Fixing A Hole

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Fixing A Hole ~

Fixing A Hole, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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2011 seems to me to have been rather a scrappy, leaky, neither here nor there year, and yet in truth I've achieved a fair bit. I won't bore you with what that might be; if there's anything you're aware of from my efforts, consider it that.

As for new year's resolutions, I'm a past master at making and breaking them, so there's another thing I won't burden you with.

Those of you used to my irreverence won't be surprised when I say that even the cute idea of a year 'starting' (or finishing) on a given arbitrary date, whatever culture you live in (and it varies of course) always strikes me as somewhat ludicrous.

Almost as ludicrous as imagining any other species apart from ours (lions or cows, say) trading large quantities of assorted antelope body parts or part ruminated grass (respectively) for breast (or udder) implants. Gary Larson's 'Far Side' gets it dead right; what will we crazy humans dream up next?

The concept of a 'year' itself does seem to have some general validity for most of us here on earth though, whatever other wacky ideas we might have.

And it's probably useful to have these regular markers to allow us to take stock, and get back on course if need be. I'm not against it, as I'm not against any of these harmless social structures which help us to organise our lives.

I do reserve the right not to 'go crazy' at 'my' local midnight on the 31st of December in any given winter as though 'something' had actually happened or changed, which probably makes me an exceedingly boring person in many people's eyes, but there you go. I do 'go crazy' at other things though, undoubtedly just as meaningless (or exceptionally important if you prefer) as midnight at the end of relatively recent Decembers.

So to summarise, if you've made it this far, I'll be doing a lot more of this, and a fair amount less of that in 2012, and I recommend you do too. With wishes of success for you in your endeavours.

But don't worry if you've already broken this year's resolutions; remember: the next 365 days of your life 'always' starts tomorrow. And in the end, what you do tomorrow is irrelevant; it's what you do today that counts.

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Wash Cycles From Hell

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Wash Cycles From Hell ~

Wash Cycles From Hell, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Or the Interminable Runtime of the Spotless Kind, if you prefer. Maybe this is a particularly Parisian phenomenon; I really couldn't say. Having hermetically sealed off this spotless mind from all non-Parisian artistic or prosaic influences I am unable to determine the extent to which the wash cycle of the automatic Parisian pee-pods is more or less excruciatingly long than in any other modern European city.

How I've come to despise that little blue light with a loathing matched only by the battle of my bladder to hold on until that light turns green and my troubles drain away like... I'll let you choose the appropriate metaphor.

And talking of peeing and metaphors, the French have a wonderful one to describe pointlessness or futility. They say you might as well piss in a violin.

I know, it's good, isn't it? And considering my recurring blue light 'n' bladder problems, I think I'm gonna join the string section and stop whining.

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Intercellar Overdrive

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Intercellar Overdrive ~

Intercellar Overdrive, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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Who is this mysterious hunched figure in an even more curious place, you wonder. Are we in the vaults of one of the old gothic churches for which the city is so rightly famous? Maybe even the mother of them all, the legendary Notre Dame de Paris? And that hunched figure, that couldn't be... No, it's not possible... Not the... Hunchback of Notre Dame himself?!

No, just some dude like me visiting a house in the Marais, but not just any house. This particular house happens to have a 16th century gothic monastic cellar which was, would you believe it, used by 16th century monastic monks to store stuff in their Parisian pied-de-terre, or city stopping over joint. Baise-en-ville is the less polite version of that term, but they being monks we'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Their monastery was a hundred Ks out of town, but these self-sufficient souls would bring their surplus wares here to store and sell. So exceptionally well ventilated was it that there wasn't a drop of moisture, and apples would remain in perfectly good condition for a year.

I spent about ten minutes soaking up the atmosphere in this delightful but dilapidated place, currently being renovated by the Paris History association.

For our info they try to save old buildings from being lost and modern monstrosities going up all over Paris, from the grandest to the most modest.

To satisfyingly 'boucle le boucle' (buckle the belt, or complete the circle) as the French would say, I was very happy to see almost the exact same picture as this one from a recent Paris and I blog post on their wall. But coincidences are a bit like luck; they happen more often if you are open for them.

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Share A Little Warmth

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Share A Little Warmth ~

Share A Little Warmth, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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It’s a regular evening ritual for me at the moment: arrive at Bibliothèque François Mitterand around 8 or 9 pm. Realise I’ve just missed my train and have 27 minutes to wait. Have a little stroll up top eating chocolate. Head back down to the platform a few minutes before the train is due. Huddle around one of the strangely blinding heat radiating posts found on some of the platforms with a few other homesick souls checking the monitors to make sure the train hasn’t been cancelled and texting home with the latest travel updates.

It’s a funny way to spend one’s time, when you think given another life path we could be lazing on the sand somewhere next to our little bar business in the Caribbean, or rotting in a refugee camp on the Kenya-Somalia border for that matter.

