Thank God For Sinners

Thank God For Sinners, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Hey, look! The two great religions of modern times coexisting happily
side by side on a Parisian pavement near you: pornography, and, err...
religion!

Difficult to know which is the best, umm, i mean worst, isn't it?

The one involves slavery of the body, the other the enslavement of the
mind.

Or is it the other way round?

One encourages sinners to keep on sinning for all it's worth; the
other... couldn't survive without sinners!

Ha, that's funny. Imagine a religion in a world without do-badders - all
the priests and preachers would be on the dole with nobody's souls to
save...

So thank God for sinners and other small mercies, eh?

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

Jeezuss B. Cummin

Jezuss B. Comin, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Well, he probably isn't if we were to be brutally honest about it, but
don't let that small detail spoil the party...

A couple or three hundred people complete with floats sporting
balloons and banners and smiling singers danced down the boulevard
Saint-Jacques last Saturday.

'Trust your lives to Jesus', they exhorted us. Unfortunately i'm
reasonably happy with its current trustee.

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

Sun and Moon Surmise

Sun and Moon Surmise, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

These sun and moon sculptures have been stuck on a piece of grass
right next to Piiisss'eds Centrale, a few streets down from the
Gare du Nord.

This is a veritable nesting place for all that's terrible about
Parisian homelessness and alcoholism. Wanna do a sociological study on
'the other side of Paris'? Let me know and i'll give you the address.

Whether there's any cute, pseudo-naive-yet-psearingly-poignant
parallel to be drawn between these crudely sketched symbols of
interplanetary significance and the bunch of dodgy drunks which
surround them i'll leave up to you. Although if the sun and the moon
could talk, i reckon they'd have a few things to teach us about
universal behaviour, and how not to do it.

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

Lovelocked Landlubbers

Lovelocked Landlubbers, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The lovers' bridge, i mean the most romantic one, you know, with the
wooden planks, and the splurging picnics and the bottles of wine and
no cars - Le Pont des Arts, that's the one - well it's developed a
strange disease over the last few years.

i would say over the last few months, but with the speed minutes turn
into weeks these days i thought i'd play safe. And that disease would
be..?

Well, these little locks, lovingly abandoned and often adorned or
scratched with a couple of lovebirds' names from here to eternity, or...

Or until the Mairie de Paris decides it's had enough of these bloody
padlocks from lovelorn losers cluttering up it's street furniture...

Personally, i hope they stay.

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

Folks, I Give You... The Famous...

Folks, I Give You... The Famous..., originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

...Eric T!

If ever there was a digital age Paris photography pioneer, Eric would
be he.

At his annual picnic we met Paris photography lovers from around the
world.

And his friendly welcome was loved by all... Vive photography; Vive
Eric's picnic: and Vive Paris!

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

The Shutter Sisters

The Shutter Sisters, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

This little lady is one of the unsung stars of the city I reckon.

Out in all weathers, unpredictable hours, and when she is called into
action the work is hard and unrelenting.

In case you hadn't realised, her job is to hold open shutters with a
clever little swivelling motion, and you can find her and her sisters
all over the city if you look out for her.

Go on, give her a wiggle if you find her unemployed and cheer her up a
bit: she's had a hard life.

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

Here Come The Nutters

Here Come The Nutters, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

Every Friday night, a bunch of nutters hurtles through the centre of
Paris with wheels attached to their feet, and it's quite an impressive
spectacle to behold, to be sure.

i've never been brave enough to take part, although i do 'blade, after
a fashion... (nothing beats, effectively, parallel skiing down the
Champs Elysées, using the tourists as slalom poles, he he ;-)

Anyway, look out for them if you're ever in the city of night around
ten in the evening - you can't miss 'em really, with their cute little
monitors all dressed in yellow blowing their cute little whistles and
shouting all over the place.

And if you catch them on a fast downhill run, like the boulevard Saint
Michel, for example... watch out for the nutters!

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