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Project 365 – Week 1

In 2012, I took a break from Project 365 after running it for a couple of years – that of 2010 as a personal project known to a handful few friends, and that of 2011 hosted on this very blog itself. During the break, I found myself spending significantly less time exploring parts of Paris which I don’t yet know well, which is a shame really.

It’s time to be more pro-active again, and hopefully with Project 365, I’ll get that extra dose of motivation to be out and about, particularly when it is dark/wet/dull outside and certain neighbourhoods lie just a little far/inconvenient to reach from where I am. Instead of updating photo daily, I will do so as a weekly photo blog post. Enjoy!

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Tour Eiffel from Centre Pompidou

30 Dec: Nico was visiting us and we took the opportunity to hit Dalí retrospective at the Centre Pompidou. We took advantage of late night opening hours to avoid long queues, and while waiting to enter, we were treated to the beautiful view of Paris by night. Eiffel Tower quite easily dominated the skyline.


The belfry of Parc George-Brassens

1 Jan: It was a sunny afternoon when we left for a walk in the 14th and 15th arrondissements, starting at Parc George-Brassens. Situated on the site of former abattoirs of Vaugirard, the park today incorporated many elements that are reminders of its past, including this auction bell tower. How different this place would have been mere 40 years ago!


Rue du Montparnasse dot com

2 Jan: Christmas lightings are still everywhere, and some streets have taken to personalisation in order to promote the businesses that operate within the streets. It is good that merchants are being pro-active about protecting their interests, but ruedumontparnasse.com isn’t exactly an active portal either, which in a way defeats the purpose of such endeavour, no? On the other hand, now you know where to find the street with the most crêperies – nicknamed Little Brittany – in Paris! ;) (No, our favourite is not here…)


Panthéon and Christmas trees

3 Jan: I see the Panthéon from outside of the Luxembourg Garden nearly daily during the week, and yet it has been a while since I actually walked past in front of it. The Christmas decorations outside this grand mausoleum have been kept similar for two years in a row now. I’m curious if the same style will be evoked yet again come end of the year. We’ll see.


Fontaine Place Edmond-Rostand

4 Jan: Rue Soufflot links Place Edmond-Rostand to the Panthéon, and it is here that I normally admire the Panthéon from afar. Within the centre of the roundabout is the Fontaine du Bassin Soufflot, sculptured in 1862 by Gustave Crauk, which features a naiad and a triton, propping up a conch-shell where jets of water burst upward and outward.


Eiffel Tower in the fog

5 Jan: The weather all week, since sunny New Year’s afternoon turned rainy, has been pretty much like this – a blanket of dull and grey-white sky, with nary a touch of blue. With the temperature dropping by a few degrees, fog swoops in but today, at least it is now swallowing the Eiffel Tower whole.


Rose windows of St Denis Basilica

6 Jan: We ventured up north to St Denis to visit the royal basilica where kings and queens of France were interred. The basilica is currently under restoration, and part of the effort includes cleaning of the stained glasses from the rose windows. It is not everyday that we see a rose window that has been completed stripped, leaving only the frames to define its presence.



Category: France, Paris, Project 365

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8 scribbles & notes

  1. med says:

    hoohooo…good for u lil..this is project 365 #3? or #4?

    • Lil says:

      #3 ;)

      and it is so easy, for now, to forget that i’m on the project. a year of break managed to kill the habit of 2 years!

  2. Chloé says:

    Yay! New project :D with pictures :D
    Also, it is very very likely that next year the decorations in front of Pantheon with remain very similar. As far as I can remember, they changed once in almost twenty-ish years (no comment about the length of observation please :P)

    • Lil says:

      well, revisiting old project rather, no? ;)

      ah, and here i was, hoping they’ll change every couple of years. that’s not very interesting/creative then, is it?

    • Chloé says:

      nope, not creative at all. but recycling is good for their budget ;)

      by “new” i wasn’t commenting on the innovative aspect but the beginning aspect of the project :P

    • Lil says:

      makes sense. speaking of week i need to write up for week 3! all the snow pictures have delayed my other posts ;)

  3. Anne says:

    well that’s “traditional” ;)

    did you hear about the tradition attached to those trees? seems the students of the lycées around (Henri IV and Louis le Grand, if I remember well) were used to have a competition : the winner being the one that would steal the most trees.

    A year ago, the mairie tricked them by putting some paint at the bottom of the trees, and found them the next day…

    http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75004/dix-eleves-d-henri-iv-exclus-pour-un-vol-de-sapins-13-12-2011-1766589.php

    • Lil says:

      ah… i didn’t know that! then again there were so many trees in front of the pantheon that i don’t know how many were there in the first place, so if 3-4 got stolen, i wouldn’t have noticed.

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