Joyeux Noel!

I'm back in England, having had an eventful Eurostar journey home which arrived an hour late and was delayed by "frozen doors" at Ebbsfleet International. 

I won't be blogging until January when I go back to France, so have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, wherever you are!

Neige

First of all sorry for not posting in a while; it's been quite manic lately leading up to the end of term on Friday.

OK, I said earlier that I would post when we had some snow in Paris.  We had a flurry on Saturday 4th December and a genuine blizzard on the following  Wednesday.  Coincidentally I was doing a class on Wednesday on snow when it began, and the lesson quickly turned to "describe what you see outside" as we stared out the window.

It was pleasing to learn that France is equally incapable of dealing with snow as the UK, with basically all buses cancelled that Wednesday and the Peripherique severely delayed.

Anyway, this photo is from the lighter snowfall on the Saturday at the Eiffel Tower.  I hadn't visited the Tower in a while, but I figured that it would make a nice wintry scene.  Et voilà:

Rue Mouffetard at Christmas

In the 5th arrondissement there is a famous road called Rue Mouffetard.  It's at the heart of the quartier; a cobbled street that's almost as old as the hill that it runs down.  It's crammed with traditional French bakers; butchers; restaurants and creperies, although shamefully I used to buy most of my food from the Franprix when I lived there! 

I was back there the other day and saw it was lit up for Christmas:

The Entrance to Rue Mouffetard

The lights in the street

I've seen a few other streets lit up- the most obvious one being the Champs Elysees which I posted about earlier, but the Rue Mouffetard is the most tastefully done. 


Today we had the heaviest snow I've seen this year.  Unfortunately I've had a cold lately so I decided not to venture out into the sub-zero streets to take photographs.  Still, I've got earlier snowy snaps on the way.  A plus.

Review of Reporters sans frontières exhibition in Paris Voice

The Petit Palais

Long-time readers of this blog (yes, there are thousands of you) may remember that I posted a while back on the exhibition of the photography of Pierre and Alexandra Boulat at the Petit Palais.

Well, I've written a review about that exhibition for Paris Voice.  It's an English online magazine about Paris.  It has news, film reviews, food critics, travel guides, photography reviews and more.  The editor kindly let me write a review for them.  You can find it here.

It snowed yesterday morning, and the snow settled for a few hours all over the city.  I'll have pictures up soon.  A plus.

Marché de Noël

On 22nd November, Mélanie Laurent turned on the Christmas lights at the Champs Elysées.  Since then, the Avenue has been ablaze with light every night.  There is a Christmas market with stalls selling mulled wine, crepes, warm clothes, souvenirs and all sorts. 

It's certainly not as authentic as the markets you can find in Strasbourg or Aachen in Germany which date back years or even centuries.  And some of the stalls sell all the classic tourist goods like fake Eiffel Towers.  Bah, we'll let that slide.  After all, it's Christmas soon, right?

So, again this blogger risked frostbitten fingers to bring you some half-decent photos of la plus belle avenue du Monde at Christmas.

 

 

 

The Roue de Paris dwarfs everything at the Place de la Concorde

People gathering round one of the stalls

 

 

 

  The Grand Palais lit up

 

 

Anyway, we're still waiting for snow to settle.  There might be some next week.  If there is, more photos will follow.  Also, have a look here for more (and better) photos of the Christmas Market.  A plus.

Cold snap: what now for the down and out in Paris?

A homeless man near Gare de Lyon

Today marks one month until Christmas.  You can feel it too: recently there's been a cold snap, with temperatures in Paris is dropping to below zero in the night and the first flakes of snow falling.

In the news, there's been a lot of discussion of how Paris is going to aid its homeless population as this cold snap lingers.  In years gone by Parisian officials have come under fire for not doing enough, but this year the mayor's office is making gyms available for the homeless to sleep in during cold snaps.  There will be 350 places this year, an increase on the 290 made available last year.  The offices of four arrondissements in Paris will also be used to welcome the sans-abri in for the night.

In addition, Benoist Apparu, the Minister for Housing, has stated that all requests for lodging should be "provided for" this winter.

If this winter is anything like the last one when at least two homeless people froze to death during one cold period, then Paris has certainly got a job on its hands.  It's good to see that the government is acting now, in November, when the worst weather is still to come.  Still, it's worrying that the people who devote their time to helping those with nowhere to live say they are having to turn people away.  Let's hope that they can shelter as many as possible, but with at least 10000 sleeping rough every night in Paris, you fear they may not reach everyone.

Au Bois de Vincennes

Faithful readers will no doubt remember that I posted earlier on about the Promenade plantée that runs near my flat.  I mentioned that I might go for a run along it sometime.  With a typical sense of timing, I chose a bleak and freezing Monday afternoon to follow it to the Bois de Vincennes, a large park on the outskirts of Paris. 

The run broadly follows the Avenue Daumesnil on its long old way out of town.  The Promenade itself is very straight and lined with greenery, but the classic Victorian avenues surrounding it disappear as you reach the edge of Paris, being replaced by depressing high-rise flats.  After viewing the delights of the Péripherique, Paris's answer to the M25, you arrive in Saint-Mandé and then the park itself.

The park is enormous: four times larger than Hyde Park in London.  It was also almost deserted.  Happily this led to a good photography opportunity, at least until my camera battery ran out...

A merry-go-round closed for the winter

One of the lakes in the park

An autumnal path

So that's the Bois de Vincennes, for you to view from the comfort of your bedroom.  The next few posts will probably be on a winter theme.  Apparently snow is due to fall in Ile-de-France this week.  I'll keep you posted.  A plus.