Sandwich Scrounging Sourpuss

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Sandwich Scrounging Sourpuss ~

Sandwich Scrounging Sourpuss, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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I doubt I'd have had the same problem if this charming young lady had been in attendence.

As it was it turns out I was shooting the wrong streetside sandwich display at the wrong time.

Innocent as it would seem, it appears that you can't just photograph any old refrigerated cabinet, even if it's taking up so much of the pavement it's practically in the road itself, as we were.

All I did was show my client how great a shot you could get with a super-wide angle lens from a certain position, admittedly crouched down near the sacred sandwiches when out storms Monsieur Puffychest as though we were helping ourselves to the darn things.

But I can photograph anything I like from the street, I protested. Non you can't came the reply. Why not, says I. Coz it's my shop says beady eye.

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A pointless to-and-fro ensued with much chest-puffing from the miserable fat old git protecting his damned display from my pernicious prying lens with his midrift. In the end he challenged me to try and take a shot at which point I felt the situation degenerating so I looked him up and down with a disparaging eye and a slightly shaky 'Of that? No thanks!' and off we went.

Very silly really. I'm convinced he had no right to stop us photographing his sandwiches but what's more intriguing is why he was so worried about it. Did he think we were from some ferocious competitor hell bent on stealing his hastily thought out heap-of-baguettes stacking techniques? Or maybe his ingredients were so innovative he was worried about us swiping his secret recipe for a petit jambon beure (ham and butter sandwich) in the style of Colonel Saunders. Who knows.

Now, this young lady at the HD (Hot Dog?) Diner, on the other hand, was much more accommodating. Not fat, not miserable, not old and certainly not a git. I'll leave you to decide whether she qualifies for the epithet 'puffy-chested' or not.

Anyway, she posed and she preened and gave me the most wonderful shot with a sweet smile and nary a word, so I know where I'll be taking my photos from now on. Paris and its people have many sides, as I'm being constantly reminded and I wouldn't want it any other way.

And why not...

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

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© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Walk, Don't Walk

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Walk, Don't Walk ~

Walk, Don't Walk, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Still remember the day I went back to the UK, approached a pedestrian crossing and stopped.

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In France it's basically a battle of nerves as to who will be the first to yield and let the other - car or flesh and bones - go first.

Anyway, stopped at the crossing and noticed a strange thing. A car was slowing down and then also stopped, despite there being no traffic lights of any sort.

I waited. He waited. We eyed each other warily. I then saw he was gesticulating something. An agressive display of male-to-male intimidation, no doubt. I looked closer and then it dawned on me; he wanted me to cross the road in front of him.

He's slowed down and stopped, completely voluntarily, to let me go first. Amazing. Been on the crazy capricious continent too long, it seems.

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Leaves Me Wondering

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Leaves Me Wondering ~

Leaves Me Wondering, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Although trees don't die when they shed their leaves, unless it's for the very last time, it can still leave you wondering.

Another autumn comes and goes and like Shakespeare or someone said, the autumn of our lives can creep up on us when we're least expecting it.

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At 47 I guess I should consider that I'm still basking in the summer sun, but truth be told I must be moving, perhaps more rapidly than I'd like, towards the windier phases of the cycle.

Then again I, along with a lot of people, think autumn is a wonderful season, full of colour and wisdom and reflection and I hope it will prove thus.

Here are the famous bouquinistes, the Seine-side book, magazine, poster and now tourist junk sellers I love seeing but never actually stop to browse at for some reason.

Well, all we can see of them are their battened down hatches, but during the day they are full of wonders for any literary antique hunter to marvel over.

I'll leave it at that as winter draws in once again, hoping I'll be around for a good few yet!

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

W.C. Wild Child

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ W.C. Wild Child ~

W.C. Wild Child, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Irish coffee, black and white Russians, B52s, margaritas... it doesn't matter what they look like when they go in or how much they cost... they all come out the other end pretty much the same. Hmmm.

The client I was with (from New Zealand) had one word for French toilets: disgusting. Not all, of course, but probably particularly those found in dodgy cafés, but she was lucky; the shiny aluminium receptacle this place offered was at least smooth metal and relatively gleaming. There are still plenty of tabac toilets which... aren't. That is to say there isn't a 'toilet' as such, as in the sitting kind, just a hole in the floor into which is vaguely deposited whatever matters most to you. And sometimes not.