All these people we spend time close to, like this woman on the train about 50 centimetres from me, her legs bracketed by mine, to whom I shall never speak, whose life story I shall never know and whose gaze my eyes may not even meet. We’re sharing the carriage jiggles, and earlier I shared the heat rays with a whole bunch of people, and of course I’m sharing the planet with you all.

Talking of planets, the Earth has discovered a ‘sister’ today, say the papers; a slightly (two and a half?) times bigger thing with the right temperature, around 22°C apparently, to support life, it being around the same distance from its sun. Unfortunately, at 600 light years from us, we 're not able to verify for certain if there is actually life on Kepler-22b, or wave at them if there is. And of course, if we could actually see someone or something waving, they would undoubtedly have been dead for an extremely long time already. Sigh.

So I'll content myself with sharing a few waves of warmth emanating from the Bibliothèque François Mitterand platform E/F heat stick coupled with the odd empathetic curse each time there's a delay announced.

I've noticed they've stopped finishing each misery report on the PA system by thanking us for our understanding, because they know we don't. Now they just say "Thank you... for listening out for more messges." Curse curse... Big Hug!

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

And Dosey Doe Your Partner

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ And Dosey Doe Your Partner ~

And Dosey Doe Your Partner, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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I don't know how many time I've titled a post or a poem 'Election Time', but I've got a queasy fealing it's more often than I should have, so I'll refrain.

But anyway, it's almost election time again here in France, and as the tone of the newspapers and TV broadcasts rises to fever pitch we can expect all manner of stupefyingly soporific speeches and assorted nonsense for the next few months. Oh to be a camel, if what they say is true, which apparently it isn't.

Anyway, I've just made the above photo No.3 in my Top 10 Paris Sidewalk Slogans (read about it here), so I won't bore you with all that stuff here, and just say: here's a photo I took a couple of nights ago in the 5th/6th arrondissements of Paris; I hope you like it.

And incitement to commit smiolence isn't one of the worst crimes out there, now is it?

(It looks like he's stealing a big box of ice-cream, no? I wonder what flavour ice-cream he chose? Given the establishment, the choice must have been excrutiatingly difficult - anyone know where it is?)

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

One Way Treat

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ One Way Treat ~

One Way Treat, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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What we see above is representative of a new trend in Parisian street, ermm, intervention, and this one in particular is in the process of becoming something of a classic, judging by the number of people who have told me about it.

The Paris city council must be despairing and praying to Their Lady Just Across The Way that this one doesn't take off, because it's so quick to do if prepared beforehand and such a pain to go around cleaning up or peeling off afterwards.

Not to mention the fact that you can still understand the sign and the public reaction is generally hugely positive. No harm done.

Most of the street sign perversions are strongly humorous or uplifting, and are a pleasant alternative to some of the less cheerful slogans or simple vandalism carried out in the name of... making a name for yourself. And more often than not they are ingeniously inventive, making use of a utilitarian support to create something new and smile-inducing.

And incitement to commit smiolence isn't one of the worst crimes out there, now is it?

(It looks like he's stealing a big box of ice-cream, no? I wonder what flavour ice-cream he chose? Given the establishment, the choice must have been excrutiatingly difficult - anyone know where it is?)

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Nailing Christmas

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Nailing Christmas ~

Nailing Christmas, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

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The fancy loopy lights of the Champs Élysées had remained a mystery to me until yesterday when I took a trip down there from Trocadero, via the Eiffel Tower.

Splendid. Very well done. In the most pointless coincidence you're likely to hear this year, the French actress Audrey Tautou, who turned them on this year (the lights), was the heroine of the Christmas video we watched when we got home, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, which features tons of Paris, although not, as far as I'm aware, the Champs Élysées.

I'm trying to think, but it might be the first time I've done such a thing on Christmas Day. It's amazing how many people had the same idea though. Thousands of them. I mean, how unoriginal. Couldn't they have stayed in and watched the... what do they have in France... the Emperor's speech or something?

Also amazing is how many people were working Christmas Day just like any other.

The Arab-run corner shops I can understand. The cheap-Indian-staffed, bargain basement supermarket chains, fair enough. The Jews don't 'do' Christmas, of course. The Chinese march to the beat of a different drum.

So who does that leave? A bunch of average people overeating and drinking (as if they needed an excuse), millions of snap-happy Japanese tourists grinning all over Lady Eiffel, not forgetting a few adults (and some innocent children) belonging to a group which occasionally gets together to celebrate the achievements of a fictional mass-murderer who massacred, notably, his own son by getting people to hammer nails through his hands and feet and leave him to rot.

Anyway. Call me a traditionalist, but it looks like I'll be sticking with Wallace & Gromit and The Snowman again this year, given that choice. Oh, and Amélie and her beloved Montmartre. How many of your favourite Paris places can you nail?

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.