I suspect this is the last of the autumn colours in the city. Everywhere else, trees seem to turn (nearly) nude overnight. From my windows, I can now look across the park to see buildings on the other side since the privacy shield provided by tree foliage is disappearing. Going out without a coat and a scarf is no longer an option, unless you’re trying to dodge work/school and therefore need to get a bad cold (or pneumonia for that matter).

It’s less than a month to Christmas but my countdown is currently to the winter solstice. The shortest day of the year. After that, with each passing day, we will see the day stretching itself longer again. Too little daylight hours is putting a real spoke into Project 365 since I’m exploring less in unknown neighbourhoods. You know what mama says about walking alone in the dark, especially when I haven’t a clue how to get out quickly from the area…

As previously planned, I have gone back to Place de la Concorde for more photos, but with a promise that they’ll look different. Today, we are getting a view towards the north, with clear image of the fountain at this public square and a couple of landmark buildings at the background.

This fountain is called Fountain of the Rivers, with allegorical figures representing rivers Rhône and Rhine, surrounding by figures alluding to wheat, grapes, flowers and fruits, the main harvests of France. The classical and majestic building behind the fountain is Hôtel de Crillon, formerly a palace but today one of the luxury hotels of Paris with its own Michelin-starred restaurant. To the right corner of the picture, you’ll see La Madeleine, a church built as inspired by Maison Carrée of Nîmes. I’ll come back to La Madeleine another day.

At the first glance, the walls of the Concorde station (for métro line 12, not 1 nor 8) seem to contain a whole bunch of decorative and alphabetised tiles, but surely that cannot be. If you take a little time though, words start to jump out, in French, but trying to make sense of it all is quite a daunting task. Without punctuations and spaces, to a non-native speaker like me, after a couple of lines, I was quite lost.

These tiles actually carry extracts from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen), a document dated back to the days of French Revolution. (Back then, however, they forgot women’s rights.) This was put in place in 1989-1991 during the renovation of the station by Françoise Schein.

Autumn colours have really bloom in the last few days. Last week when I passed this very same spot, there were speckles of orange and yellow, with a lot more green. But now, look at it, the leaves are burnt orange, ochre and golden in hues. Simply beautiful. Soon these trees would be stripped bare by nature though…

I like it how these péniches are so well lined up along the River Seine (at authorised quay sides of course), and the little touches the owners put to make them as homely as possible. In the horizon, Grand Palais looms large. It is currently hosting an exhibition of Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso… the Stein Family. Should be a good one, and I need to find time to go over.

There are some new additions to Jardin des Tuileries, but sadly they won’t be here to stay for long. It’s all in preparation for the FIAC 2011 contemporary art fair which will be running this weekend. And what’s nice about these outdoor exhibits (as opposed to those inside various museum spaces) is they’re free for all to enjoy!

While some pieces are still currently in construction (e.g. there’s a strange artichoke-like looking sculpture nearby), Moulène’s piece called Body (apparently inspired by Renault Twizy Z.E.) is already sitting pretty. With its striking colours, it’s quite hard to miss really. I’m going to make a round and see what else will be put in place.

We all could do with a little treat every so often. For some reason, I seem to fixate on the idea for a cuppa white hot chocolate at Angelina and even managed to convince Liting to come along with me. However, as we got there by about 5pm (prime hour for pastry and hot chocolate), the queue isn’t inconsiderable.

Patiently did we wait for our turn. In between, we people-watched and stole a few (creative) shots. I particularly like this one, which I had all but a small window of opportunity to photograph. Sure I wish this is a sharper shoot, but the slight blur and imperfection are, in my opinion, the elements that made this image works. What say you?

With the days getting shorter, it’s getting more and more challenging for me to do after-work photowalk. Even tougher when I have tango class to attend this evening, so back to some place I don’t have far to go – Place de la Concorde – mere 5 minutes walk or so from yesterday’s view point.

Standing in front of the Jardin des Tuileries by the gate, a few options come to mind. I definitely could come back here a few more times for very different shots. For today though, you’re getting one of the fountains at Place de la Concorde (the south Maritime Fountain) with a backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. There were too much traffic though, of else I would have shot a more inclusive photo, instead of this weird half-way cut-off, oops.

I’m beginning to believe that if you throw a coin at something in Paris, you’ll probably hit a landmark of some sort. Some more famous than the others, of course, but sometimes, even what seems to be something nondescript, could well bear a sign to tell you that someone famous used to live or do-such-and-such here.

Standing along Quai François Mitterrand and looking over the River Seine, on a large scale, it’s easy enough to spot Square du Vert-Galant, Pont Neuf, statue of King Henri IV (of France) and the dome of the Panthéon. With a navette throw in there for good measure. Could be nice with some blue sky over it though, don’t you think? Pretty please, I’d like the grey days to be over.

Alright, I’m not really interested in English classes at the moment (although goodness knows, at times, I do need grammar refreshers course of some sort). What I do need, however, would be French classes. Five months in since my move and I’m not making as much progress as I would like to, booo.

Ideally, I should attend formal classes so I would be more disciplined. Working through the odd lessons here and there by myself hasn’t been too successful an endeavour, given how I’m often putting off running through the exercises. My friends and my colleagues have been brilliant, encouraging me to converse more in French, but there’s only so much they can do to nudge me in the right direction. Bottom line is, I simply haven’t been diligent enough. Bad Lilian.

Église St Eustache at Les Halles is quite particular. Pretty, but particular. The last Gothic church built in Paris, it took over 100 years from the laying of the first stone of the current building to completion. Well, sort of. It was never completed to its full Gothic glory (hence stumpy spires found today instead of elaborately decorated ones) and during the long construction period, it also transitioned into Renaissance architecture, making it a rather unique building all in all.

This set of doors is but a small part of the cathedral which I thought is rather cool. It’s the perfect symmetry between the wooden doors and the stone walls, around a semi circular nave. I must admit to not have investigate it very closely, but from where I stand, it’s a harmonious matching that had me admiring whomever the mason who came up with this idea.