love isabel marant....
isabel marant
1 rue jacob, 75006 paris, france
***
© anita aguilar
Showing posts with label paris postcard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paris postcard. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Friday, July 22, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
paris postcard: downtown trains
"all of my dreams just fall like rain..."
at gare montparnasse
at gare montparnasse
ah yes, i remember her well: i would see this girl, 2 days later, in st. germain.
***
all photos © anita aguilar
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
paris postcard: brief encounter
there was one day during my stay in paris when the sky seemed to promise a storm. it was so haunting and magnificent, of course i had to try to make a worthy photo.
monsieur crepe-maker is joseph karadeniz, and when he is not making "the best crepes" (in montparnasse? in paris? i don't remember exactly how broadly he defined it, but he definitely said his are "the best"), he is a photographer. (he incidentally informed me that the canon lens i just bought, the 24mm-70mm 2.8, was "the wrong one." everybody's a critic.) his takeout space is decorated with really nice black and white photos that he took of his customers and friends.
i really didn't mind his judgment--i thought it was funny. i was mostly pleased that he wanted to chat. i don't speak french, so most interactions i had while i was on my own in paris were limited to nodding and sign language. this was a welcome exchange, the kind of encounter that wasn't anticipated --nor was it really necessary. but in retrospect it gives some dimension, a local touch, to the collection of memories from the trip. and i'm grateful for it.
it wasn't long before he'd convinced me to try one of his sugar crepes, even though i wasn't hungry at all at that moment.
i love crepes when they are lightly dressed with sugar or with lemon and sugar. this was my first crepe of the trip--i would only have one more--so, hard to vote "best." but it was good, and it will remain a sentimental favorite.
i couldn't get the balance quite right--to get the true color of the clouds meant the foreground was almost completely obscured; to expose the street and cafe meant the sky would appear too light. i gave up after a few shots and trained my lens on a line that was forming in front of cafe de la place. there was a little "annex" -- a crepe take-out window!--that i hadn't stopped to notice earlier in the week. there was steady business there, especially considering how quiet the neighborhood was that morning.
i stood across the street for several minutes, trying to get a shot of "the scene." and then the yelling started. it was the crepe maker-- he waved me over. it wasn't angry yelling--though my first impulse was, still, to flee. but then i realized, he wasn't really gonna be able to do anything to me, trapped in that little glass box as he was. so i approached him.
he wanted to see the photos. i dreaded this, only because i knew they weren't so good. he gave me grudging nod. in between crepe-ing, he started a nice talk.
monsieur crepe-maker is joseph karadeniz, and when he is not making "the best crepes" (in montparnasse? in paris? i don't remember exactly how broadly he defined it, but he definitely said his are "the best"), he is a photographer. (he incidentally informed me that the canon lens i just bought, the 24mm-70mm 2.8, was "the wrong one." everybody's a critic.) his takeout space is decorated with really nice black and white photos that he took of his customers and friends.
i really didn't mind his judgment--i thought it was funny. i was mostly pleased that he wanted to chat. i don't speak french, so most interactions i had while i was on my own in paris were limited to nodding and sign language. this was a welcome exchange, the kind of encounter that wasn't anticipated --nor was it really necessary. but in retrospect it gives some dimension, a local touch, to the collection of memories from the trip. and i'm grateful for it.
it wasn't long before he'd convinced me to try one of his sugar crepes, even though i wasn't hungry at all at that moment.
i love crepes when they are lightly dressed with sugar or with lemon and sugar. this was my first crepe of the trip--i would only have one more--so, hard to vote "best." but it was good, and it will remain a sentimental favorite. ***
cafe de la place is located at 23 rue odessa, in montparnasse (at the triangle between boulevard edgar quinet and rue du montparnasse, and near the entrance to the edgar quinet metro stop, on the 6 line)
***
and you can check out joseph's photos here
Monday, July 11, 2011
paris postcard: pedal pushers
"anita can't ride a bike."
that's one of our big family secrets/jokes. i mean, i can. now. sort of.
we moved to paramus when i was in the second grade. we lived in a new development of two-family houses, on the edge of a cul de sac. we had lived in the bronx before then and play time outside was always a coordinated event after school or at a park, so it was neat to have, with the mere sliding of a glass door, a wide green space for cart-wheeling and a whole block that we could own in the afternoons. all the kids had bikes, and so my sister and i learned to ride, too.
i don't recall needing training wheels for too long--it was the turns got me. i always felt like i'd fall over! i'd breeze along, on my hot pink number, with the hot pink and white striped banana seat and the little vanity plate (which, trust me, took forever to find in paramus in the 1970s) and at the end of the cul de sac, i'd hop off the bike, walk it around the turn, and then get back on.
ridiculous, embarrassing, and no one in the family could figure out how i -- such an athletic little thing-- couldn't navigate a damn turn. it must have taken me a really long time to learn it--or it was just that compelling a picture--because it fed into the "can't ride a bike" reputation that haunts me now. part of me must believe it too, since it doesn't seem like a natural activity for me to pursue.
but paris makes you dreamy about such things. i considered renting a bike a few times during this trip but i remembered a promise to my aunt, that i'd send her a post card. i couldn't possibly risk riding along the streets of paris until i wrote to her...dear tita celia. paris is in full bloom. i love the big sky and the strong coffee. i thought of you as we dined at closerie las lilas. will rent a bike this afternoon...xoxo...
