The Mairie of Paris organises a number of exhibitions every year, housed within the Hôtel de Ville. They are often interesting, and it shows, given the long queues to visit the exhibits. An hour or so of waiting is not unusual. I have, in the past, explored a number of exhibitions, including one of Petit Nicolas. (Don’t know who Petit Nicolas is? Check the Wiki.) Needless to say, I enjoyed them very much.

Two exhibitions are running at the moment, one of which I saw last week – Paris: at the time of the Impressionists. The collection came from Musée d’Orsay (possibly my favourite museum in the city – yes, more than Louvre) and have not often been on display, so it’s a gem to behold even if the number of exhibits are limited. So much so that I bought postcards to some of these masterpieces.

The exhibition runs from 12 April to 30 July 2011, and opens daily from 10am to 7pm (last admission 6.15pm) except Sunday and public holidays. Entry is free.

I did something bold today. Sort of. I was out on a photowalk to celebrate Friday and around sunset, on passing the quay, I thought this couple would make perfect subject for photo of the day. I approached them to ask if it’ll be ok for me to grab a shot. Much to my delight, they ok’ed it, wheeeee. (OK, I know this is probably no big deal to a lot of people but it’s major for me – I hate intruding on others.)

While the couple were friendly and cheerfully agreed, I noticed the girl being a tad camera-shy and my doubts started creeping in. The guy, well, he was happy to show-off the romance that they’ve got. So in my hurry (feeding off my anxiety) this is the best I manage to photograph them. I wish I’ve taken a bit more time and composed the photo better. Well, it’s a learning experience anyway. Hopefully next time I’ll fare better than this? ;)

When the day is long and warm, a lovely little treat is to get a cone of ice cream/ sorbet and enjoy it while taking a stroll along the quay of River Seine. One of the most famous gelateries in the city is Berthillon on rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile, which I drop by every so often. I loooove their parfum caramel au beurre salé.

Precisely because they’re famous, a large number of “agents” selling Berthillon’s ice cream have mushroomed on Ile-St-Louis, offering more than one location to scout for Berthillon’s goodies. It is particularly handy on an evening like today, when the real deal has closed for the day when we arrived. A few doors away, there you go, an agent of Berthillon’s best. :)

Ps: a delicious alternative to Berthillon is Pozzetto near St Paul – if I am on ice-cream trip with Anne, you’ll always catch us queueing there instead.

Only in Paris – legalised art squat.

Just over a decade ago, artists began to squat at 59 rue de Rivoli, a dilapidated former building of Credit Lyonnais. What flourished next was a series of colourful installations at the façade of the street, attracting attentions aplenty and drawing admirers of free expressions of arts. It really is impossible to miss this building if you’re going down rue de Rivoli.

When the building was declared dangerous in mid-2000s, it was thanks to the support of fans as well as the media that the building, instead of simply being shut down, underwent a restoration process that would take approximately three years (between 2006 and 2009) to complete. Its reopening saw legalisation of the premises as free home to resident artists and the birth of 59Rivoli.org, its doors open to visitors without admission charges. It’s a dynamic art house with works at various stages, from inception to finalised pieces.

In history, a chevalier would never go without his trusty steed, usually a beauty with incomparable loyalty. Or so the romance novels had me believe. It is no wonder then, statues of men who are deemed leaders and heroes are normally depicted on the horseback, sword-yielding and all. Even the word chevalier itself, used to mean a knight, is of French origin with its root lies in the word cheval, i.e. horse.

Adjacent to the Hôtel de Ville, the statue of Étienne Marcel looking out to River Seine can hardly be missed. Looking from the side, it looks almost mundane but looking up from underneath, it always strikes me how magnificent the horse looks, and in part, rather menacing too. I have never felt the urge to look at sculptures this way (there are a lot of equestrian statues in Paris) but perhaps it’s the nature of this particular one which juts out over the footpath – it opens up an accidental opportunity to see the statue differently?

The area around Forum Les Halles is under some reconstruction works at the moment. Colourful boards have been put up to cover the garden and the buildings, although shopping, at least for now, continue as usual with the few still accessible door opens to shoppers. Unsurprisingly, a good few of the shops are now running sales to work away their stocks before upcoming temporary closure to facilitate the works.

I arrived at Forum Les Halles a little late in the day to do any shopping (not that that was my intent, but I should come back to check out the bargains) but happily for me, not too late to grab this shot of metallic refraction of the sun at the end of a warm evening. We have been in luck of late with the weather – warm, bright and sunny – it feels more summer than spring! :D

Ps: ok, the shot could have been better if the light actually bounced against the Art Nouveau grille instead of the portakabin from the reconstruction works. Oh well…