I’m not a super smartphone kind of person. As a matter of fact, I barely know how to use my low-end smartphone. Thus, Angry Bird is something that deludes me until quite recently. And only then it’s because I’ve heard some friends talking about it, advertisements at the cinemas showing it, my brother’s everchanging avatar on Facebook from one Angry Bird to another, and through video parody (of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, no less).

Suddenly I’m seeing birds everywhere. Not necessarily Angry Birds though, such as this decor about the door of a shop at rue Tiquetonne. A branching sculpture sat above the main entrance with tens of colourful (wooden?) birds perching along the branches. These are much more adorable and friendly, but could still probably fly well when thrown at someone physically. Hmmm…

A number of métro stations in Paris are not your typical stations bombarded with advertisements and just tunnels and stairs to get places. These are known as cultural stations. At times, the cultural aspect is rather temporary but for others, they’re more permanent fixtures. My favourite so far? Arts et Métiers.

Just to put things in context, Musée des Arts et Métiers is a museum of all things scientific and inventive. It is a shame that this gem of a place is often overlooked by visitors of Paris. In 1994, during the bicentenary celebration of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, the métro station was redesigned to evoke the atmosphere of Captain Nemo’s Nautilus from “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”, a science-fiction written by Jules Verne (of “Around the World in 80 Days” fame). It’s quite a perfect tribute, don’t you agree?