My local bookstore

Just across the street is a bookstore (and a bookseller) that I've been dying to photograph.

Where to start?

Don't even try to find a book. Just ask!

I went in this afternoon looking for a specific book with rules for conjugating English verbs. I described the book, the editor and the publisher. The bookseller listened intently and then disappeared around the corner. He reappeared a few moments later, book in hand.

I happily paid the 10 euros for the book and we talked for a few minutes about books, beards, and Santa Claus.

There's another career waiting for him if he ever tires of his books ;-)

New camera

Wow, I am seriously intimidated by my new camera. It's like buying a new Porsche when my most common destination is the grocery store . .

I was a complete camera novice as of a year ago. I never owned more than a point-and-shoot, and typically relied on my traveling partner (thanks Margo!) to handle the photography duties. Then, when I came to France equipped with a newer point and shoot, I suddenly discovered the joy of photography. I took a couple of classes here in Paris (thanks Meredith) and the more I learned the more I realized there was to learn. However, Meredith gently reminded me that I would be frustrated with additional classes - the topics covered would be impossible for me to achieve with my limited equipment.

Sooooo, the new camera. And while it takes fabulous photos on the Automatic setting, it would be a real shame not to take advantage of its many capabilities. Besides, now I want to take more sophisticated photos. And so I am plunging into the world of ISO settings, Aperture and Shutter Priority, White Balance, Depth of Field, Bracketing, and Flash Modes - not to mention struggling with the latest version of Photoshop Elements . . .

Patrice keeps trying to teach me the basics and the physics of photography. Afterall, he had a darkroom when he was 15 years old, and these technical aspects are as natural as breathing for him. I keep looking for the angle or the color or the story behind the scene I'm trying to create, while he wants to teach me about focal length and ISO setting. Furthermore; he thinks, works, and explains in French, and his camera controls and documentation are in French, while my camera controls and documentation are in English - not to mention that it's hard enough for me to learn a new vocabulary such as "aperture priority" without trying to figure out how it's called in French . . . .

So please bear with me as I learn how to drive my new Porsche ;-)
In the meantime, here are a couple of recent photos . .


This is the Invalides dome behind the Assemblée Générale

as seen from the top of the Grande Roue (ferris wheel) in the place de la Concorde.

Autolib'

Today is the opening day for the Autolib' in Paris. Autolib' is a network of 100% electric self service cars. It is based on the success of the Velib' the self-service bicycles that we've been using. Today, 250 of these hit the road, with 2000 expected by next summer.

Patrice loves being on the leading edge of new technologies, and so he was one of the first to sign up for a year's subscription. He received his electronic card in the mail this morning, and we went out this afternoon to test the system.

Uh, as with any new system, things didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. . .

We went to the nearest station, held the RFID card up to sensor in the rental kiosk, and . . . . .



Nothing happened. The card didn't seem to work - despite the help of the local Autolib' ambassadors. What to do? Call up customer service . . .


And then we spent almost 2 hours on the phone with four different customer service agents. During that time, a repairman came by to fix the machine - thereby prolonging our wait time.


Meanwhile, both radio and TV stations came by to ask questions . . .



And finally, success! The car greeted us with a "Welcome Patrice Neger" message on the GPS screen.

You can read more about the Autolib' program here.

New toys

Christmas has come early to our household.

You may have noted recent comments where I've mentioned the subject of photography. Overall, I've been thrilled with the performance of my tiny Sony camera. It takes great photographs, especially in low light, and it's small enough to put in my pocket. I carry it with me everywhere - and I can take photographs very discreetly, usually with no flash. However, there have been times when I've been frustrated by its limitations.

Patrice, too, has a small pocket-sized digital camera and he has also been frustrated when bumping up against its technical limits.

Soooooo

We went shopping this week -- and came home with two identical Sony DSLR cameras. Big ones. The latest model - with LOTS of bells and whistles. We couldn't resist.

We went out yesterday to try out the new cameras. The subject was Notre Dame - here's one of the classic angles.


Now, do you see the spire in the very center (above)? We also had fun with our new telephoto lens. Here is a closeup of that spire - there were people working on it.


And the fact that the new camera has 24M pixels, you can enlarge the photos a LOT. This is exactly the same photo as above - just enlarged.


Elaine's cameras - before and after


The new me - with larger camera and longer hair ;-)

Eiffel Tower in November

My talented daughter-in-law - Part 2

You may have seen the scarves designed by Rachel, my daughter in law, here. Rachel has now opened a new Etsy shop featuring hand painted mobiles for babies. Check them out here.

As you might imagine, this one is among my favorites:

Christmas is coming soon!

Thanksgiving in Paris

Yesterday was just another Thursday in France. We went to the bank, to the library, etc. However, we did have our own Thanksgiving dinner - just the two of us.

We went to the butcher shop where we had plenty of choices:

From the top left: pheasant, wild duck, pintade*, free range chicken, and yes, turkey!
(the furry critters are wild rabbits on the left and a hare on the right)

We chose a pintade which is known in English as a guinea hen. It looks like this when still walking around:


And this - when ready to eat

We cooked it with sauerkraut and a little bacon. Sounds weird, but it was delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving to all dear friends and family. I hope your holiday was filled with love and good food.