We were supposed to be flying back into Brussels from Milan to pick up Sonny's car and drive to Paris, for fashion week, but Brussels airport was on strike, so we flew direct to Paris. At the end of the week (as there are no flights between Paris and Brussels – ever) Sonny and Evan caught the TGV to pick up the car, drove it back to Paris, and we all drove back to Belgium the next morning.
Our apartment was cute, in a typically older-style Parisian way. The juliette balconies looked out to a roundabout with a fountain. I took this photo as a band of noisy anarchists marched past.
The street had a yummy fromagerie, a few boulangeries, and a myriad of cafes and restaurants, so I was happy with that, naturally.
The kids got creative with lunch presentation, and insisted I document it…
Like Milan, we spent a lot of time in the apartment while I uploaded photos for Sonny. It rained a lot, which made my internment more palatable, and we did sneak away a few times.
A lolly shop, St Louis. Chocolate olives!
More sugar…
I prefer to walk in new places. It helps to get my bearings, and that way I discover more places.
Walking back from a crepe dinner we saw this installation – there for the Nuit Blanche, which is an annual festival of street art – I love the colour.
When you think about it, the eye is a pretty clever invention. With my camera, I had to sacrifice the colour of the art piece, to capture the colour of the building and sky in the background, but the eye sees it all – without sacrifice.
The kids pose in the spooky-man-wee tunnel we had to walk through to get home…
We headed out on a rainy day to see an exhibition of Sonny's photos. Displayed outdoors, in an exclusive shopping promenade, the rain provided a nice juxtaposition…
Aside from going backstage at Vivienne Westwood (where Evan was happy to take the role of photographer), the exhibition was our only dose of fashion during Paris Fashion Week.
On Nuit Blanche we wanted to see the Louvre, as it was out of the rain…
but it was closed..
This guy found something else to do, though. Walking in the fountain water. Mmmmm. Nice on this cold and frosty night!
We went back the next day because the kids were really keen to see the Mona Lisa.
We also checked out Notre Dame. We got there too late to climb the spire, and it was pouring outside, so there were no photos taken of the front – not this time – but I'm going to sneak in a pic I took two years ago with my old Pentax. Shot (from the moving car – no time to stop and look) on slide film, then cross-processed to a negative which altered the colour. With the full moon just visible in the background, it's got a great eerie look!
Inside, with the Canon, and that gorgeous little lens Shell gave me for my birthday…
And that was Paris. The second time.
Almost at the end of our long journey, with the weather not so great, and the bed not so comfortable, it was getting easier to adjust to the idea of coming home. The kids were tired and I hadn't seen any of my friends for so long.
We went to Montmartre, had a chocolate crepe, and headed back to Belgium for the last time.
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