| Paris photos - part three |
[Jun. 8th, 2009|09:36 am] |
If you've been following my photo-travelogue around the greater Europe, you'll know that we are currently in Paris...but not for much longer. Just a few more photos, and then we'll be getting the train to Berlin.
So let's go for one last stroll around Paris. Here's Andi and me, in a wardrobe mirror somewhere in Montmartre. This is an ART shot, by the way:
And then down this picturesque stepped street. This is the kind of location which in the UK would be full of holiday cottages and/or retirement flats for the well-heeled. In Paris, it seems that ordinary people live regular lives even in the most pretty areas, which is rather encouraging, really. There's a school behind the grey door on the left:
I stood and watched this place for ages, but I didn't see it spin round once:
And this one seemed perfectly straight to me:
Election poster for the Esperanto party. I don't know how they fared in the European elections the other day, but something tells me they didn't exactly sweep the board. You know you haven't got a wide supporter-base when your posters extolling the benefits of Esperanto have to be written in French:
Paris street sweepers use witches' brooms with flouresecent green bristles, thus making them look like a cross between ravers and characters out of a Harry Potter book. I understand that if you know the right spell, you get to fly home on your broom at the end of the day:
Someone should tell the Académie française that there is apparently no word in French for dirty movies. I'm sure they could come up with something a bit moire elegant than 'Films hards':
At a time when Europe in general seems to be gripped by the notion that if in doubt, vote for the loony right, it's nice to see someone going the other way. This organisation promotes equality between humans and non-humans. Good for them, but I think it'll be an uphill struggle. Too many people still can't get their heads round equality between humans:
And now it's time to catch the Berlin train from the Gare de l'Est, which we see here from our hotel window. Handy travel tip: avoid oh-no-we-can't-find-the-station misery by booking a hotel right opposite:
And this is why I personally have no hesitation in recommending the Holiday Inn Gare de l'Est for your stay in Paris. Guests are provided with two - count 'em, two - types of bog roll. On the right, quilted baby soft. On the left, rough as a badger's arse. This illustrates that fine old French proverb: in France, there are three things a gentleman will never rush. A good meal, a good wine, and a good crap. Wise words to live by, I think we can all agree:
And now we're on the train. Next stop, Berlin. I will leave you with this photo, taken as the train speeds through the French countryside...
Ah, la belle France. You've got to love a country where the electricity pylons look like Hello Kitty. |
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| Comments: |
It's the "permanent" part of "films hard" that worries me!
It's easy to enter the cinema but hugely embarrassing to leave...
Some really nice photos! reminds me of when I went with my girlfriend back in feb. Paris is a lovely place
Well done on spotting that Esperanto advert - in French. I know that this little part gathered 25.259 votes in the 2004 European elections. I don't know how they did this time.
I hope you’ll let me provide some testimony as to the value of Esperanto. I have used it on my travels for many years, and it has enriched my time spent in countries whose languages I do not know. I have made occasional unplanned meetings with Esperanto-speakers, but I usually make contact using a network of local representatives provided by the Universala Esperanto-Asocio, based in Rotterdam. I’ve also made use of Pasporta Servo, a service providing free accommodation to Esperanto-speakers.
Like these French people I do see the need for a international language. If you learn Indonesian, you are lost and illiterate in Japan. Japanese is of no use to you when travelling in Germany, and so on. Life is simply to short to learn all the languages of the earth.
Esperanto does not belong to any country or ethnic group: it is a neutral, international language.
Esperanto has a very regular structure. Words are often made from many other roots, and in this way the number of words which one must memorise is made much smaller. The language is perfectly regular, and the rules of pronunciation are very simple, so that everyone knows how to pronounce a written word and vice-versa. All this make of the language relatively easy to learn and use.
There are plenty of web resources, but a good place to start is www.esperanto.net
it must be my age/past history of drunkenness, but when I saw the picturesque stepped street, my first thought was how much it would hurt to fall down them! Very cool photos as ever :-)
By co-incidence, my mum has just moved into a local retirement bungalow, in a complex, with the inviting name of Port La Salle, which looks remarkably like pic 2. The whole place reminds me of a Mediterranean holiday resort.
But how French all your photos look. Does all of Paris still look like this - or is this mainly the olde parts? It's just so unlike London.
Oh and Scraggy says - wot no plushies in the photos. He loves posing at various places. | |
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