That old rock and roll

This guy had his guitar and amp, just standing on the street corner, and really rocking out. Made a nice change from the usual accordian players. His sign in the case said " All for the music" Well the music got my 10 centimes haha.

Square St Jean XXIII

They have this small park/square just behind the church, St-Jean XXIII, that's a nice place to sit.

Out of commision

This is the place just behind the church where the pieces that fall and the very worn statues go retire from active service(ie looking pretty for the tour buses).

Doors of Notre Dame

The work that must have gone into the carvings around the doors is amazing. The doors themselves aren't bad either.

Inside Notre Dame Part 3

I'm sorry for the bad image quality of all these as well as the lack of light; it really was tough to get a decent picture in that gloom.


Upclose and personal with the organ.

Inside Notre Dame Part 2

The chandeliers that were the only other source of light(other than the windows).

Inside Notre Dame Part 1

My original plans were to visit both the Conciergerie and Sainte Chapelle, but because of the transit strike, many of the places around town are short-staffed so it was closing early today. I decided to go later on, so I went to Notre Dame to finally take a look inside. It was packed with sightseers, but was still pretty, but gloomy.

Charlemagne

A statue of the very formidable looking Charlemagne, in the square in front of Notre Dame.

Everything is in the details.

Even the lamp posts are decorated to within an inch of their lives. Not that I mind or anything.

Okay, so once again, I'm very sorry for the sporadic posting. I'm trying to get on a every other day pattern, so for example, Wednesday I'll be posting about the Ile St Louis day I'll be having tomorrow. Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment(names please, because otherwise I have no idea who's who). More soon...

Passages du 2e Part 3: Boulevard Montmartre

These early 19th century shopping passages or arcades, when they were constructed, meant new traffic free areas for shops and apartments. Beautiful as they are, the fell into disrepair, but were given a major makeover in the 70's. Now you can find a mix of little shops including a bookshop and a very cute little tearoom at the Galerie Vivienne. These are the pictures of the Passage by Boulevard Montmatre.

Passage du 2e Part 2: Louvre

These early 19th century shopping passages or arcades, when they were constructed, meant new traffic free areas for shops and apartments. Beautiful as they are, the fell into disrepair, but were given a major makeover in the 70's. Now you can find a mix of little shops including a bookshop and a very cute little tearoom at the Galerie Vivienne. These are the pictures of the Galerie Louvre.

These early 19th century shopping passages or arcades, when they were constructed, meant new traffic free areas for shops and apartments. Beautiful as they are, the fell into disrepair, but were given a major makeover in the 70's. Now you can find a mix of little shops including a bookshop and a very cute little tearoom at the Galerie Vivienne. These are the pictures of the Galerie Louvre.

Ping Pong Me

They sure do take care of the nation's entertainment. Some ping pong tables at les Halles park for anyone who's tempted to kick, Balls of Fury style.

Rue Des Bonnes Enfants

The other day I posted about the rue des Mauvais Garcons. Well here's their conterpart, the rue des Bonnes Enfants(the Good Childrens Street) in the 1er.

Unknown Fountain

This is a fountain set in a pretty circular park just opposite the library. It was just me and a few bums chilling out on the benches.

Bibliothèque Nationale de la France, Richelieu Site

This is how France does libraries. This National Library started out with the manuscripts of medieval kings. There was a law passed in 1537, and it stipulated that a copy of every book ever published in French be added to the library's already vast collection. The inside is enormous and fantastic, but the oval reading room is only open to card-bearing scholars(as I duly found out when I was schooed out by a over zealous librarian).



This is the Oval room I was kindly shown out of. The picture is bad because it was taken through a window in the door. It really is beautiful when you see it properly.

Palais de la Bourse

The Palais de le Bourse was commissioned by Napoleon, and was home to the French stock exchange from 1826 to 1987. Now the market is mainly computerized, so the Palais is reserved for the futures and the traded options markets.

Whoa here they come!

Just a few minutes after leaving the auction house, I was pushed aside as a troop of stampeding business-people all with rolling suitcases or briefcases stormed on by. There must have been a good 8 or 9 of them, all marching past in a row. It was really very funny.