 'D' and lets her blast Parisians
bigtime!

Me, i'm totally happy with my Nikon (and my iPhone, for that matter)
but people who get all snobbish about brands just make me laugh.
Personally, i don't care what 'camera' took the shot; i want to see
the pictures at the end.

Cameras don't take photos anyway; people do. And people make them
too. The lens that took the above pic only measures three or four
millimetres across but that smile could span continents...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Curse of the Green Rectangle

Curse of the Green Rectangle, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Whether George's hole-in-the-wall Café is a café or a private club is
a bit difficult to work out, but whatever the truth one thing is for
sure: they haven't escaped the curse of the dreaded Green Rectangle.

Few are those establishments which have managed to resist this modern
day plague. Many innocent people have already succumbed to the
humiliating effects of this incapacitating disease. Victims are
incited to swallow large quantities of poison whilst shouting and
making twisted facial expressions when the little Running Men who live
in the Green Rectangle hit the little White Thing with their feet.

It's not clear what the White Thing has done to incur such wrath, but
there it is: the unpredictable and terrible effects of the dreaded
Green Rectange...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Sab Moon Rising

Sab Moon Rising, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

A typical Parisian indie scene, you may be thinking, and how right
you'd be! Only that... hey, what's the strange moon-like shape rising
above the elegant 5th arrondissement building basking in the sun?

Well, it looks a bit like the moon, but since when did the moon sprout
hairs and hint at wrinkles in the late French afternoon? And is that
some sort of... nose, just under the middle chimney?

OK, i'll come clean folks; it's an escapee from the My Mystic Me
blog where i amuse myself by creating weird self portraits along the
meanders and contours of this life. Sorry, it won't happen again.

P.S. For two alternative and even weirder versions of this photo see here and here.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Suburban Safari

Suburban Safari, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Eccentrics? In Paris?? Nahwww, never seen one in all these years...

Hmmm, ok, just one or two. This guy seems to have taken a wrong turn
at Timbuktu and ended up wandering around the trendy and distinctly
safari-lacking 5th arrondissement of Paris (unless you want to include
my 'Photo Safaris' but you probably don't).

Hey, i could kid you on that that's me standing guarding my trusty
bush-whacking machine and that we'd tear through the rues and
boulevards, powerful shooters slung nonchalantly around our necks, the
sweet smell of a City traffic jam in our nostrils as we take pot-shots
at unsuspecting tourists and locals alike. But then again it wouldn't
be true, well, not exactly...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Maison Médiévale

Maison Médiévale, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Modest little dwelling, many period features, own roof and doors
(mostly), only 1372 careful tenants, at least five rooms guaranteed
virtually ghost-free.

A must-see in the heart of Paris' historic Marais district, gays and
Jews (or, indeed, gay Jews) will feel right at home. Apply within...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Comportments of Reverence

Comportments of Reverence, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The sobering monument to the deportation of 'undesirables' during
WWII, tucked away on the end of Ile de la Cité, is not every visitor's
first stop on the tourist trail.

For those who do come on purpose, or stumble across it by accident,
though, it's a moving experience.

i got shhushhed by someone for whispering some of the background to my
photo tour friend by an indignant visitor, and i must admit it said
'silence' so they were right.

Hopefully i convey some of my reverence through my images, if not my
comportment.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

_otes from a _obody

_otes from a _obody, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

This is one of my favourite parts of the Shakespeare & Company
bookshop, just at the top of the stairs looking through the passage
where Fred the typewriter with the (if i remember correctly) 'n's
missing lives, to the legendary library where so many famous prosists
and poets have composed and proposed selections of their work to eager
listeners.

i used to run photo appreciations in that far room and was even
inspired to write a Shakespeare and Company poem! i keep meaning to
stick it up on a wall in some nook or cranny, and see if anyone
notices...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Misty Green And Blue

Misty Green And Blue, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Henri Skywalker... what the..? Oh, it's just the latest nutty artist
who has been allowed to have a bit of fun with a national landmark.

In this case it's the statue of Henri IV, aka 'Le Vert Galant', on the
Pont Neuf, which he helped construct during his reign.

The 'Galant Green One' was his nickname, apparently due to his
gentlemanly behaviour (at least in public) towards the ladies, as well
as a certain green tint due probably to doubtful substances he was
fond of imbibing.

