If you ever find yourself crossing River Seine southward at Pont d’Austerlitz, you will see this magnificent building right ahead, surrounded by a beautiful garden. When I saw it for the first time, I wondered whose grand palatial residence could it be. But this is Paris, where real estate is at its premium, so really, who could afford to live in a place like this?

Turns out, a bunch of preserved (or models of) animals and plants. Or so I am assuming since it is the site of the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution, aka the Natural History Museum of Paris, and other NHMs that I’ve been to tend to house items of similar vein. I still have not yet been there for a visit – I should – but I have been told by an ex-colleague in Dublin how wonderful this place is. Certainly, the setting from the exterior has been charming. Now it remains how captivated I would be when I venture in one day.

It’s time for tennis fever around here, with French Open currently taking place at Roland Garros. The festivities around the event must also be celebrated in the city, so right outside of Hôtel de Ville, a whole tennis-centric arena has been set up. From beach tennis to games for youth to large screen that transmits live matches, on a sunny day like today, it makes an overall good day out for everyone.

Around the city, in parks where tennis courts are available for public use, they’re certainly being booked pretty solidly at the moment. In part, it’s the Roland Garros effect. On the other hand, the weather has been obliging of late so why not take advantage of the nice warm day for a few outdoor matches? The municipal tennis courts can even be booked online, at €7.50 per hour at regular rate (€55 for subscription of 10 hours of usage). At Cité U, residents seem to be able to get a monthly rate of €20 for unlimited use but the information on the website is not entirely clear (well, to me anyway – clearly I still have a long way to go in learning and using French).

Summer months in Paris bring out plenty of outdoor activities, one of them being Danse en Seine where daily, from 6pm onwards, the amphitheatres at Jardin Tino Rossi are occupied by dancers and spectators alike. And everyone’s welcomed to join in and wiggle along. From salsa to tango to rock, this spells FUN to me even if I chickened out from taking part today. What can I say? It has been a loooong time since I last danced properly, so I was feeling shy about it. Besides, I was out on a photowalk and not exactly in proper shoes for dancing. I didn’t expect them to be there, since it was only mid-afternoon at that stage.

Four couples were dancing to some pretty pop tunes but well-adapted to salsa dancing with the beats of one-two-three, five-six-seven. This pair were the best among them – with the guy leading very well and the girl dancing so very elegantly. I would be so lucky if I can do a fraction of what she did. They made all the steps and moves seemed so effortless. Anyway, next time I head out there again, I am going to join in. Wish me luck!

So I was meeting Anne in the Marais yesterday. However, as I arrived early in the area, I decided to walk about randomly (like I always do). Somewhere along the route, I came across Patisserie Pain de Sucre and like a siren calling out to me, I automatically walked in to the shop and cue Pavlovian conditioning – droolfest! If I could have, I would have bought one of every cake and verrine in there. But I stayed sensible, and I came out about €16 poorer in exchange for 2 verrines and a slice of Gyokuro.

The verrines have been eaten up after dinner last night, but there’s still this slice of cake left for today. Its full description reads: Biscuit madeleine à la pistache et zestes d’agrumes, crème au thé vert matcha, mousse coco, crémeux léger au thé gyokuro, feuille de chocolat au thé vert (madeleine cake of pistachio and citrus zest, cream of matcha green tea, coconut mousse, light cream of gyokuro tea, green tea chocolate leaf). I was quite sure I spotted rosemary inside one of the layers, not just decorative at the top, but I could have also mistaken something else for it. Perhaps it was green citrus peel?

Gyokuro is amazingly light to eat and it tastes fresh too, perfect as a summer day treat. It is definitely the best buy of the lot, as the verrines were just too “busy” with all the complex layers contained in teeny tiny glasses. I liked them, but not enough to want a repeat. The cake, however, I could eat a lot more of it. I should try other varieties next time I pass by.

I was highly bemused when I passed this window on rue des Francs Bourgeois that claims “Je ne suis pas inspirée” because right now, that somewhat reflects how I feel. I know I haven’t been the most diligent when it comes to maintaining this blog up-to-date at all time, and I am a tad concerned if this is a bit monotonous for you since I seem to be photographing just a lot of statues/sculptures lately.

I need fresh idea.