***
some cool riders
first bike shot.
ooh la la --lace dress!
in st. germain
riverside--left bank
in st. germain
rue bonaparte...
in st. germain
in st. germain
my favorite guy: in montparnasse
Sunday, July 10, 2011
paris postcard: mo-tor-in
guy or gal? cool anyhow. snapped this one while waiting for a taxi, near roland garros...
in the nameless 17th.
she's driving--love it.
and you can't tell from this photo but she's got an interlocking N-Y on her pink helmet.
a yankee fan in paris. hooray.
st. germain...
in the 1st...love the glittery shoe, barely got it in the frame
coz the cool "mamas" moved too fast.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
paris postcard: lefty style
a trio of favorites from the left bank:
matchy-matchy is really such a no-no. but somehow these frenchies really pull it off...adorable
outside the bon marche...a girl with a flower in her hair and a brownie in her hand? perfect.
Monday, July 4, 2011
paris postcard: la samaritaine
as i wandered my way out of the 1st arrondissement, along the river, it was impossible to miss--and not wonder about--this titanic, abandoned structure--SAMARITAINE--with its disjointed but charming aesthetic (though i was mainly attracted by what it reflected of the sky and structures across the street).
the property was acquired in 2001 by LMVH -- which also purchased bon marché--and closed in 2005 for safety considerations, with the plan for its redevelopment still unsettled. but it was announced last year that the property would be converted to a shopping, commercial and residential space, with an 80 room luxury hotel anchoring the art deco wing, offering a view of the seine. the target for the grand reopening is 2013-14.
Samaritaine : le projet dévoilé by mairiedeparis
may 27, 2011...photos © anita aguilar
***
la samaritaine first opened in 1869 as a boutique. a husband and wife team (he, a tie salesman, she, a clothing vendor) took the bon marché model of the luxury department store and over the course of 50 years, developed an 11- story version that was praised as the most "democratic" of the grand magasins. the word was that rich and poor could find anything they needed there -- flowers, bathing suits, hardware, hats, tombstones. yes, tombstones. the rooftop was a tourist attraction for the spectacular views of the paris skyline.
the property was acquired in 2001 by LMVH -- which also purchased bon marché--and closed in 2005 for safety considerations, with the plan for its redevelopment still unsettled. but it was announced last year that the property would be converted to a shopping, commercial and residential space, with an 80 room luxury hotel anchoring the art deco wing, offering a view of the seine. the target for the grand reopening is 2013-14.
***
the video below offers a glimpse of the interior life of the store from its earliest days. you don't need to speak french to get the gist. the best bits are in the first few minutes (maybe stick around for king kong's cameo)
Samaritaine : le projet dévoilé by mairiedeparis
paris postcard: love padlocks, et al., at pont des arts
the view, from right bank to left
***
thank you to oscar (l) and his friend for letting me take their photo
***
love this mother/daughter moment...
may 27, 2011
all photos © anita aguilar
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
paris postcard: an untrue, but favorite thing...
is this poster for the hangover 2:
at the station montparnasse bienvenue...
may 27, 2011
oh so untrue of our time, i swear! but it made me laugh every time i saw it. (and it was pretty much everywhere.)
***
and, because i still like them, two paris posters from previous trips:
***
all photos © anita aguilar
Saturday, June 25, 2011
paris postcard: the surprising 17th
i had the idea to visit the 17th arrondissement.
i continued my slow stroll...
why the 17th--the nicknameless 17th--you ask?
not much there in the way of sights or monuments, but i'd read that the marché des batignolles would offer a feeling for simple, everyday parisian life, which sounded very good to me. and there were 2 small artisan shops where i hoped to do a little gift shopping.
i got a late jump on the day, though, no thanks to work. and because i'd planned to meet my friend matt in the marais in the afternoon, i had to forego the marché. but i took the 13 line to la fourche to see how much local flavor i could absorb in a couple of hours.
there was something immediately familiar about walking along avenue de clichy.
old trees canopied the blocks, giving a beautiful sun-dappled effect--i thought, the avenue was a living, shining renoir! it was easy to imagine a beautiful architectural history.
i continued my slow stroll...
past...
racks of leather shoes
and dvd stores
and t-shirt shops
and frill-free, neon signs for quick-stop chinese, japanese, middle eastern and eastern european eateries.
even more amazing? the unmistakable, lingering aroma of rotisserie chicken, all along the avenue.
i'd found, in that little swath of the 17th, the fulton mall of paris.
(who knew?)
***
as a tennis fan, i loved seeing this in the front window of a store called "edene star""
yannick noah, and his ex, the lovely heather-stewart whyte.
definitely wouldn't see this in brooklyn...
***
it was an unexpected scene on avenue de clichy, but it reminded me that mine had been a narrow (dreamy) view of parisian life. and i know not to define the whole 17th from what i saw that afternoon. the 17th blends upper, middle and lower classes, there's a big-business district as well as older, historic areas, and former industrial areas in various stages of gentrification. young families move in, other nationalities do, too.
there is real, every day life there, after all.
***
it was a litle etsy emporium, and in a different way, very "brooklyn."
(i fell particularly in love with--and couldn't say no to-- the cravate swing by emmanuelle biennassis and the beautiful blue ceramic sautoir dle pampilles by claire hecquet-chaut...)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
paris postcard: the nameless (17th)
"why & what is sweetness all alone?" - jack collom
in the 17th arrondissement
may 26, 2011
© anita aguilar
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