Shadow Shot Sunday 217 - Paris

Inside the funky UNESCO building, Paris where I recently accompanied students to a Model United Nations conference....

As well as the amazing exterior of retro architecture and stylish James Bondesque interior....

....Check out the view from the canteen on the seventh floor where we ate lunch every day!!

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Shadow Shot Sunday 175 - Paris

A recent trip to Paris in December is the setting for these night shots with the Eiffel Tower taking backstage to the patterns of tree shadows snaking across the foreground.....

It's hard to get a new angle on the iconic building that normally takes centrestage and enjoys hogging the limelight, but these puddles provide perhaps a new reflective and shadowy perspective....

Visiting Paris in December is certainly a magical time to go - it is pretty easy to see why it has been dubbed "City of Lights".....

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Shadow Shot Sunday 148 - Paris

The Jardin des Plantes is a 24 hectare botanical garden in the Latin Quarter of Paris on the Left Bank.   It was first established in 1626 as a medicinal and herb garden for Louis X111, and has since expanded to include a wealth of attractions....

The  long tree-lined avenues and vistas are perfect for jogging, strolling or picnicking  - a lovely wide open space in the heart of Paris....

For more shadow shots this week, click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday.....Enjoy!!

On the streets of Paris......

Recently I took a trip up to Paris to reacquaint myself with a city I visited quite frequently thirty years ago. It was lovely to revisit all the galleries and museums again, and rewander all the different neighbourhoods. The weather was less than kind, however, dominated by April showers, but there was one day when this incredible blue sky momentarily appeared, and I was able to capture a few Parisian icons at their best. Above is my favourite shot of the week combining the solid blue of the sky with the ethereal art nouveau wrought ironwork of the  metro sign. Have you revisited a somewhere recently, and did you capture a  favourite image of that place???

People go to the polls today here in France  to vote in the first round of the Presidential elections widely seen as a referendum on the perceived broken promises of Sarkozy's first term in office. Here is the latest word on the streets of Paris......

Apparently there is so much uncertainty that a third of voters are still undecided today, and claim they will make their minds up inside the actual polling booth!! It is expected, however, that Sarkozy will survive the first round, and will get through to the second alongside Socialist Francois Hollande - more of an unknown quantity, certainly in the International community outside of France. The result of the second round two weeks later on May 6th is much  more difficult to predict......

Weekend Reflections 11 - Paris

Still focusing on Paris, and this week's reflection shots were taken on the sculpture terrace of the George Pompidou Centre - a wonderful contemporary art gallery in Beaubourg.....

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Architecture in Paris - the old and the new.....

Everyone knows all the famous buildings and monuments in Paris that dominate the skyline and become everyone's instant images of the city - the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur, the Louvre, Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, but what about these two buildings representing the modern and the traditional in terms of Arab architecture in the city - the Institut du Monde Arabe and the Mosquee de Paris......

The Institute of the Arab World was established between 1980 and 1987 by France and 20 Arab countries to promote cultural links between the West and the Arab world, and the architecture itself celebrates a fusion of both modern and traditional Arab and Western elements. Thousands of mushrabiyah, photo-sensitive apertures which imitate traditional lattice windows, open and close by electric motors thus controlling the amount of heat and light entering the building. Designed by Jean Nouvel, the facade is most striking and the building has subsequently  won numerous awards.....

The Paris Mosque was built in 1926 in the traditional ornate Moorish style with its beautiful 26m high minaret, and intricate tiles and mosaics in islamic geometric designs. The central courtyards and fountains outlined by pillars create an oasis of calm in a busy part of the city. Within the complex there is also a library, hammam, tearoom and N.African restaurant....

I thought it would be interesting to view these two buildings and their architectural elements side by side to witness the influence and fusion of the old and the new....

France as a multicultural society has been sorely tested by recent events, and as the country goes to the polls in a few weeks' time, perhaps the integration of these two buildings more into the mainstream of monumental Paris will become more and more important.....Be sure to visit when you are next in Paris......

Shadow Shot Sunday 147 - Paris

Art lovers will immediately recognise the tunnels of the George Pompidou Centre in Paris as the focus for this week's shadow shot. The building is exceptionally photogenic and very striking with its modern "oil refinery" appeal. The permanent collection of contemporary art, plus the temporary exhibitions - currently "Matisse - pairs and series" warrant a happy afternoon's viewing.....

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Musee Quai Branly - Paris

Just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower is the treasurehouse of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, located in a quiet garden and a stunning building designed by architect Jean Nouvel well known for the Arab World Institute also in Paris. The office building of the museum is also worth a second look as it is a living green wall planted by Gilles Clement and Patrick Blanc....

The museum is a new Ethnographic collection housing and showcasing artworks from all parts of Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, and it certainly is a rich eclectic mix of masks, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, artefacts, paintings......

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The Museum also has a very interesting programme of temporary exhibitions and currently showing are a Maori Exhibition as well as the " Samourai - armure du guerrier" and a very challenging but fascinating exhibition which documents the rise and fall of freak shows and human zoos entitled "L'Invention du Sauvage" which runs until June 2012....

Human zoos, incidentally, astonishingly closed as late as 1958......hence the Museum is well worth a visit for learning a great deal about the world in which we live, including its more than chequered past.....

Paris in the Wintertime....

Paris in the wintertime can be spectacular with the cold bright nights and the lovely sparkly lights. Look how well all the monuments are lit up for our sightseeing delight....

I was there recently with a group of students attending a Model United Nations Conference - Here we all are in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Happy New Year to everyone and best wishes for 2012......