Where signs go to die
We stumbled across this pile of unused street signs in a Mairie de Paris building today.
I liked the look of the little sign graveyard.
Ghosts on brick
In Montmartre today, I photographed this brick wall with faded painted advertisements. The mural is too far gone to make out anything, but I imagine a sun in the center. What shadows of Paris’ past are on this wall?
Hidden gems
I love the passages and galleries and other little alleyways between buildings in Paris. I always feel I’ve stepped into a secret little world. This photograph reinforces that feeling in every possible way for me. I took it on a whim in the Cours du Commerce Saint Andre and promptly forgot it existed. Finding it in my photos returned me to that sense of discovery.
A little illumination
I like the way this tree seems to have light caught in its branches like a spiderweb tangled in its hair. I made sure to get the Place Camille Claudel sign in there for my friend Elizabeth who is doing her dissertation on the work of Paul Claudel. Voila!
The famous Paris Metro
I enjoy the stylized Metro signs as much as any other tourist to Paris. (I wonder do the locals appreciate them the way we do?) As someone from a young country, I see them (like so much else) as a juxtaposition between the old and the new. (That’s not to say they’re that old, compared to the long history of France.) Here is a Paris Metro sign and a stoplight, viewed from the bottom of the stairs at the Duroc Metro:
The new, the old, and the ancient
Today’s highlight is a little spot on Ile Saint Louis that catches my eye every time I pass. I had a leisurely day outside today and took a picture of this spot around noon. But when I came out again at 2:30, I found the sun directly hitting it and took this (far better) picture.
This lantern, sign post, and crumbling wall can be found at the intersection of Rue de Saint-Louis-en-L’Ile and Rue des Deux Ponts, near Berthillon.
If this doesn’t make you want to come to France…
You’ve got to love the old-fashioned flourishes of this cafe sign. Enough said. (You’ll find it on the Boulevard Saint-Germain near the Maubert-Mutualite metro station, at the cafe called Le Metro.)
