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.
In October and early November of 2011, my younger daughter and I spent 6 weeks hanging in Paris at Anne-Marie’s apartment. Dinner was, per our family tradition since I informally retired, at mid-day, with supper consisting of a baguette, cheese, some kind of charcuterie, carrot salad or celerie remoulade, and cider, of which my daughter was allocated one glass because of the alcohol. We ate mostly at bistros or high mid-range restaurants that were well thought of by people I trusted. We never went to a starred restaurant, but our list of recommended restaurants turned out to be consistently successful. My wife makes an excellent fallen chocolate cake, and my daughter took it upon herself to order that for dessert anywhere we ate. Only one of the sampled cakes was as good as my wife’s. No need to go travelling on that account.
The doorway to the apartment building where we stayed. Anne-Marie used to chuckle at the concierge who was scandalized by the adjacent “Massages Asiatiques”, all pink and lurid in its implicitly sexual appeal.
This is the view from the bathroom window of the apartment.
Almost directly across the street from the apartment was this pair of restaurants that Anne-Marie had recommended to us. The food came from the same kitchen, but the one on the right was appreciably less expensive. At mid-day you could get an excellent two course meal – your choice of appetizer and main course or main course and dessert – for 16 Euros. 20 Euros bought you all three including tip. We ate there at least one day each week for the duration of our stay, and twice at the fancier one next door.
The apartment is located not far from the Luxembourg gardens. This is a part of the city which I’d rarely had occasion to visit before, so it was an adventure for me. You can see the Montparnasse tower in the upper right part of the frame.
The Luxembourg palace at one end of the gardens.
The Institute of Art and Archology library building is decidedly incongruous but attractive. I’d never seen it before this visit.
The Paris opera building at Bastille. My daughter and I joined a Parisian friend to see Tannhauser here, and my friend and I agreed afterward that this production was the best opera either of us had ever seen. Interestingly, I mentioned to him that, prior to that, the production of Elektra at the Palais Garnier opera house had been my favorite. Turns out he too had seen it, and it had been his favorite as well. I don’t even like listening to Elektra yet I loved the performance. I realize now that Elektra is as much a play with music as it is an opera, and the quality of the drama was what made this work.
This production of Tannhauser was changed from a story about a singer/poet to one about a painter. Through the entire overture, the artist’s model/lead soprano lay stark naked on the stage – shocking, but extremely successful in bringing the production out of the abstract and into the moment. My wife pointed out that female Wagner soloists tend to be 35 or older because of the need for a particular quality of voice. The soloist in question is the woman on the left.
Steve from Mendocino
The question has come up a couple of times about what gear I use on my photos. Today’s set was all taken during the six weeks I was there with my younger daughter. I did not bring a camera, but instead borrowed her Nikon Coolpix whenever I saw something I wanted to take. The truth is, I’m happier with these technically than I am with what I got with my Nikon F and Kodachrome. That camera’s not nearly what I’ve back home but the dynamic range is orders of magnitude broader than the Nikon and film, and I don’t have to go through a scan before I can do digital edits. I’ve had to apply all kinds of cheating tricks on my older shots of Paris, and I find them embarrassing when I compare the full size files on a large monitor. That said, I love my old shots. The old technology is what I had available.
Lapassionara
Wow. Amazing! Thank you.
jl
Thanks to Steve from Mendocino for great travel pix.
Is it ‘Steve from Mendocino’ to avoid confusion with Steve from Bethany’?
Steve from Mendocino
@jl: Lol. It’s Steve from Mendocino because I was not feeling very imaginative when I came up with it. I was preoccupied with the nuts and bolts of submitting pictures to OTR.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Love the neighborhood-y look of those first two photos, totally different from tourist Paris. I always loved the homey food more than the high-end stuff as well. Discovering the sandwich called the Croque Monsieur from a street vendor on my first trip to Paris was a revelation. (Only 10 francs, about $1.50. That was in 2000, when they were still changing over to the Euro)
I spent a weekend in Montparnasse in 2019, it was my first time there. Spent a lot of time walking around, and I also found the Jardin du Luxembourg.
scav
Top three are some of my favorite type shots of Paris — certainly as they can be the least taken but the most present. And the Jardin de Luxembourg was one of my favorites. No real reason, but the somehow the trees just made it for me.
sab
I am amazed at how congested European cities are and how happy their inhabitants are. Same as China.
