On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
I actually teared up looking at some of these photos. This would be the part of Paris that would be hard for me to leave, the street scenes and the delightfully charming neighborhoods. For some reason, looking at these I am reminded of Boston, which is near and dear to my heart. ~WaterGirl
Steve from Mendocino
I was married for 15 years to a French Basque woman. She was a school teacher, and she’d visit family for a month or two every summer. I made a point of negotiating a leave of absence of a month as a precondition of my accepting any job, and I would join her during that period, mostly in the Basque country but also in Paris as well as a bit of travel.
For the purpose of Paris week, I’ve decided to concentrate mostly on the look and feel of the city as opposed to portraits of monuments, which I suspect will be amply represented in other posts.
Dates are split between the early 70’s, and a 6-week trip I took with my daughter right after her 13th birthday (as a bribe to compensate her for one final year of home schooling before dropping into 9th grade public school).
My travel photos are mostly catch as catch can, shot on Kodachrome, which I don’t like, scanned badly and then rendered as impressionistic sketches that provide me with a window on my memories.
I’m starting with this picture taken at the base of Montmartre because it so effectively illustrates the urgency and vitality of the city along with the shops and greenery that are so much a part of the Paris experience.
Most Americans experience their shopping in either stand-alone stores or in malls. Paris shops are mostly tucked into these little shops with apartments above them. Here we see a typical Parisian version of a nursery.
Here we have a butcher shop, different cuts of meat carefully tied with string and beautifully arranged in the case. The butcher in the rear is breaking down a leg of veal.
Outdoor seating at a typical bistro. This was a long block from the apartment I rented from my ex-wife for the 6 weeks I spent with my daughter, and we had petit dejeuner there every morning.
1970’s erra shot of Au Deux Magots. Fun to see all those bell bottoms on the business suits.
Al fresco lunch in the gardens of the Palais Royal.
The coulee verte didn’t exist back in the days of my annual vacations in France. The Vincennes railroad line was shut down and converted into a greenway where people can stroll or (shudder) jog. It’s really lovely and relaxing and runs above a swath of the city full of salons de the, restaurants, and other escapes from the rigors of “exercise”.
And we conclude back in Montmartre in a tiny side street at sunset.
Lapassionara
These are wonderful. I love the bell bottoms. How lucky you were to be in Paris then.
Albatrossity
Gorgeous, evocative photos of time past.
And I loved Kodachrome :-)
Auntie Anne
Looking at your pictures, I felt myself relax for the first time today. Thank you for the pictures, and the respite.
opiejeanne
Very nice capture of Paris streets and shops, and just the feel of the place. Six weeks in an apartment sounds like heaven.
Jean
These photos are lovely. We spent 10 days in Paris in 2002, and some of these photos remind me of those long days of walking along the streets. The butcher shop with the carefully displayed cuts of meat remind me of the patisseries–the pastries artistically wrapped in ribbon and displayed in glass cases.
Omnes Omnibus
@Auntie Anne: Yeah, the Paris pics are a good antidote to the RNC thing.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
I believe Paris and the RNC are mutually exclusive propositions: either Paris exists, or the RNC does, but not both. Thank you for establishing that Paris exists. I feel better.
randy khan
One of my favorite details about Paris is the way that the cafe chairs are set to face the street, so everyone at the outside tables can see everyone on the street and vice versa.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Who knew that Paris week could last a month?
Definitely not complaining.
Auntie Anne
@WaterGirl: This Paris week has been the best respite. Thank you!
Benw
@WaterGirl: a month in Paris feels like a week! How is it over so soon?
:)
WaterGirl
@Benw: It’s not over! We still have 13 Paris submissions AFTER the ones this week.
Wag
Excellent photos. You’ve inspired me to look for my slides from Paris in 83 and 85. I was a Fuji guy, not Kodachrome. But I also loved to shoot B+W. Kodak Tri-X 400.
WaterGirl
@Wag: I knew we’d get you!
Mary G
I was there in 1975, and you’ve captured it so beautifully. Montmartre was my favorite, and you have such a great eye for composition. I felt 19 again. Thank you and everyone else who’s contributed for these lovely escapes.
Matt McIrvin
Paris is beautiful, indeed. But the North American city that these pictures remind me the most of is not Boston but Québec City, for obvious reasons.
frosty
@WaterGirl: 13 more? I have slides from a trip in 1969. If they’re any good I’ll see if I can some digitized in the next two weeks and maybe we can have 14 more?
There go two miscreants
Very nice — I wish I had taken more similar pictures on our trips. We did spend some quality cafe-time, but I was not taking pictures for the most part.
WaterGirl
@frosty: Why not?
frosty
Yes! We definitely need these escapes from (shudder) exercise.
Barbara
Those are awesome.
WaterGirl
@Barbara: It’s a good thing I love all the submissions equally, or I might be tempted to say that this has been one of my Paris favorites. :-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Albatrossity:
Me too.
Kristine
Lovely photos. I especially love the last one.
donatellonerd
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
I wish so hard I could believe that.
J R in WV
Wonderful, thanks so much for sharing these with us!
I too love Kodachrome! Such rich colors…
I would like to spend more time in Paris, if we are ever allowed into a EU member again! Who would have believed that in just 3 long years Trump could turn us into international pariahs, not allowed out of North America at all!
The Castle
These pictures capture a lot of what makes Paris feel so different from North American cities.
My favorite neighborhood in Paris is right here, on the northern slopes of Montemarte, near Caulaincourt Square. Just a lovely place.
stinger
@frosty: I second that emotion!