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Posts Tagged ‘france’

Aspirin

Sainsbury aspirin. £0.14

I popped out to buy some aspirin today. Of course, this being France, means that I have to go to a real pharmacy, queue, and wait for a pharmacist to see me. Okay, I’ve become accustomed to this system, so I don’t fight it anymore. Although I still find it a crazy system.

It’s the cost that drives me crazy. 16 aspirin in the UK cost £0.14 at the local supermarket, or about €0.18 in Euromoney. At the local pharmacy, the same 16 aspirin cost me €4.90. Or 27 times more expensive.

We enjoyed some excellent weather in Paris for Bastille Day, and took the opportunity to spend most of the day outside. We had a long walk from our place up to Concorde, then jumped in the Metro and headed out to Monmartre to spend the afternoon there, since I haven’t been there in years. It was absolutely packed with tourists, but no matter — the rest of Paris was closed for the holiday, so this is where the action was.

Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur

Crowds of tourists at Sacre Couer and Monmartre

To say this was a little bit of a tourist trap would be an understatement. Standing room only on the stairs!

Views of Paris from Monmartre

Views of Paris from Monmartre

Eiffel Tower from Monmartre

The Eiffel Tower peeks through the trees

Parisian couple on a bench at Monmartre

A Parisian couple stop to take in the view

French singer

A singer in the square behind Sacre Coeur

Aude

Aude near Monmartre

Bastille Day parade with ATVs

A Bastille Day parade with ATVs heads down the street

Green transport - van covered with artificial grass

This takes green transport to a new level

We went to see the new Richard Avedon exhibition that opened last week at the Jeu de Paume. We waited in line for about half an hour to get in, some of that time in the sprinkling rain, but it was absolutely worth it. It was a really great exhibition with a lot of work on show.

This is the best I could do.

Aude in Richard Avedon style

Aude, Richard Avedon style

Turns out I’m no Richard Avedon.

I have been travelling constantly for the last couple of weeks, so haven’t had time to post much on the blog. I am getting to know Switzerland rather better than I would like, having spent half the week in Geneva and half the week in Zurich.

Last weekend Sean was in Paris for a few days, so we took the chance to catch up with him, which was great after such a long time. I never managed to get out to HK when I was based in Singapore. Jerome was in town for the afternoon as well — next thing we knew, we had an impromptu gathering on our hands…

Matthew & Aude

Matthew & Aude chilling on the couch

Matthew

Matthew at the table

Aude & Calypso

Aude and Calypso have a moment…

Sean

Sean relaxes after lunch

Jerome

Jerome seems to be enjoying himself

After six months of living in Paris, I have finally found a map that helps me understand the geography of the place…

Funny map of paris

Paris from a Parisian’s point of view

The Fete de la Musique is an annual event that started in Paris and has been adopted in cities around the world. Held on the 21st of June, the first day of summer, it is basically a celebration of music. Everyone, from amateur to professional, is welcomed to play their music in the streets – but on the condition that the concerts are free.

Paris is a city full of buskers, and the standard of street music here is pretty high. The stereotypical images of a wino playing an accordion in the Metro are not a million miles from the truth. On our street corner, a five-piece jazz band plays every weekend – and 30 meters from that, a man plays piano concertos. So my expectations were high.

Too high, it turns out. Fete de la Musique was amateur night. The professional buskers packed up their instruments and enjoyed a quiet night at home, while across town one bad rock band after another took to the streets.

There were a few enjoyable acts, several nice choirs singing in a variety of languages and styles; a flutist playing under the arches at the Louvre; and the odd rock band singing covers and actually holding a tune. But on the whole, the vast majority of performers were pretty dire.

Paris was heaving, though. Good music or bad, this is a city that loves a good party.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

This band grabbed a good spot at 2pm — and were still playing ten hours later when we passed them at midnight. Sadly, they only knew three songs, so those standing nearby might have found it a bit repetitive.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Two girls singing covers of French songs

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

We think this guy was either Canadian or American. And a Pearl Jam fan.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Another performer outside our house

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

The bassist

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

A choir around the corner from our house, singing something foreign. Given that we live just around the corner from the Czech cultural centre, my vote is for Czech.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

It’s not every day you see a man walking down the street with a Sousaphone.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

An old woman peers out her window at the noise below.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

This man was responsible for the noise below the woman’s window. He wasn’t too bad, actually.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Everyone’s a photographer. Not everyone’s a naked photographer, however.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Two Sousaphones in one day. What are the odds?

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

A trumpeter playing Latin music

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Two drummers, caught from above

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Crowds on the bridge. It was standing room only — crossing the bridge took us nearly 20 minutes and a lot of pushing and shoving.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

More crowds on the bridge. For those of you who are of a technical nature, check out the depth-of-field. Available light photography, low ISO, and F2.4 means a pretty shallow DOF.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

Two guys on the bridge singing covers. Not too bad.

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

A few young fans enjoy a concert outside the Louvre

Photos from Fete de la Musique in Paris

A nice way to end the evening, with a little classical flute music.