Posts from — February 2009

Garibaldi, a horse carrying one of the Republican Guards outside the Elysée Palace, must have decided he wanted his liberté. Throwing his rider, he set off for what turned out to be a 5 kilometre gallop along Paris streets bordering the Seine. Eventually caught by police, he was found to be only slightly injured after a couple of falls. The rider he had thrown was not injured at all!

See the video clip!

This entry is written by my dear friend and guest blogger Marc Cogan:

Carolyne and I went together to a curious exhibition at the Hôtel de Sens in the Marais: “Photochromie: voyage en couleur 1876–1914,” that is, of nineteenth century color photographs. Until fairly recently, I labored under the misconception that until 1948, let’s say, the world existed in black and white. While my father naturally appeared to me in color in daily life, photos of him from World War Two proved that those events occurred in some black and white parallel universe.

Recently, to my surprise, I discovered that the Lumière brothers invented the first process for manufacturing color-sensitive emulsions in 1896. (Photos using their plates from the First World War make us look at those long ago scenes with an entirely new eye.) As it happens—to my second surprise—color photography antedates the Lumière brothers’ invention by several decades. Some 300 examples of these earliest color photos provide the content of this exhibit.

“Photochrome,” the name given this earlier process, involved taking the same photo through different color filters (three at least, more in certain versions of the process), with the resulting images inscribed onto separate plates, which would then be inked in different colors. As in a color lithograph, the final print was produced by running paper through the press for each of the colors.

The results are mixed, I would say. To have color images of scenes from the nineteenth century is, as you would imagine, astounding. But the process of multiple printing has the collateral effect of blurring the sharp lines of the original photograph. The final image loses some of its presence and conviction. It looks, in a word, less photographic; I’m happy that these photos exist, but I think I  prefer the Lumière brothers’ products.

Of course, the real star of the exhibit was the Hôtel de Sens itself. Going to the exhibit was merely a pretext for getting into the Hôtel, which has been closed to visitors for these last two years while undergoing repairs. Built for the Archbishop of Sens between 1475 and 1519, it is the most radiant example of late Gothic domestic architecture in the city of Paris. It is also home to the Bibliothèque Forney, the foremost research library in Paris for the fine and decorative arts.

(The photography exhibit is on until April 18.)

A typical Alpine country house

While I’ve adored Paris for a very long time, I often remind myself that my first (French) love was the beautiful Alpine town of Annecy in the departement of Haute Savoie which I first visited in 1968, and to which I have just escaped for a few days.

The person I visited over 40 years ago, my friend Brigitte, is the same person I’m staying with now, and we initially became penfriends in 1965; I used to write to her in French, and she would write to me in English. Each would correct the mistakes in the other’s letter and send it back with the next one. This may have been my first encouragement to become a teacher. Brigitte, however, became a midwife.

We are both now quite a bit older than our parents were in 1968, and we find it very strange that we thought they were so old back then, while yet now we don’t think of ourselves as old at all!

I try to come to Annecy twice a year if possible, and it’s enchanting in both winter and summer. Here are a few of the things I love about it…

Our 'dinner party' in the snow--starring Isabelle Huppert and George Clooney!

Eating the local cuisine--all delicious variations on cheese--this one is raclette

The many specialty shops--this one sells sweets in all shapes imaginable, including little animals

Eating and talking with Brigitte and her family

Madame Hulotte's bicycle; as we both love Jacques Tati films and because we are rather clumsy, we call ourselves La Hulotte Francaise et La Hulotte Australienne

Come back in June and I’ll show you how different it is, while still ressembling something out of a fairytale.

Inspired by Laurie over at The Paris Blog, I’ve created my very own album of Things I Love About Paris.