Weekend Reflections

I borrowed this photo from my daughter
Lila, who shot this display of sparkly
green glassware at the Brooklyn Flea
(which I've featured before).

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

Thursday Challenge—creative photos

I took this picture years ago in Venice 
and it's still one of my favorites.
I was on the vaporetto and this boat passed
(going faster than it should have been)—all you
see of it are running lights and reflections. 

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

ABC Wednesday—G is for "The Three Graces"

This is the window of a pretty good
thrift store in Chelsea.  I love the reference
to Canova's sculpture of the daughters
of Zeus—and paintings by Botticelli, Raphael,
and Rubens— with the addition of
sling-back sandals and black suede pumps.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

No vase? No problem.

You could buy flowers from this florist
on rue St. André des Arts on your way to
work in the morning, enjoy them all day, then
bring them home and they'd still be fresh
(as long as the bag doesn't spring a leak, of course).

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.
And for more of Our World, go here.]

le bijoutier

This one is on rue Bonaparte, right in the 
heart of Saint-Germain des Prés.
Whether simple or very ornate, no one
does window displays quite like the Parisians.

[To see more Monday Mellow Yellows, visit Gemma's meme.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

I'd love to say that this beautiful antique French 
chandelier is mine, but no—and I don't have a grand 
cathedral ceiling either.  But I trade in my cozy Brooklyn 
digs for real elegance when I visit my friends in Virginia.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.] 

The Weekend in Black and White

The mercury-glass candle lamps
remind me of all the ice we've had around
here so far this year.  The forecast 
for today is temps in the 50s and sun—
but snow again next week.  Oh well.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Not entirely sure what the dressers were thinking
when they fashioned this window for the
Ferragamo store on Fifth Avenue.  Whatever—
it definitely suits my (reflective) purposes!

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

Thursday Challenge—"electricity"

Can't tell you how many electric lights there
are on the carousel near the base of
the Eiffel Tower—but I can tell you that
there are exactly 20,000 individual bulbs on
the tower itself.   That's a lot of wattage!

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

ABC Wednesday—F is for "figs"

These were for sale on rue Mouffetard,
another wonderful Paris market street (looong
ago, it was part of a road that ran from
 the settlement of Lutetia all the way to Rome).
As for the figs, I think they're almost too beautiful to eat.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Chez le serrurier

Even if you couldn't read, you'd still know
that this is the locksmith's shop.  That was
precisely the point many years ago, but I think
these signs are still useful—and charming.
I found this one in Paris.

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.
For more Our World Tuesday posts, go here.]

A yellow vélo

This beautiful bamboo bicyclette was on display
in the window of the Marc Jacobs store
overlooking the Palais Royal gardens—
where all the boutiques are high-end and all
the merchandise is extra-special
(or, at any rate, all the prices are high).

[To see more Monday Mellow Yellows, visit Gemma's meme.]

Les Ombres de Dimanche

Not entirely sure what they were selling
in this shop in St. Germain, but I
love their window display featuring my
favorite iconic symbol of the city. 

Here's the whole display. Maybe
a men's clothing boutique?

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I'm going to be extra glad to see spring
this year! How about you?

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Sweet Dreams

When I was in Paris, I met Rosemary—whose
interesting and informative blog is called Aussie in France.
She walked around the Palais Royal gardens with 
us and had lots of fascinating things to tell us about it
(she—lucky girl!—lives in an apartment 
that overlooks that beautiful space).
I considered moving into this boutique so I 
could live on the PR gardens too.  Who needs privacy?

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

Thursday Challenge—"books"

Upstairs at Shakespeare and Co., in Paris,
where you can choose a book and
curl up in a comfy chair.  I've read many,
many books in this special place.

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

ABC Wednesday—E is for "éclair"

If you're in Paris and strolling around the
Marais and you get a hankering for something
sweet, head for this place:  éclairs de génie,
on rue Pavée.  You'll have plenty of delish varieties
to choose from (and, clearly, the sales staff
is not sampling the wares).  Our choice?

This—of course! (And though they're
not huge, they are rich—so the 
three of us happily shared one.)

[To see more ABC posts, go here.] 

Le menu

Ate here at Les Bonnes Soeurs twice when
I was in Paris last November.  Had a hearty 
salad both times, and one night our waiter treated 
us to the Nutella mousse.  It's a friendly place 
in the Marais, with good food and an
adorable young waitstaff.

[You can see more Ruby Tuesday posts here.
See more of Our World here.]

One thin . . .

Sometimes I just like to play
with my iPhone lenses.  The fisheye
is fun, but this one's my fave.

It's Macro Monday; to see more, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

This is the Grand Hotel Leveque, on
rue Cler—one of Paris's most popular
market streets.  I love their beautiful window
boxes, even more impressive given the fact that
the temperature had been hovering in the
30° to 35°F range for days when I passed by.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

You can have Piazza San Marco (almost) to
yourself—if you're willing to stay up late or get
up early.  When I came out from under the Napoleonic
wing on this morning, the only other people in the
piazza were the men of the city cleaning crew.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Was sitting on a plane early on
New Year's Eve, waiting for takeoff,
when I snapped this shot.  That's Bowery
Bay, the red building is (I believe) part
of a water-treatment plant, and you probably
don't ever want to find yourself on that
bridge—it goes to Rikers Island (the prison).

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

Brrrr!

I've had enough of bundling up to 
deal with this Arctic cold—with lots of
snow and, yesterday, freezing rain—and am so 
ready to wear skirts and cute shoes again!
What's the weather like where you are?

[Today's Thursday Photo Challenge is "cold."
To see more, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—D is for "dead end"

Took this shot while riding through Brooklyn
on the train.  Reminds me of a street used
by Spike Lee in one of his movies—don't remember 
which, but probably Do the Right Thing.
He filmed that movie entirely on location in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, so maybe it is.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Health and Harmony

I wonder who left these Tibetan prayer flags on the
 Brooklyn Bridge.  They're traditional Lung Ta (means
'powerful horse') flags, which are traditionally strung horizontally
so the colors are left to right in this order: blue (sky),
white (air/wind), red (fire), green (water), and yellow (earth).
These had evidently been there for a while when I saw them
last week and I hope they continue to be left in peace.

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.
It's also Our World Tuesday, here.]

It's the small things

Maybe it's age-related, but more and more I
find that it's the little things that make me happy—
for example my brand-new virgin highlighters.
(Of course, a ticket to Paris can still make me jump
for joy too.  Can't imagine that will ever change.)

[I'm linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows,
Mandarin Orange Monday, and Macro Monday.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

I shot these long early-morning shadows shortly
before I took the photo I posted yesterday—
and about 45 minutes before I made it back to
my friends' house with almost-frostbitten
 fingers.  Hard to take pictures when
you're wearing gloves, so . . .

[To see more Sunday Shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This photo could have used a person, to peek
out from behind the screen door or sit
on the ramshackle steps.  But this old house
was locked up tight—and, anyway, I was
on my own that bitter-cold morning, hiking
around my friends' 42 acres in Virginia.

{To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]