Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Metro/polis: Paris

inspired by photo friday's new theme "Metropolis", i returned to those moments from one of the largest cities i've been to in the last 2 years: Paris.


Art Deco meets department store: Samaritaine 


view from Sacre Coeur
(i also tried a video there: Paris, Sacre Coeur)


this is near Sacre Coeur, a modern church


and finally: the Paris Metro

which now made me look for the connection 
of Metro and Metropolis:

"Metro is an abbreviation of metropolitan,
and is the name of many products and services relating to 
urban areas,
especially public transport systems."

****

for more Paris in this blog, try this link:

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Paris metro sax, or: the difficulty of sound



while watching an online lecture on film and sound, i was reminded of my own experiments with video, and how difficult the sound dimension was sometimes when filming, in addition to the whole task of figuring out how to hold the camera still / or to find a good move to capture the scene. and going through the list of uploaded videos, i remembered this short clip that is all about sound, from my short trip to Paris in 2011.

and as counterpart, here's another mini-clip that is all about sound - yet here, the sound is a natural mountain stream:



things i didn't know about sound and film
the film online lectures starts with the silent black&white films of 1928 and then moves from there to sound and color. it's fascinating to get this glimpse behind the scenes of a medium that now is so all-encompassing. what’s especially fascinating is how the technical possibilties changed, and how this influenced film – in the time when there was no sound, film directors developed a way to film stories with speaking a lot in images. and they were very free in how to cut, how to show things, and needed to be experimental and innovative.

and then came sound, and you would think this would make things easier, but first it was harder: to film with sound, you needed to have the sound right there while filming, to tape it simultaneously to have it synchron. so if you had dialogue, you couldn’t cut the scenes. it had to be one take. and the cameras and camearmen needed to be in sound proof boxes (“ice boxes”) as otherwise you would hear the whizzing sound of the camera later. so it was like one step forward to add a dimension, and 2 steps back with restrictions that come with it. (here’s an image of that: film "ice box")

links... 
if you are interested, here's more about the film and black/white theme in this blog: Berlin / Hollywood, here's the course link: The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color, and here are more of my video moments (mostly from January)

Monday, January 14, 2013

reading: What book!? (or: a Paris-novel, a book-book, a what-book, and Nobody)

this blog post is inspired by the blog series "It's Monday! What are you reading?" which is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. more about that, at the bottom of this post.



Paris, or: The Elegance of the Hedgehog..
..is a longtime bestseller in France, set in Paris and written by Muriel Barbery. The book was published in 2007, it so far sold over 5 million copies worldwide. The Booklist review includes a disclaimer that made me curious for it: "A critical success in France, the novel may strike a different chord with some readers in the U.S. The plot thins at moments and is supplanted with philosophical discourse.."
For me, i enjoyed the starting chapters, but then almost gave up when the plot indeed kept stretching, and the characters got lost in discourse and prejudices (which may be intended: this feeling of stuckness that the reader experiences there, together with the characters). and i'm glad i stayed with it. the second half is stronger, more vivid, and lets the characters find their way into a more open atmosphere: connection instead of isolation, the simple joys of life instead of abstract philosophy. 

(& an addition: the novel has been turned into a film, here's the Hedgehog trailer, which gives an idea of the mood of the novel, too)

The reason i picked the "Hedgehog"..
With the new year, the new book challenges are starting, and for the "Around the World in 12 books" challenge, January leads to France. and so i browsed several book lists in December, and arrived at the "Hedgehog".

Like a novel ("Wie ein Roman")
With the turning of years, i also re-sorted my bookshelf, and came across some books that still wait to be read. One of them is a book on books: "Like a novel" by Daniel Pennac. After enjoying the recent books-on-books i read, "Ex Libris", I opened this one at random, started to read, and now read it from middle to end, and then from start to middle. (true). sadly, the book isn't translated into English yet - Pennac is a french author, i learned after reading half of it. So this book also fits into the "January = France" category.

What Book!?
And now a very different book-story, with some book-searching-and-finding included. In December, my editor&publisher Jessi Graustein blogged about a book discovery: all the books she so far has published have the theme of "Home" running through the manuscript (here's her blog note: Subconscious Drive (of Home). Reading this, i remembered a modern Buddhist tale in once received in a mail, which also was about home. Back then i tried to find the author, but to no avail. So i looked for the mail, and then tried again, copying the first line of the story into google: "Last fall the Dalai Lama came to New York City to do a two-week ceremony called the Kalachakra which is a prayer to heal the earth."

