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Lectio #21 Paris, France 2013

Lectio (Latin: reading) is the new name for my series of images on reading. Even though this is the first use of that title, I numbered it twenty-one because I want to subsume the series formally know as Girl Reading a Book into the Lectio series, and there were twenty of those.]]>

The Beacon Paris, France 2013

A night view of the Eiffel Tower from Montmartre near Sacre Coeur.

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The Gauntlet Paris, France 2013

The main approach to Sacre Coeur from the nearest Metro station is lined on both sides with shops whose main goal is to part tourists from as much money as possible before they reach the bottom of the steps leading up to the basilica.]]>

Art Spotter Paris, France 2013

A Dalmatian helps it’s owners pick out some art on Place du Tertre in Montmartre. There is a lot of art for sale on the square, although most of it gave me the impression that the next undiscovered Van Gogh, Monet or Picasso isn’t hanging out there.]]>

La Maison Rose Paris, France 2013

This bistro was also the subject of a painting by Utrillo, although I didn’t try and recreate the composition on this one. Rick Steve’s guidebook on Paris says Utrillo used to hang out here, as did Picasso and Gertrude Stein. He goes on to say that today “it serves lousy food to nostalgic tourists.” Still looks good as artistic subject matter though.]]>

And Vice Versa Paris, France 2013

Some bathroom wisdom at the Pompidou Center museum.

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The Commuter Paris, France 2013

Not a particularly noteworthy shot except that I found it interesting that no one in the whole bus was facing me except this one young woman. What are the odds?]]>

Underworld Paris, France 2013

Below the busy, glitzy Saturday night Paris streets, along the Seine is a calmer, quieter world. It is quite dark in some areas, which can be a little intimidating especially when there are fewer people around; safety in numbers they say. But it’s actually pretty safe, at least if my walking there almost nightly for three weeks with no hassles is any indication. Well,  there was that one obnoxiously drunk Russian girl who, after her friend had just opened a new bottle of champagne, was very intent on  trying to get me to yell “mosol tov” at the top of my lungs like she was. But that was the worst. (Maybe she wasn’t Russian, I’m not sure. She sounded like it though. But I digress.) I liked walking down along the Seine, especially when I was mostly just out for exercise. It’s much easier walking than pin-balling through the crowds up on the streets. You just have to get used to the smell of urine under certain bridges.]]>

photo book  Hideki Shiota on Adorama’s website. I thought it was a pretty clever set of photos consisting of a combination of street photography and window reflections. You can view more of her work in a similar vein on her Flickr page.]]>

Sacré Coeur From Rue Saint Rustique Paris, France 2013

Wandering around Montmartre one night, I remembered a painting of Sacré Coeur by Maurice Utrillo, so for grins I tried to duplicate it as closely as I could remember by memory. Ignoring that my photo was taken at night rather than during the daytime, I think I did pretty well. Here’s his painting, see what you think:

Church of Le Sacre-Coeur, from Rue Saint-Rustique Maurice Utrillo 1938

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