I live in suburban America and my sister’s inlaws from China are bored beyond belief. No urban vitality at all. I think where is the nature and wildlife in your ideal world.
People are different and grew up and live differently.
JanieM
What a lovely reminder that there’s a great big world out there, away from my screen and away from the lunacy that has overtaken the US of A.
The second pic looks like a painting — funny to think it’s the view from the bathroom. I love the way there are so many rectangular shapes all jumbled up together, and at the same time it’s clear that the buildings are not laid out on a rectangular grid of streets.Looking at the shot of the Luxembourg Gardens is like taking a great big calming breath.
Lapassionara
@sab: Paris doesn’t feel congested to me when I am there, but I am in Central Paris, not the Banlieus. I think of cities like Paris as the perfect blend of architecture and landscape. People who live there do not need a car to get around. There is a world of beauty and intrigue just outside the door of any hotel or apartment.
Cathie from Canada
Love these – I’m one of those people who always wanted to go to Paris and then my health took a bit of a nosedive and now I doubt I will ever get there now (moral – don’t wait, GO!)
So the photos are terrific and I can imagine walking down those streets.
Hey, does everyone here know about Window Swap?
https://window-swap.com/
Its a website that was put together last spring, and consists of just the views out of people’s windows – from anywhere around the world. People send in 10-minute videos of what they see out their window and its fascinating – India one time, Russia the next, Kentucky after that. Also the occasional dog or cat wanders into the frame. Its addictive, very relaxing whenever I get stressed out.
sab
Totally OT. My sister lives in Columbus Ohio and teaches at Ohio State.
For many years she and Columbus have been worried about West Nile disease. I thought they were silly. She said they had a high West Nile dead bird count, but thought it was due to the neighboehood high ornithologist count. Guys qualified to count dead birds will morencount dead birds than other people.
(West Nile mostly kills corvids, which are crows and ravens and also blue jays.
My Chinese brother in law came up to NE Ohio last year. He was mesmerized by the blue jays. He thought they were gorgeous. He had never seen one before. I thought “huh”? He lives in Columbus.
I thought they have always been here and they are kind of obnoxious.
BIL was right. Blue jays are obnoxious. Blue jays used to be everywhere. But not on Columbus with lots of West Nile. West Nile kills corvids, which are crows, ravens and jays.
Bluejays catch West Nile. If you have these pretty but obnoxious guys, be glad. Crows also get it, but not pretty.
stinger
What a great range of photos! Always nice to see some of the most famous buildings in the world, but it’s especially good to see regular residential neighborhoods and try to get a sense of how people live. In PARIS!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sab: I enjoy city life, but I start to get a little wiggy after about two weeks. Car horns go through my head like a knife, and in Paris, those little fucking motor bikes….
Mary G
Love these different places, especially the Institute of Art. What is the lone column next to the Opera House? Part of the old Opera House? My roommate and I ran into a similar restaurant situation in Venice. There was a general strike on and not much open. We found one place, but it was fancy, expensive, and crowded, so we moved around to the next block, where we found a place full of families eating at communal plywood tables covered with butcher paper, and we had a wonderful meal. We were near the kitchen and realized it was for both places! The waiters in the other place would pick up food in their suits, and the waitresses on our side picked up almost the same food (the rich people got meat) in Tshirts and cotton skirts.
Comrade Colette
@Mary G:
It’s the Colonne de Juillet, commemorating one of France’s many revolutions – in this case the one in July 1830 that overthrew one of their many restorations of the monarchy and installed another, only for it to be overthrown in turn …
J R in WV
@Comrade Colette:
So, then, France’s Trumpian era, then? . . . ;~)