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Turkish toilets, I think they're sometimes called and to be honest they're a bit of a hit and miss affair, in more ways than one. If you're lucky the last few people before you were roughly on target and the experience is more of a cardio workout for the thighs than anything else. If you're even luckier when you flush the thing a tidal wave of goodness knows what doesn't soak you up to the ankles.

I quite liked this one. Someone had at least gone to the trouble of decorating it in suitable style. You've gotta love the little guy peeing off the edge of what looks like the parapet of Notre Dame as he cheerfully points out the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention the modest little flower on the ladies snazzily sporting her I heart Paris t-shirt. What imagination. What ambiance. What fun!

A lot has been written about Parisian toilets, and some of it on Paris and I, so I've probably said enough. Except to give a little nod to the public toilets at Madeleine, variously referred to in tourist guides (yes!) as a 'best-kept secret', 'grand' and an 'art nouveau gem'. But that's for another time and another post - just cross your legs until then ;~S

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Three-Nostrilled Giant's Nose Picker

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Three-Nostrilled Giant's Nose Picker ~

Three-Nostrilled Giant's Nose Picker, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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I saw a stupid thing on Facebook just now. It was a grid with letters and it said something like: You will get the first 3 words U see in 2013 :). It was flouted as 'a bit of fun'.

I will 'get' Experience, Intelligence and Love, possibly in that order.

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Call me a cynic or a party-pooper, but I just can't see how this is 'fun'. I mean, it's obviously not true. Of if it is it's a coincidence. And then there's the thorny question of what is intelligence, just for starters. Some people already claim they love me. I can't see that number increasing significantly any time soon. And as for experience, it tends to come along when I'm least expecting it.

It's nonsense, of course, and possibly fun, but I get my fun in other ways. Many of them through the internet, it has to be said, but not through random word grids. Party well and truly pooped.

Now this just might be fun for a couple of you: what's this here object in this here picture then? I won't say any more - just see how many wonderfully informed people there are reading this right now. I bet it won't take long, knowing you guys. That's all. Now, wasn't that fun? And you know what? The first three guesses will come to you by internet in a very short while. I guarantee it.

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

The Naked Lady of Juvisy

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ The Naked Lady of Juvisy ~

The Naked Lady of Juvisy, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Travelling into the Big Pea, you might just happen to pass through the monster of a railway junction cum station known as Juvisy. It's horrible. Horrible station, horrible area. The RER lines C and D run through it. I'm on the C so I know what I'm talking about.

There is one redeaming feature, though, incongruous as you like.

High up on the clock tower, bold as brass and presumably chilly as monkey's, is... a naked woman. She's always there, come sun or rain, sleet or snow, and I generally always look out for her.

This shot is a huge enlargement of a much wider shot, taken through the grimy window of a moving train, possible only thanks to the super res of my spanking brand new iPhone 5, doncha know? I'll include the original along here with it so you get the broader picture.

Why she's there, I don't know. Whose idea it was... don't know that either. Designed to distract barbarous invading hoards from the south, perhaps? Or just cheer up the wearily resigned commuter on a Monday morning maybe. Don't know much really. Just know that it makes a rather grim ride in these parts a little gayer (gaier?) especially for the lads I presume.

The Naked Lady of Juvisy. Giving the Venus de Milo a run for her money any day in my books. Rail on!

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Antenatal Neurosis

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Antenatal Neurosis ~

Pre-Birth Tension, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Another one of those weird graffiti series that crops up on an increasingly regular basis these days.

It seems to be a foetus and exists in both pavement and wall stuck versions.

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Why? I don't know. I don't even know if there is a 'why'. Is it 'pro-life', maybe? Or just a crazy idea the artist had one day and ran with it.

This one seems less adaptable than some, like the face mask, jigsaw piece and octopus series, which are being produced in a myriad different incarnations. The pointy-nosed baby is always the same. It's a but frustrating actually.

Then again, there's always the argument that there's no point criticising these efforts, as at least they did it and I didn't so there so shut up already. I get that. But still...

And why not...

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

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.