Learning by Doing: Google Full Text Search Options
And now, surprise: Google came up with the full story. in Google Books. i hadn't known that this is possible, and it's both exciting and a bit scary: you can now search for poems and short stories or passages and paragraphs in an extensive full text search.

The comical thing that i first didn't get was the statement that came up, though: Google Doc said in the sidebar: "What Book!?"...

...which actually is the title of the book: a collection of Buddha Poems, also available as e-book. i ordered the e-book. it's quite a find, with poems written by Japanese monks as well as by international guests of retreats - including Yoko Ono.

Here's the screenshot and link of my search&find: "Google Docs: What Book!? Buddha Poems"



Carl Tohrbergers Christmas
The fourth book i read last week - is a subversive brief collection of 3 short stories, written by Ferdinand von Schirach, a judge who writes. 2 of the stories have the theme: what happens to a life when you mainly try to stick to the rules and expectations? the main character in the longest story is.. a judge. And now i just  checked: his books have been translated into English, here's his wiki page.

From France.. to Pakistan and into a Smalltown 
After France, the next regional focus of my reading journey will move towards rather different places and formats: first, for the 7 continents reading challenge, is a Granta collection of Pakistan waiting, which also is my first Granta collection altogether. here's the link to the online version with some selected reads: Granta Archive "Pakistan".

  
and i started to read a modern version of H.G. Wells classic "The Invisible Man": Jeff Lemire turned it into a smalltown graphic novel with the title "The Nobody" (if you are interested in graphic novels, i blogged about reading them here and here)

 *****

It's Monday! What are you reading? This blog post is inspired by the blog series "It's Monday! What are you reading?" which is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. participating blogs are listed in this Linky Book List

Previous reading blog entries are collected here: bookshelf: currently  reading... there also is a visual bookshelf, just click it to get there:



Thursday, July 19, 2012

this time last year... Paris



this time, last year, i was in Paris.

today, a friend of mine sent mail: she is on the way there. writing back with some last minute suggestions brought back the memory of my own trip.

and here, in case of anyone else is planning to go, the advice in a nutshell:

if you are near the Tuilleries, make sure to visit the museum l’Orangerie, with Monet’s water lilies.

and some collected travel advice from my trip to Paris last year: Paris travel advice

& as an afterthought, for all who are into books and mind travels: Paris Was Ours

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Paris at day's end





the first photo friday challenge of the new year is: "Day's End". as i am reading a book with reflections on Paris, it was the Paris photo file i opened first, remembering the bus ride i took at the end of my first day there: i wasn't sure of the route the bus would take, all i needed to know was that it would stop at Gare Saint-Lazare, where my hotel was.

the bus arrived, i climbed in - and watched Paris flow by. the bus first drove along the Seine. then it took a turn to the right, drove across a bridge - and approached a pyramid-shape building: the Louvre, at day's end, bathed in light, surreal and real at the same time, like the whole city at that hour, which felt like one endless impressionist painting.

PS:
more moments from this trip are up in Paris dans le Calme.
and more about the book, soon :)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Paris, metro station Concorde





the new photo friday theme: Slick. leaving me without idea at first. which was good. as it made me go and browse my photo files to find something slick there. that's how i arrived in Paris again, at the metro station Concorde. i remember the surprise of back then, to see the walls of that station: endless rows of tiles with letters. i tried to figure their meaning out: a modern word art installation? a word riddle, metro-station size?

now i asked wiki, and the answer is: "Concorde is distinctive due to its décor; the tunnel for line 12 is decorated with tiles spelling the The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen), a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal." (link)

some more finds: the metro station dates back to 1900. and: Ezra Pound's famous Imagist poem, In a Station of the Metro, was inspired by this station:

In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd ;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
 - Ezra Pound

***

(more moments of Paris, here: life as a journey/Paris)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Inside Paris (+ inside each image)



-------------------_______________----------------------


the new photo friday theme is "Inside" - Louvre, i thought. and went looking for this photo i took in Paris, a view of the hall of statues. standing there, you have a dual feeling of being both inside and outside, with the sky ceiling.

on second thought, the "Inside" theme brought me back to my photo series from the 100 days project: pictures found inside images. that's how the second image surfaced. i didn't really notice this part of the hall when taking the pictures.

more Insides: here the link to some of the original inside-an-image-moments, the series is starting with Louvre, too:  cubed - pyramides - fields - dimensions.

more moments from said trip to Paris are online here: Paris with museum photos and links

& 2 more links, friends in photo friday: sand shadow at #75 with a museum moment, and Fotos del Dia at #164 with a street moment.

