Boys with birds, Notre Dame, Paris.
In the small park opposite the Hotel de Ville, this chain-smoking gentleman brings a bag of breadcrumbs and holds them - one by one - in the air. Birds flock to him. Click photo to enlarge for detail of the two sparrows on his hand and another en route. I had only my small pocket camera with me, which is limited in capturing movement.
Local musicians on the Ile Saint-Louis.
Bicycle with child's seat near Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Jewel-tone dahlias, Ile Saint-Louis.
Art nouveau sign, corner cafe, Boulevard Saint-Germain. Notice the red geraniums in a window-box?
17th-century building with the slanted foundation and leaded windows to prove it, Ile Saint-Louis.
Courtyard entrance, Ile Saint-Louis. Standing inside the courtyard are visiting Canadian friends Anna and Glenn, with whom I had lunch and spent a lovely afternoon. You may know Anna as the delightful blogger Naturegirl. We are having dinner together later in the week and will take more photos.
Grand design.
Hearts on fire.
An empty doorway midway through renovation.
Exposed wood on the same doorway. I like the effect created by remnants of various paint colours.
Grapes on a vine, local greengrocers.
Too many choices of cheese, shot through the vitrine of the local fromagerie. My friend Karyn once lived in a bijoux apartment three stories above this cheese shop. In the summertime, the aroma wafted through the building, despite the building owner's efforts to minimise the problem.
P.S. Almost anyone who's traveled has an airline horror story. But this one's hard to beat. (Hat tip to Americablog). And now United Airlines has the nerve to consider charging passengers for food on international flights! The words hubris, greed and incompetent management come to mind.
i came directly to this post before visiting any of the other more recent to see these perfectly paris photographs for myself (julie raves about them in one of her posts:) these make me feel like i am there, with you in paris..i have never been and would love to experience what you have so eloquently captured, the streets, the park the people and the pigeons :) love to you and i am off to read the anna post you have over there on the left. it seems a wonderful place to meet up with a blogging friend. off i go!
Posted by: robin bird | 04 September 2008 at 04:33
Hi Tara, these photos are fantastic! Love the detail in them. It's been a long time since I dropped by, it's lovely to catch up with you again on such a beautiful post. Nel x
Posted by: nel | 30 August 2008 at 07:51
I absolutely adore all the glimpses into a life in Paris. So much beauty. I am over the moon for your photographs of architectural details.
Posted by: Relyn | 30 August 2008 at 01:09
wonderful selection of photos- architecture, local food and local musicians, excellent combination
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet | 29 August 2008 at 16:49
Tara it was a thrill of a lifetime to tour Paris and spend this afternoon with you! I will always remember this exciting place that has captured our hearts forever! WOW! I am impressed with the photos taken with that little camera!!
Send me the particulars...perfect for Paris walks!hugs anna and Glenn xo
Posted by: naturegirl | 29 August 2008 at 10:45
wonderful, fabulous photos!! for a few moments i was transported to paris. thank you!!! it may be time to start planning my next trip, but certainly not on united!!!!
Posted by: lucy | 28 August 2008 at 18:43
I've only been to Paris once, but your pictures capture all my memories! What a magical city!
Posted by: thrilled by the thought | 28 August 2008 at 18:05
love your Parisian pics ... always feels like i'm walking about town with you. xx, d
Posted by: JanePoet | 28 August 2008 at 16:34
Hello Tara,
This is wonderful, that you meet with Anna. Say hello to her from Ewa in Poland :)
Wonderful pictures... thanks
Posted by: EWA | 28 August 2008 at 07:13
Oh man, such yummy pictures, I'm positively drooling. The one with the grapes and fruit just made me want to run to my watercolors and paint!
Posted by: Sue | 28 August 2008 at 06:38
Thanks so much Tara.Just incredible work. Your photos of SF are inspiring me to go up next weekend and rediscover it. The pictures of Paris, well, I'm going to London in December and was looking at adding a few days in Paris before returning to California. You've convinced me to do that...now to decide which airline is best and United, well I think it's been said already..
Posted by: Lisa-Marie | 28 August 2008 at 06:13
So loving your photos of Paris...they are brilliant :)
(small camera or no, they are great)
As for the United airlines, my god, what a horrible thing. You know airlines like to do whatever conveniences them, as they know passengers have little recourse or alternatives. I think it is beyond sad that they wouldn't even write a stinking letter to help out the people they screwed over.
Airlines have been in the news lately, the crashes in Spain for example...you have to wonder if the cost of fuel has caused airlines to skimp on regular maintenance of aircraft, putting passengers in jeopardy before maintaining integrity.
Myself I don't know if I even want to fly anymore, I just don't feel safe.
xoxo
Say Hi to Anna from Canada! xoxo
Posted by: Gillian | 28 August 2008 at 05:10
Tara, I love to lose myself in your art. i know i am not alone in my escape either. : ) people flock to your blog for a reason. you're eyes see the most beautiful things.
Posted by: mrs. sarah ott | 28 August 2008 at 04:38
These are truly great photos Tara! They capture the way Paris feels and looks ( especially to me!)
The bird in flight is also charming ( and I am a bird watcher) :o)
Posted by: simon | 28 August 2008 at 00:51
Aw, Paris. Sigh. Don't even get me started on air travel these days. When the kid and I flew to Paris in the spring, they had made the seats so tight that even he (a small 100 pound skinny teenager) was squished! And, you can even fit a handbag under the seat in front of you! What??? You're lucky if you can find an overhead bin to stuff something into. It's completely nuts. NUTS, I say!
Posted by: Rosa | 28 August 2008 at 00:46
These photos are so beautiful, I can taste and smell everything as well.....mmmmmm and yum.
Posted by: Karen Cole | 27 August 2008 at 21:32
Dear DEAR Tara! You have made my hear t leap for joy as I look at an afternoon in Paris! Merci My friend.
Posted by: pam aries | 27 August 2008 at 20:47
Forget San Fran, these are the photos I love so much! That photo with the grapes is off-the-hook gorgeous! It looks pretend, like a staging! But I know it's not...that's just how Paris is. *sob*
That article about United made me ill. That poor family. What a terrible thing to happen, and what makes me saddest is that truly the airline doesn't care, won't start to care, and nothing will come of it. Accountability is not part of customer care anymore, and it seems that public outrage doesn't make an impression like it used to.
Posted by: tangobaby | 27 August 2008 at 19:45
Fly the friendly skies of United not. The skies might be friendly, but United is quote the opposite.
That's the Paris I know. Thanks for the tour. xoxo
Posted by: Colette | 27 August 2008 at 19:08
Tara, your are photos are just excellent. I love them!
Posted by: Philip | 27 August 2008 at 18:47
I love your photos Tara. Especially the ones of Paris.....
Posted by: Nancy Sotham | 27 August 2008 at 16:45
Thank you so much for taking me on a journey of a place I long to visit! Love the cheese shop, but I'm not sure I'd like to live above it! Your work so captures the feel of a city as well as its beauty -- both the obvious and the subtle, like the exposed wood!
Posted by: Jeanie | 27 August 2008 at 16:16
oh! lovely photos. i love the old doorways and wrought iron around paris - sigh, i can't wait to visit. i also love the park opposite hotel de ville, can't wait to show it to my girl. it will be much different in february, perhaps my photos will show everyone w/ coffee and hot cocoa. (-:
Posted by: kristen | 27 August 2008 at 14:50