And now, for a moment at least, he has regained something of his
former power, thanks to his funky blue light sabre and special
impenetrable light box! Darth Vader must be, well.., green with envy!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Dinosnacks

Dinosnacks, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Like, noooo, of COURSE we can't see you, with your head hidden in the
undergrowth, wouldn't have a clue anything strange was foraging in the
bushes of the Jardin des Plantes if it weren't for the slight swaying
of the ferns and a certain odour of prehistoric sulphur in the air...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Marrow Out Of Life

Marrow Out Of Life, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

This is another pic from the little triangle in front of the fountain
at St. Michel in the centre of Paris.

It's the day i found these religious people protesting against
abortion. The caption under the gory dismembered limbs says 'Abortion
by aspiration' (sucking out).

Well, i reckon we're all against it really, it's just that some people
make use of the law which says that abortion is ok in some cases. And
some people don't like that. And so they protest.

i guess i admire that in the end.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Bjork, Eat Your Heart Out

Bjork, Eat Your Heart Out, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The ad in my local Paris train station reads 'Yesterday, in Iceland', and shows a breath-taking scene of towering walls of ice surrounding an eerily placid lake or sea, with a lone kayaker peacefully paddling through it all. Serenity on a grand scale indeed.

The follow-up text informs us that 'L'Islande est plus vivante que jamais' (Iceland is livelier than ever) and that this is the ideal moment to discover it.

Perhaps because planes are not currently grounded across the best part of Europe, the Middle East and North America...

i can't help but wonder how much reflection went into the line 'L'Islande est plus vivante que jamais', given the utter chaos and misery recently caused by one of its liveliest and most notorious inhabitants, a fiery chick who goes by the catchy name of Eyjafjallajökull (Bjork eat your heart out).

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)

Face Yourself

Face Yourself, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

As Paris explodes into sound with its annual midsummer night's 'Fête
de la Musique', and the obscenely overpaid French football kickers
throw temper tantrums, i thought i'd post a picture of... a wall.

Anything to block out all this madness, and a very nice wall it is
too, i might add.

Typical of one of those ephemeral works which crop up all the time on
the slopes of Montmartre, it's difficult to know who did it, or when,
or how long it will last before it in its turn is slowly altered,
defaced, and eventually replaced with something else. But we've got
the photo!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Kangarats

Kangarats, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The Paris rodent problem is getting worse by the day, and the
authorities seem to be simply pretending it doesn't exist. Mustn't
hurt the tourist business now, must we?

Just look at this nest of them i came across, blatantly feeding in
broad daylight, right in the middle of the Jardin des Plantes, for
goodness' sake!

Compare them to the pigeons and you'll soon see just how big the
problem is. It's like something out of a James Herbert horror novel!

So i'm sending out a heartfelt plea: if you love Paris as much as i
do, then let's all jump to it and sort this out for once and for all.
Before the whole city goes hopping mad!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Tricks an' Graphics

Tricks an' Graphics, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

i love cheating - he he!

OK... Paris isn't really this chocolate box cutesy, and sometimes it's
- dare i say it - downright grey!

But with a bit of a poet's imagination and a couple of tricks we can
pretend things ARE always as perfect as we'd like them to be. Can't we?

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Another Day In Paridise

Another Day In Paridise, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

I live on Line B of the Paris 'high speed' RER rail network, which
theoretically traverses the city in record time.

Except when it doesn't. You see, Line B of the RER is a pain in the
neck.

Practically every day points failures vie with people falling on the
line, (if it isn't striking agents or serious accidents) to make the
average commuter's life a misery. And if you suffer from violent
claustrophobia / nausia when shoved up against someone stinking of
yesterday's booze or today's fags, the experience just gets better and
better, as you can imagine... (nice to have a good whinge from time to
tome, isn't it?)

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Kicking The Habit

Kicking The Habit, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The boot gets the upper hand in the plague of Paris.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Lazy Seine Bathers

Lazy Seine Bathers, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

i practically tore myself in four trying to decide which version of
this shot to publish here!

So it is with a certain angst-ridden pleasure that i offer you the
lazy Seine bathers (not really bathing at all, of course) here today.

In fact it was a balmy early summer evening down on the banks of the
river (behind them) and this bunch were lolling and listening to some
Bob Marley wannabes doing their thing, and very pleasant it was too.
Where were you?!

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)

Born To Die

Born To Die, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

'Innocent and sentenced to death' says the poster with a scary-looking
picture of a foetus i presume.

Behind that, another points out that we have abolished the death
penalty but never before killed so many.

At Paris' favourite meeting place, there is a group of protestors
handing out leaflets and a little grey nun is on the mike chanting
prayers for our forgiveness.

From time to time a member of the public goes by shouting 'Shame on
you!'

i didn't know this sort of thing was allowed in such central public
places, and it sends a bit of a shiver down your spine, but then
again, it's supposed to.

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)