I don’t exactly want to fall on backup idea, which would be to photograph all the famous sights of Paris, but to try to give you a flavour of what living here is like and what I see when I travel. Of course, one way to do it would be to photograph people, but I’m still a bit wary of my skill on this aspect and for fear that it may be intrusive. What say you? Any suggestion? Or is there anything in particular you’d like to see more of?

Sainte Geneviève is the patron saint of Paris and standing really really tall on Pont de la Tournelle over River Seine is a statue of this wise and brave woman (who was said to have saved Paris from the plunders of Attila the Hun and performed numerous other miracles for the people of Paris), protecting the young Paris (depicted as a young girl here – holding a ship used by the Parisii tribe?) from all that sought to cause her harm.

This iconography is similar to the stained window of Église St-Pierre de Montmartre (photo on Flickr) which would quite ambiguously tells you it is Paris that Sainte Geneviève is looking out for. In this creation, Paris is holding Notre Dame Cathedral in her hands. Of course, note that Notre Dame wasn’t built until several decades following the death (and canonisation) of Sainte Geneviève, the representation at Pont de la Tournelle would probably be a more accurate depiction. But, what do I know? I am no historian.

While I was gallavanting around in Stockholm over the weekend, Chloé was on chocolate discovery mission. A new chocolate-tasting concept chocolatier has been found at St Germain, “between Pierre Hermé and Ladurée” (on rue Bonaparte), and wonderful friend that she is, she brought Anne and I a selection to try. Parc Montsouris seems like a good place to enjoy the last of the sunshine for the day and have chocolate tasting.

Chocolats Richart has plenty to offer but what we’ve got here are from two dégustation boxes – petits Richart Les Fruités (as the name suggests, fruity ganache filling within) and Les Hespéridés (for that fresh citrusy and extra zing of a flavour). All three of us prefer Les Hespéridés, even if we think there was a questionable (overripe) pineapple ganache in the selection. For next tasting session, I think we should get the other tasting selection, including Les Floraux (floral are usually good), Les Balsamiques (yup, balsamic!), Les Herbacés (herbs and chocolate – interesting), Les Epicés (not sure though if I’m keen on a spiced-chocolate selection) and Les Grillés (with nuts, this I can do).

Maybe I should just get a selection of all the selection. It’ll make my life easier and I get to taste ALL of them :D

I never quite get nymphs, sirens and water spirits straight. I’ve seen the terms used interchangeably in some writings, while other sources portray them as distinct creatures, albeits water/sea related. Who’s right and who’s wrong? However, I do think of nymphs and sirens as creatures with seductive nature, so I would deduce this sculpture to be a water spirit if anything. Just look at it – she’s so young and carefree!

Pont Alexandre III is undoubtedly the most elaborately decorated and opulent bridge of Paris. This water spirit is only a small component to the bridge which spans River Seine to link Les Invalides on the left bank to both Grand Palais and Petit Palais on the right bank. From gold-gilded statues to Art Nouveau lamps to bronze sculptures, this bridge is, and will always be, a wow factor to all visitors to Paris.

Ps: yup, French wiki confirmed this is a water spirit (génie).

I should really make some effort to go to the 12th, 17th and 19th arrondissements. I’ve just realised that I have not posted anything from these quarters. An oversight, yes, but they are also a teensie wee bit out of the way for me. Realistically it would be ideal for me to check them out at weekends, but as you can see, I was away last weekend (to Strasbourg) and I’ll be away again this weekend (to Stockholm). Tricky.

For today though, I’m being lazy and all you’re getting is the interior of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. And not even a particularly good shot either (sorry!). As you can see, dim light condition equals questionable crispness. Perhaps it doesn’t help either that I put the setting on like a gazillion times of zooming, but given the height of the cathedral…

Today, a quick photo, still of River Seine, but from the east end of the city. Yup, the complete other side from where I was yesterday. And like the majority of Parisian neighbourhoods close to the périphérique, there are also plenty of modern buildings here and busy quayside with various docked vessels of varying sizes. I wonder how much trades are taking place along this part of River Seine?

It has been a while since I play around with the different modes of the camera so here’s the return of the miniature. I really am not making enough effort to get to know my camera well. I’m still struggling to handle the manual mode, especially at places where it’s dark/dim or during the night. The response time is extremely slow for most part, which is something I’ve not experiences in the past with the manual mode of my previous Ixus. I can only deduce I’m doing something wrong, since there’s more control settings on this camera and in correlation, it should means I could work it better. Now, if only I know where my manual CD is.