Friday, August 19, 2011

aqua sky memory clinic (Paris / Referential)



while in Paris, i tried some videos with my camera. so different, the medium. one place that seemed to be made for film was the roof terrace at Centre Pompidou, which comes with a reflection pool.

the video i filmed there now got picked up by Jessie from Referential - it's combined with a story about a possible modern answer to heartbreak of 21st century life: Memory Clinic by Mary Sheffield.

you can watch the video and read the story here: aqua sky memory clinic

and a connecting reference: this roof terrace also is the place where the current title image of BluePrintReview is coming from.

Friday, July 15, 2011

on the way back home



leaving Paris at 9.09. crossed the border to Germany already. 2,5 hours to home from here. reading: the Paris Magazine. and: Mel Bosworth's "Freight" - a book about finding the way home.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Montmartre



at Montmartre, on the stairway to Sacre Coeur. the city unfolding. a perfect place to end the visit, a perfect place to think about time and life.

right on the stairway, a live band is playing cover songs: U2 - One. and John Lennon - Imagine.

Louvre



Paris day 3: sunny skies for french national holiday. grand parade at Champs-Elysee. to come now: Louvre.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Shakespeare & Company



visiting the fabulous Shakespeare&Co bookshop. and meeting up with Jessi Graustein from Folded Word there.

the bookshop, i read the story of it on the way to Paris in the train: it was one woman who made it happen back then, Sylvia Beach. she started the bookshop that turned into a meeting place of authors then, and also: published Joyce’s “Ulysses”, at a time when no publisher would risk publishing it. it was a long time ago, but from spirit, maybe it’s not really that far away from today’s indie scene.

Paris, at the Seine



overcast morning. visiting Monet's waterlilies in the Museum l'Orangerie. still overwhelmed.

from the l'Orangerie, it's not far to the Musee d'Orsay. i ask for directions, the guide explains: "next bridge to the left". so i walk, along the Seine, while the world feels like an impressionist painting.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Paris by chance #27





one of the learnings of big cities: it's easier to go with the flow and to come across places without searching than to find a specific place. i browsed the streets of Montparnasse, looking for Shakespeare bookshop, the meeting place for the next day. and expected it to be in a side street. so i searched and searched. found various other things, among them a mosaic graffiti, a thai restaurant where i had dinner later, and a manga shop, with friendly stuff, who finally pointed me into the right direction: right across Notre Dame. with river view. who would expect that? (which now leads to another learnings: ask. really, people are helpful, and chances are, they make searching and finding much easier.)

to get back to my hotel near Gare St. Lazare, i took a bus. which deliverered, without searching for it: views of Pont Neuf bridge and the Louvre at night, with glass pyramide view. the bus with this pitoresque route is #27, which arrived at the stop before the one i had initially planned to take, #21. chance!

Paris, bus 42, stop: Eiffel Tower







arrived in Paris. am trying the public buses, starting with bus #42 from Madeleine. the bus route moves along Champs Elysees, then across the river Seine, and to Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower came with 3 ridiculously long lines of waiting. so i just visited from ground. and then hopped on bus #82, which took me all across Montparnasse, through streets and streets, past the Hotel Invalides, and on to the Jardin Luxembourg. waiting there: birdsongs, walkways, a palace - and Eiffel Tower, from afar.

3 2 1 hour to Paris





in the TGV train to paris: crossing Rhein river, which is the French/German border line, without any stop: a fleeting border. in the train, a mix of french american german voices: "This river, what was it?" - "Der Rhein. The Rhein river. This is France now." - "Oh is it?" - "Oui, yes."  

then, Strassbourg. and then: fields fields fields. some villages. more fields. i try to remember the French words for things, form lines of french english german: Oui yes ja. Non no nein. Champs fields Felder. Village village Dorf. House maison Haus. Street rue Strasse.

the train moves on and on, at 200 kilometers / hour: the speed of life in the 21st century.

leaving




this peculiar feeling: taking the usual way to the bakery, and then walking on, down the road to the train station, where Paris is just 2 train rides away.

the photos: Tuesday 11.54: leaving from the local train station;  12.44: Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof ("main train station"), boarding the TGV (= "Train à Grande Vitesse"/ "high-speed train") to Paris. Paris has several train stations, Paris Est is the station "Paris East".

