Did I ever mention that Paris is my favorite city place in the world? I guess that might be obvious. I lived there for about five years many years several decades ago, and I've never gotten over it. Walt and I have spent innumerable vacations in Paris, just wandering the streets — enjoying the sights and atmosphere. Here are some photos of one neighborhood where I've ended up spending a significant amount of time over the years.
The elevated métro line is the one that runs from Nation to Etoile through Montparnasse.
The beautiful building with the green dome at the corner is easy to pick out, even from the top of the Tour Montparnasse.
It's amazing how the apartment buildings are all packed together. It's like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
I would love to see into some of these windows and know what the different apartments are like inside.
How do the taggers manage to get up here and make their mark on such high walls?
At least one friend who reads this blog will recognize this neighborhood immediately...
I'm not sure, but it looks familiar!
ReplyDeleteDedfinitely great city but overpopulated and crowded. I prefer London.
ReplyDeleteHave you been to Paris? People who know both London and Paris tell me that Paris is a much more pleasant city to walk around in.
DeleteWalking all over Paris is like walking through a Museum. There is never a shortage of sights to see, beauty of all sorts and music and tastes .. London is wonderful, my grandparents were born there, I love it. But you just can't beat the beauty of the city of Paris.
DeleteLondon seems so much more crowded than Paris nowadays. The two cities are quite different. London reminds me of NYC and Paris is just itself. I love that metro line!
ReplyDeleteI knew immediately that it was chm's neighborhood. I've rented apts there several times.
ReplyDeleteI knew it was chm's neighborhood... and I don't even know which neighborhood IS chm's neighborhood LOL. Just figured it had to be :)
ReplyDeleteI'll weigh in, too, on London vs Paris: can't compare, in my opinion. They're just very different. Those of us who love French, probably prefer Paris -- but, I, too, find Paris more pleasant to walk around in, and more old-world charming. When my husband, a non-French-speaking, Shakespeare-loving, non-traveler guy, went to both London and Paris with me, he preferred Paris... which was a big surprise to me, but a delight, too!
Paris is wonderful. Prague is nice too. Can we see chm's casa on these pics?
ReplyDeleteHow do the taggers get up there?
Watch the movie about street artist Banksy, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" and you'll see. It's a whole world. Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHJBdDSTbLw
and an extended clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0b90YppquE
Yes you can. It's just behind Jesus, the building where the shutters are closed, all the way down. Praise the FSM!
DeleteThanks chm! Yes, all hail FSM, lol.
DeleteI don't regularly comment, Walt, but I always visit and always love your photos!
ReplyDeleteParis is #1 for me. London was much better than I expected it to be, but it doesn't seem to be "lived in" - the commercial areas seem to overpower any feelings that there are residents upstairs or around the corner looking for their daily living requirements. In Paris, it does feel to me that there are many places in the various parts of the city just for that purpose - not the tourists. And that makes me feel comfortable and having the "pretend belief" that I could be there as a "regular" - not a tourist when I'm just walking down the streets, peering into the windows or having a café crème in a sidewalk café!
ReplyDeleteMary in Oregon
I'm a native Londoner, but enjoy Paris, for just the reasons Mary gives. But the problem for Paris is precisely the combination of compactness of the centre (where London spreads and sprawls, which makes room for people to get away from each other and create all sorts of different neighbourhoods and atmospheres) and pressure from people like me wanting to visit or even live there if at all possible - it starts to price ordinary people out of the market, just as has happened in London over recent decades.
ReplyDelete