Snow again...

So, today there was some snow.  Yesterday night it rained like crazy, however in the morning there was snow.

p.s. I probably will not write much for a while since I will be on holiday

Les vues

Les Tuileries 

L’avenue des Champs-Élysées

Le Seine et le Tour Eiffel

Bonsoir mes amis,

Here are some pictures of the views from that giant ferris wheel (Roue de Paris), which is BIG, but not as big as the London Eye or as big as the Grand Roue de Paris that they used to have 100 years ago in Paris.

You might remember my earlier posting of this being built.  It gives an excellent view of Paris. A bientôt.

In the distance you can see Sacré-Cœur and in the middle distance you can see the Opera and the Madeleine

LONDON!

The Railway Children is on a stage built on the old Eurostar platform.

They use a real steamer train in the play.

 Bonjour mes Amis,
A Young American Girl in Paris spent last weekend in LONDON.  It takes just 2 hours and 15 minutes on the Eurostar train to go to London.   I highly recommend this to anyone.  London is one of my favorite cities.  If you go soon, you can visit the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.  It is fantastic this year - much bigger.  Also, we saw the play The Railway Children.  It was put on in Waterloo Station using a real old fashioned steamer train.  More soon.  A bientot.

 

You really feel like you're flying when they speed up.

Les bouquinistes de Paris

Bonjour Mes Amies,
I just wanted to tell you about these book sellers looking over the Seine.  They have been around for over one hundred years now. They sell old books, magazines, tourist supplies, and art.  When they are not open for business, the owners close them up so they look like green boxes.  So, next time you're walking along the Seine near the Île de Cité, stop and see if you find something you like...  
à bientôt,

La Poésie - Bonjour Mes Amies, hère are 2 poems I wrote last week:

There Was Once a Lady


There was once a Lady,
And what a dress she wore!
So White, and Pure, and Perfect,
It made the men say "Lord!"


There was once a Lady,
A cold beauty, but still fun
She had children playing in her skirts
And always on the run.


Oh, there was once a Lady,
And what a dress she wore!
All the people would jump out of bed
And cry her name - SNOW!


Yes, there was once a Lady,
And what a dress she wore!

The view from my window last week.

Now the Snow is Gone


No more troops are coming.
The last clumps of snow surrender to the salt and sun.
What is left of the once powerful
Melts into puddles.




A bientôt.

Paris fun facts:

Paris Map of the Arrondisements (neighborhoods)

Nicknames:  The Snail, The City of Lights. Population: 2.2 million in the city, 11.8 million in the greater metropolitan area. Number of tourists each year: 45 million! Paris is nicknamed the “City of Light” not because of the the fancy light show on the Eiffel Tower every night, but for the   intellectual people living in the city.  Ha Ha ! Paris has more tourists than any other place in the world!

brrr...

2 December 2010- that Christmas tree is 20 meters tall!

Today it was all snow, snow, snow --

bbrrrrrr!

Here is the sapin de Noel situated in the centre of Paris - the real centre, atop the pointe zero.

Paris Movies...

I looked out my window one day and saw the paparazzi. 

Paris has been a favorite place as a setting for movies for a long time.  Here are a few English language movies set in Paris: 

• The Phantom of the Opera
• An American in Paris
• Marie Antoinette
• The Pink Panther
• Ratatouille
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• Julie and Julia
• The Aristocats
• Mr Bean's Holiday

Of course, there are many more French movies set in Paris.  If you come to Paris in the summer, you may see them filming!  For seeing movies there are lots of theatres on the Champs-Elysees where they show "VO" - version original - which means it is in English with French subtitles if the movie was filmed in English.  A bientot!

PS Snowing like crazy today.

This looked like a World War II movie - there were Nazis on the street.

Do you see Woody Allen and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy?

Nuit Blanche Paris 2010

This was a couple of months ago, but it's annual.

The art installation on the bridge between l'Ile de Cite and l'Ile Saint Louis

Art installation at the town hall for the 4th Arrondisment

 Bonjour mes amis, ça va? 
La Nuit Blanche (the white night) was a couple of months ago, but I thought I would write about it anyway because you might want to catch it in 2011.
La Nuit Blanche is an art exhibition that lasts all night and consists of dozens of installations.  Some of them take weeks to build - just for 12 hours of display.  Some are really crazy and cool.  Here are a few pics:

Paris City Hall - Hotel de Ville

Every year the crowds get bigger - it's an all night party in Paris.

Marché Aux Fleurs et Aux Oiseaux de Paris

Birds!

Bonjour mes amies!
Sunday on L’île de la Cité means birds.
Every Sunday instead of the flower market like usual, the market is packed with birds and other small creatures like rabbits, fish, and other rodents.  You should visit.  It's easy to find, just next to the Cite metro stop on the 4 line.  


P.S. We bought our christmas tree!

You can buy a chicken if you want to have fresh eggs delivered to your home.

Do you think this bird food seller is tasting his own wares?

These bunnies are so cuddly!

Lots of parrots

Every size of cage available

Pont de L'Archivêché - Love Locks...

Love locks on the bridge.

This blog will be about the love locks that look out over  the river Seine.

On a few bridges in Paris it is a common thing to hook a lock onto on of the metal rods on the fence on the bridge.
This lock represents the love you share with your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend (in French you say "petit ami" = little friend).

The tradition is that after you attach your lock to the bridge, you throw the key over the railing into the Seine to represent your eternal love.

Most people scratch or engrave  their names onto their lock.  Some people tie a tissue or a rubber band or anything that they feel like because they don't have a lock (or maybe their relationship isn't quite so eternal?).

FOREVER - they must have tossed the key in the Seine

View from the Pont de L'Archivêché

First snow!!!!!!!!!

Today the coolest thing happened; it snowed !
Unfortunately, the snow did not stick to the ground, so it felt more like rain, but it did arouse excitement in most people.  The only downside was that the RER (the train) was not working.


It was cooold.

Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort, partie 1

French poster for Harry Potter

Harry Potter!!  This afternoon, I saw HARRY POTTER 7 - part one.  It was soooooo awesome, but sort of heart breaking.  Unfortunately, they cut out a bit, but at least they got the concept of the story.  In part one, they introduce lots of new characters.  However it is mainly just the three friends: Hermione, Ron, and, of course, Harry on the screen.  Well, I don't want to give away too much of the story -- so bye for now. 

p.s  You should really check it out.   

In Paris, there are some Harry Potter references if you look...

Paris Ice Sculptures

Ice Atlas

At the Christmas market at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées, there is a enormous temporary building full of ice sculptures.  We decided to have a look.  There was a long queue, and the exhibition was crowded, but it had quite impressive ice sculptures - everything from life-sized gladiators fighting inside an ice colosseum to animals, and at the end, there was an ice bar.  I admit it was -6 degrees in there, and my gloves could not warm me as much as I had hoped.  My favorite thing was the ice slide - reserved for kids of course!

Frozen animals

Gladiators at the Collesium

Mont Saint Michel

Grenadier Guard

St Stephen's Tower

FREEZING!!

Ice bar

Ice Dragon

Marché de Noël – les Champs-Élysées

Ahhhh christmas, I love christmas.  On Saturday, we went to the first night of the Christmas market.  In the market they have everything from guns and knifes to candles and candy to christmas decor, and a roller coaster was also thrown in.  Apart from the fact that my fingers were turning into ice cubes and it was so crowded that I could barely take a photo, it was a great night!