Monday, July 11, 2011

tomorrow this time: Paris



tomorrow, around this time, i will just be arriving in Paris, by train at the Gare de l'Est.

yesterday, i remembered the art book i have here, from an Impressionist exhibition. browsing the pages was like browsing through Paris, a century and a half ago: all those city views. the one on top is from the world exhibition in 1867, the one the Eiffel tower was built for. the lower one is the "Quai de Louvre" by Monet.

today started more practical, with advice from the friend who's been to Paris last year, the one from the post below. she wrote: "I'm envious of your trip. Paris is so beautiful. As much as I loved the art museums, I was just as happy walking all over and enjoying the people and architecture (and cheese shops). My tip is to take buses instead of the Metro, so you're above ground. Take lots of pictures."

so i now looked for a Paris bus map. printed it. looks like a layrinth at first glance, but actually, close to where my hotel is (near Gare Sait Lazare), a whole flock of bus routes start. one goes to the Musee d'Orsay, the other to Notre Dame. here's a taste: (from "goparis"):

Certain bus routes are particularly scenic and can be a cheap alternative to Paris bus tours.

Line 38 runs north to south through the city center and provides memorable views of the Latin Quarter, the Seine river, or Notre Dame Cathedral.

Line 68 offers a vantage of the Musee d'Orsay, Saint-Germain des Près, the Seine, The Louvre, and the Opéra Garnier

Line 28 offers lovely views of the Ecole Militaire, the Assemblée Nationale, the Seine River, le Grand Palais, and the Champs-Elysées.

Line 96 winds through beautiful spots on the right bank, including Hotel de Ville, the medieval Marais neighborhood, and trendy Bastille.


so: tomorrow. me. in Paris.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

memories of Paris





this time next week i will be in Paris. i still have a city guide here, from a previous trip - but realized that this was really years ago. so in now ordered a new one, with flip-map and walking tours. and then went and looked for the photos from my first time in Paris.

the photos are Kodaks, laid out as collage - the trip was in the time before digital cameras. and before the internet was such a huge part of life. the scenes in the photos are: Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame (with me), Versailles, L'Arc de Triomphe (here's a larger version of the image 1)

and the second collage: Seine River with Notre Dame, Les Halles, Centre Pompidou, Moulin Rouge (which really means: Red windmill). (and here, a larger version of collage 2)

oh wow. memories.

at that time, i was just finishing school. a friend just had turned 18 a bit earlier, and had a car – and so the plan came together to drive to Paris for 2 days. i still remember how approaching Paris, the highway moved from 2 lane to 4 lane to 6 lane. and then suddenly, we were in the middle of this city, swirling around roundabouts, map in hand, and a rough idea of where to go. which, thinking of it, was like a snapshot of the stage of life we were entering.

back then, i wasn't a writer. i wouldn't have been able to imagine that i would travel to Asia one day. would see Thailand. Cambodia. India. and would write a book. with Smitha, a stranger that turned into a friend. while both of us live in places with a distance that lead to the title of the book: WOR(L)DS APART.

and now, Paris will be the place where i will see the first proof copy of the book - brought by Jessi from the US. and there is a plan that now even connects to one of the places in those images: the Centre Pompidou (next to Moulin Rouge) is a museum. and the exhibition that is on there is, of all possible themes: “Paris – Delhi – Bombay”.

so Jessi and i will go visit it. and in her latest mail, she came up with the idea to bring the book there: "I would love to video you reading an excerpt from Wor(l)ds Apart at that Indo-French exhibit, so that Smitha could be with us in spirit."

ah, life.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Worlds Apart, coming together





places and words and pages are coming together these days, in a beautiful constellation of time:
today, it's July first. and: new moon.

and the manuscript for the book that is in the making since months... is now at the printer, for a first test print run, to check how images come out in print, and also, to proofread and finetune. so great to receive this mail from Jessi at Folded Word:

Re: cover in dropbox
Files are now officially uploaded to the printer.

the "Dropbox" in the mail header relates to a webtool that came in handy now in the final stage of pulling the manuscript together, and of working with images. here's the software description: "Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily."

in the 2 images above, you can see the final cover, and the pages in layout stage from a week ago: the images in low resolution are still framed with a layout frame, the image at the bottom gives an idea of how the final layouts will look like. the book reaches from Europe to Asia in its narrative between 2 worlds.

and now it will be .. waiting. for Paris. yes. for when all works out, Jessi and i will meet in Paris in 11 days (see post below)- and she will have a first proof copy of the book with her. whic is so very fitting for a novel named "WOR(L)DS APART".

can't wait. can't wait. can't wait.

and so good that the webpage for the book is rather far already, so we now can focus on the pages. here's the web link, with notes and an excerpt: "WOR(L)DS APART - The Intersecting Journeys of 2 Friends"