ABC Wednesday—U is for "up the stairs"

This beautiful staircase is in the
Musée Marmottan Monet.  The museum
is off the usual beaten (tourist) path,
in the 16th arrondissement.  In addition
to the impressive (pun intended)
collection of Monets and other works, is
the building itself—a former hunting lodge
at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne.
{Note: no picture-taking allowed here. As if!}

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

after-school snack

French kids like to enjoy a little gouter
after school.  Looks like this boy
decided to share his with the pigeons
in the Jardin du Luxembourg. 

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

"Tanglewood"

That's the name of this self-supporting (!)
sculpture by Shayne Dark at
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  It's
made of reclaimed and painted cedar logs.
(Do you suppose that when it's
time to un-install it, they'll just pull
out one strategic log and the whole thing
will come crashing down?)

[Linking back to Blue Monday
at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Here is the Chapelle du Saint Sacrement,
 in the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois,
which I also featured here.
This was the parish church of the kings
of France when they lived
in the Louvre.

[To see more churches from around
the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Here's what's happening in the garden

right now: beautiful in all seasons.

[To see more b/w photos, visit

Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

If you're ever lucky enough to get to
Cap Ferret and you don't have
a meal at Chez Hortense, you'll really
be missing out.  And if you don't 
have their world-famous mussels, then
you're just nuts.

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"bright" (#2)

It gets me every time!
{And a very Happy Thanksgiving to
all my American friends.}

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—T is for "tusks"

These creatures are so cumbersome on land,
and yet strangely graceful in the water.
Oh—and they're kind of nasty.  Just sayin'.
Still, I'm glad I was able to see 
them up (fairly) close.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

This old wine press . . .

is at the entrance to the caves of the
Chateau de la Rose Brisson/
Moulin Galhaud winery.

They were dug out with pickaxes under the
streets of Saint Emilion many years
ago, and there's lots and lots—and lots—of
excellent wine stored here. Cheers!

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

Hot!

These are Gold Bullet habaneros, which
added some bright yellow color to all 
the wonderful Thanksgiving-type veggies
for sale at our local greenmarket
this weekend.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows and Macro Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This 17th-century angel Gabriel (by
Gian Lorenzo Bernini!) lives in l'eglise 
de Saint Bruno, Bordeaux's first baroque 
church, built in 1611.

[To see more churches from around
the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This statue, in the northeast corner of
the Tuileries, is called Retour de Chasse
(aka Home From the Hunt), sculpted
by Antonin Carlès and completed in 1888.
It depicts a young man returning
from the hunt with a deer that he has killed
with a bow and arrow.

[To see more b/w images, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Thank you, city of Bordeaux, for putting
a reflecting pool across the road
from the Palais de la Bourse, and lighting
the building to make this
lovely reflection for me to post here.

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"bright"

                                            This week's "supermoon" would have been a

perfect subject for this challenge.

Unfortunately, it was too overcast where 

I am for me to get a good picture.

However, I was in France on September 14

and was able to witness the 

penumbral lunar eclipse—and take a 

picture of the very bright moon that night.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo

Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

                                          

ABC Wednesday—S is for "stream"

And also for the island of Spitsbergen,
and Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago where
it's located.  And for surprised—I
never expected that the Arctic would be
as beautiful as it is.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

lunch al fresco

This place is up the street from where
I took yesterday's shot.
It wasn't until I saw my photos up
on the computer that I realized I had been
here 14 years before—and first
tasted the wonderful wine-and-lemonade
concoction called blanc limé.
Wish I hadn't been sitting with my back
to that barrel this time!

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

Les imperméables jaunes

I came across this colorful display
outside a thrift shop as I
was wandering the streets of
old Bordeaux.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows.]

November rose

I can't name this rose, but I can tell you
that it smelled delicious—and
it was blooming on the 6th of November (!).

[Linking back to Shadow Shot Sunday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This impressive escalator is in the
Madeleine metro station, 
in Paris.

[To see more b/w photos, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Autumn in Paris: These wouldn't be
here long—in my experience, concierges
and shopkeepers both are very
fastidious about keeping the sidewalks clean.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.] 

Thursday Challenge—"clear"

This iceberg is actually clear, but it appears
to be blue because of its age.  Older
icebergs are more compact and absorb all the
colors of the spectrum except blue.
I still don't totally understand how this works;
I just know that it's beautiful.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—R is for "reindeer"

These young reindeer are "play fighting,"
just practicing for the real thing.
We were hiking in a place called Alkehornet,
a meadow at the base of a high cliff
(alke = cliff in Norwegian), where thousands 
of Arctic birds were nesting.  In the meadow was 
a herd of about 25 reindeer—that 
(uncharacteristically) came very close to us.
The whole experience was pretty
special, to say the least!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Did you vote?

This billboard was parked in front of Tiffany's
on Fifth Avenue, on the same block
as the Trump Building.
I doubt that he would want this there.
  The SOS is spelled out with hands (though
not especially small ones).  Still, I don't think it
was created by any of his supporters.
BTW, just to get past the building I had to
deal with crowds, barricades, and police with guns,
large dogs, and a nasty attitude.  I can't wait
for this election to be over.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday,  Our World Tuesday,
and Monday Mural at Oakland Daily Photo.]

autumn

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny fall
day here in Brooklyn, perfect
for a walk in the Botanic Garden (if you
weren't one of the 50,000+ running
the NYC marathon, that is).
This time of year, it pays to look up!

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows.]

Eglise Collégiale cloister

This cloister is part of the Eglise Collégiale,
now the parish church of Saint-Emilion,
in the heart of the Bordeaux wine region.
The church was begun in 1110.
The religious community that lived here
between the 12th and 18th centuries
was a college of Canons who
followed the rule of St. Augustin.

[Linking back to inSPIREd Sunday
and Shadow Shot Sunday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Here's a view from the Jardin des Tuileries,
looking over the rooftops on the rue de Rivoli—
and some of that lovely Paris light.

[To see more b/w shots, visit Dragonstar's meme.
Also linking back to Skywatch Friday.]

Weekend Reflections

One of the things I did when I was
in Oslo back in August/September was
to take a behind-the-scenes tour
of the city's fabulous opera house.  I found
this reflection in one of the
rehearsal rooms (the rest of the group
was checking out the view from 
the floor-to-ceiling/wall-to-wall window).

[To see more reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"paper" # 2

I took this picture yesterday.  Is it me,
or does this stuff show up
earlier and earlier every year?

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—Q is for "quiet"

The beach at sunrise, just
the way I like it.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

in the courtyard

When you come through the blue gate
featured in yesterday's post, this
is the courtyard you enter.  The building is
 l'hôtel de Lalande, originally a private
residence built in 1779 and now the
Musée des Arts Décoratif de Bordeaux.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]