The 13th in Pictures

This week we are technically on vacation, and I've been taking photos all the time, mostly of the things I've seen  -- we went to Versailles yesterday for a "real vacation day," although I have to admit that I've spent a lot of my break doing boring logistical but necessary things, like cleaning my apartment and figuring out how to get a library card. Versailles pictures tomorrow, for now it's all about the 13th:

This is a little park near my house, named after Eloise and Abelard. I don't spend much time there, but I love the name.

 

I love this sign.  It's basically just a sign saying that the plants in the park will come back after their winter repose. It's so simple, but phrased in such an absurd/elegant way...

The 13th is full of random little things like this. Kind of a non sequitur here, but I like stumbling on them.

So, there is a lot of graffiti in Paris. Case in point.

And right beside the graffiti, you have this. That's the 13th for you, but it is also just typical of Paris.

Also, no one loves their quartier enough to pick up after their dogs... these signs, while charming, are not very effective.

So I christened my apartment with a dinner party with a friend of mine. Behold our culinary prowess! Kidney bean burgers, tomatoes and avocadoes, a delicious baguette, and kir we mixed ourselves. I was pretty proud. Also, of my ability to rouse up a dining room table in my bedroom. I mean, my mulitpurpose room, I mean, most of my apartment...

It's me! Finally, a picture of a person. Enjoying some kir...

So, I love the combination of the brick, white-ish wall, dark shadow, and the trail left behind by an airplane. It's the view onto an airshaft from my kitchen -- and also just very very typical of old French apartment buildings. I love it.

And because the 13th is full of contrasts, here's a nice juxtaposition for you -- the Bibliotheque Nationale, about as modern as you can get.

So yeah. This is where I live. I'm not sure the pictures provide the whole story, but the 13th is a really crazy, interesting place, and what makes it all the more strange is that it's in such a state of flux right now that I know it will be totally different in even just a year. For now it's Chinatown, art galleries, artist ateliers (including one that used to be a refrigerator), the train lines to the suburbs, rich/poor, young/old, families/single people, old/new architecture, and a Metro line that goes above ground.

I like it.