Rue Mouffetard

Every Sunday morning at the end of the rue Mouffetard, in front of the Saint-Medard church, a group of regulars gathers to dance and sing along with an accordionist. I used to visit this square often. My first apartment was just a few blocks away. However, Patrice had never seen the dancers, so we made an effort to get out of the house early for our photo expedition. All the usual people were there and dressed in their Easter Sunday finest - just as I remembered.

Stéphane Hessel

Yesterday evening the American Library in Paris hosted a most inspiring speaker - Stéphane Hessel.

Diplomat and author Stéphane Hessel, who is also a concentration camp survivor and former French resistance fighter, wants people to get mad and fight against what's wrong in the world, as he writes in his booklet, Indignez-vous! The booklet’s call to stand up to indecency resounded internationally; it has sold over 4 million copies in 100 countries. It has been translated into thirty languages since its 2010 publication. It is also credited with influencing movements like Occupy Wall Street and Los Indignados in Spain.

At 94 years of age, Hessel is stunningly articulate. Born in Berlin, he came to France at the age of seven. He writes in French, but he spoke to yesterday's audience in English. He addressed the four major points outlined in his slim volume, translated into English as Time for Outrage! These points included:
1. The economic gap between rich and poor which has widened in the last 50 years.
2. Deforestation and environmental destruction of the fragile resources of our planet
3. Terrorism
4. The Israeli/Palestinian situation. Despite his Jewish origins and his experience as a holocaust survivor; Hessel is an outspoken critic of Israel's stance on the creation of a Palestinian state.

Here is a short excerpt of his speech yesterday evening. I would wish to be so articulate at 94 years of age.

Sunday in the park

Sunny weather on Sunday and a good day for a boat ride on the lake in the Bois de Vincennes. Of course, Patrice did all the work while I took pictures.

Dinner and show

We've gone out twice this weekend - diner et spectacle (dinner and show) - of entirely different styles. On Friday night, a sing-along with the group Tigresses Diatoniques and their diatonic accordions. The music? French classic songs from the 1930s - 1960s. Here's an example:



On Saturday night, something entirely different. An old friend of Patrice's alerted him to a concert at Le Petit Journal Montparnasse, a Paris jazz club. The headliner Saturday night was Janet Robin, an American guitarist singer-songwriter. Janet Robin is a fantastic guitarist. As a teenager, she studied with the late Randy Rhoads. Later, she was lead guitarist in the all-girl band, Precious Metal. This was Robin's first Paris appearance.
The show was organized by friends of Patrice. Renaud Cugny plays the Hammond organ and his wife, Catherine Marie, is the tour manager. Here's a small taste of Saturday's concert:

Spring bike rides

We've been waiting all winter to install a bike carrier on the car. The weather was perfect this week so we tested the carrier for transporting the bikes to one of the forest trails outside the city.
The carrier worked great and we had a good ride. However, I think it will be awhile before we're ready for the Tour de France!

La Défense

Monday was a perfect day for a photo expedition - warm weather and a crystal blue sky. We decided to check out a more modern side of Paris - the area known as La Défense.
The building above is called the Grande Arche. It lies in a continuous line from the Louvre, west through the Tuileries, the Champs Elysées, and the Arc de Triomphe.

Looking west:Looking east - you can see the (tiny) Arc de Triomphe in the very center in the distance.The area has some interesting modern architecture. I call this the flying saucer building:
And some interesting sculpture. . .

Pochoirs

"Il faut inclure la signature dans la photo." (Be sure to include the signature in your picture.)

The voice startled me as I was crouched low, taking photographs of the street art in the rue Denoyez. I looked up to see a tall, thin man with graying hair tucked into a pony tail. He was standing in the doorway of a shop whose exterior was covered with art such as this:
"C'est un de mes pochoirs" he said. I'm Pedro, and this is my shop."

"Pochoir?" I didn't recognize the word in French. "Stencil" is the English word, he continued. And so we began a 15 minute conversation in English regarding the use of stencils as street art, poetry, and political statement. Pedro invited me into his shop/studio where the walls were covered with hundreds of images of musicians, poets, and historical figures ranging from Obama to Marilyn Monroe and Rosa Parks. I think that Pedro was delighted to practice his English and flattered that someone would be interested in his art. He wouldn't allow me to take any photos of him or the inside of his shop, but did allow me this photo of the process:
I left the shop with a new insights regarding street artists, their cans of spray paint, and their "pochoirs." So what can you do with stencils? Well, you can decorate your trash cans. . .