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Project 365 – Week 44

It feels like we’ve suddenly plunged into winter this week. It started wet, then windy, followed by arctic chill for a couple of days, and back into wet and windy weekend. Not too much fun for my friend who was playing tourist in the city. And as if wet and windy in Paris was not bad enough, F and I headed up northwest to Brest to visit our friends at the weekend. Oh, gosh, it has been a long time since I was that soaked!

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Road sign

28 Oct: Here’s a fun fact: in Paris, while there are “no entry” sign aplenty, there is none of “stop”. Another fun fact: many of the “no entry” sign has been used as canvases for street art. I’ve started coming across “Kiss Kiss” (that’s my nickname for it) on a rather regular basis since my return from southeast Asia, so I wonder if this is the current batch of no-entry-art. Previous batches have been “The Handyman” (man carrying a bar), and “Witch Hunt” (man in the stocks).


Portrait painting

29 Oct: Montmartre is one of my favourite Parisian neighbourhoods. It’s such a shame that I don’t get to wander around its streets more often. JF gave me the perfect opportunity to show the area off, including the constantly bustling Place du Tertre. This is the place for live art actions, with dozens of artists working away, each side of the square pretty much dedicated to a particular art. There’s a side and a half for street portraits, which links on to silhouette maker/cutter, and then there are artists that work on more general paintings and nostalgic Parisian scenes. I love watching the deft strokes of the portrait artists, the lines quickly start to resemble the subject seated right next to him. They are very good at what they do!


Macaron cake

30 Oct: While walking about the Salon du Chocolat last week, JF and I tasted a bunch of chocolates along with pastries, jams, breads and candies. As we strolled leisurely over to Aoki’s stand, we saw a chef was making a version of dorayaki called macaronyaki. Basically, it’s a sandwich of sponge pancake “buns” with macaron “pattie”. No free tasting for this, however, so we ended up buying one to share. Gnom.


Petit Trianon

31 Oct: Believe it or not, in my many visits to Versailles, I’ve never made it out to the former estates of Marie-Antoinette – the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. Until today, that is. JF and I walked all the way out, basking in whatever little sunshine that we had, chatting and gossiping as we went along. The estates may lack the grandeur that is Versailles Palace but they make up for it in charm by spades. The English Garden was inviting despite the chill in the air, and it does feel a world away from that main château which one can imagine to be rather strict and too formal to really feel at ease.


Cemetery

1 Nov: The Chinese perform their filial duty on cheng beng in April, while the Christians celebrate the All Hallow’s Day on the first day of November. Flowers and wreaths are laid at the graves of departed relatives and friends, and the number of visitors traipsing in and out of the cemeteries is undoubtedly higher than the norm. In Paris (and I guess elsewhere too) certain cemeteries that are closed all year round are exceptionally open to visitors on this one particular day. Unlike the Chinese, here, there would be no offerings to the soul of the departed.


Le Conquet

2 Nov: Our little sightseeing trip in north Brittany started a little wet this morning but luckily the day cleared up to afford us some very nice cliff-side walks. One of the small towns (or is it a village?) that we visited was Le Conquet, a fishing port town with ferry connections to the islands Ouessant and Molène. Not sure though today would have been a good day to sail out; afterall strong wind = rough sea. Our stroll along the port was fairly leisurely, and as the tide filled the bay, the wind also brought the water crashing in along the sea walls. Pretty, but as the French would also say, c’est sauvage.


Kiwano

3 Nov: Most curious – kiwano. Spotted at the market in Brest this morning, I was immediately pulled towards this weirdly shaped fruit that looks like a mini watermelon but merged with thorny durian shell. I’m not even sure how to describe the cross-section of the fruit, which resembles some starburst passion fruit flesh, except thinner and in green. I regretted not buying one to try though, and this is another unusual thing to happen. Since when do I not get edible thing that piques my curiosity?!




Category: Project 365

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2 scribbles & notes

  1. med says:

    yah…u should have bought the weird fruit, cut it up, eat and write about it with photos ;) hehe…it might ‘reappear’ again and you can do that!

    • Lil says:

      i haven’t seen it in the market i normally go to, so perhaps i should search in ethnic shops or something… hmmm…

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