We had a visitor this morning and it seems like it has taken to Anne. The tit first approached us when we were having breakfast in the garden, fluttering its way between Chloé, Anne and I. It flicked nervously from one spot to another, and momentarily even landed on my knees and stayed there for a few second. Oh how I wish I had my camera at that point!

Throughout the day, it has been returning every so often to trick Anne into feeding it some breadcrumbs. It is just so adorable, but the lack of bribery offerings on my part means it didn’t come very close to me, boooo. On the other hand though, it gave me opportunities to photograph it, so I guess we’re even.

This is not my first trip to Nantes. I was here once about 3 years back, on Anne’s invitation for her birthday bash. She also kindly played tour guide, showing me around the city and we even went to Les Machines de l’Ile for a (slooooow) ride on the mechanical elephant, which was really cool.

Today, I was treated to a refresher’s tour of Nantes while Anne showed off the city to the rest of the “Brainiacs”. Along the way, we passed the Église Sainte-Croix – aka Church of the Holy Cross – which once even functioned as a prison, ironic given a church’s role that usually provides sanctuary. I wish I could be up at the belfry, looking down the city as these music-playing sculptures are. The view must surely be striking.

Wheeeee… long weekend!

My friends and I left reasonably early this morning for Nantes, in an attempt to avoid heavy traffic leaving Paris given the ritualistic exodus of Parigots for destinations all over the country (and beyond?) for the 4-days weekend. For us, we’re off for a much needed quiet R&R weekend in a small village just outside of Nantes and all I anticipate doing are eating, sleeping, chit-chatting and reading. Maybe a bit of sight-seeing.

This monument at Pont Morand in Nantes is a war time commemorative memorial sculpture. In 1941, fifty hostages were captured and executed by German occupation authorities for their pro-communist and anti-fascism efforts. The monument serves as reminder of their resistance against the occupation and it is represented by an central arrow flanked by two women, allegorical for la Résistance (to the right, with a sword concealed in the folds of the cape) and la France Renaissante (to the left, holding an ear of corn).

Ps: pretty blue sky is always a good start to the weekend ;)

It is not unusual to see balconies filled with blooms of all colour in Paris, no matter the size of the balconies. If anything, they make me wishing for my own, where I can tend to a pot or two of flowers, maybe some fresh herbs like basil and rosemary and lavender… OK, OK, hang on – I actually don’t have any green fingers so the plants would die quickly enough. It’s probably a very good thing that I do not have space to grow anything.

But, this rooftop garden takes the cake. I pass rue de la Glacière on a nearly daily basis but I’ve not noticed this before. My defense is, I’m usually inside the bus and since we don’t have transparent top to the bus, you know. However, I walked home this evening and suddenly, ta-da, there it was. I do wonder, how does the owner grow such huge trees up there. Surely the root system requires a lot of anchoring to make sure they don’t ever get blown away by strong wind, which happens from time to time?

I was back walking along Port de Javel this evening. The installation of steel sculptures by Carmona are still there, so I circled around a few of them to try to take a few more pictures. I end up choosing “Brisas” (meaning breezes) for the blog upon reflecting on the weather forecast that is to come.

I’ll be away for a long weekend break in a couple of days, participating in my first pont ritual ever. The weather forecast is looking good for now but it also appears we’re due for some wind and rain by the end of the weekend. I hope that’s just erroneous forecast. I want a full, sunny long weekend. Afterall, when I was busy slaving away working during the weekends in April, every threat of thunderstorm had been met with pretty blue skies, causing a massive tug of will between being good and staying in to work, and to sit out and have a long picnic.

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?