Frank Gehry in Paris

In the past 12 months we've been able to see 4 buildings designed by architect Frank Gehry, two of which are in Paris. One is the "deliberately spectacular" Fondation Louis Vuitton building. And the other is the "pre-spectacular-Gehry" designed Cinémathèque Française Building.







The previous two are the Marqués de Riscal Vineyard Hotel in La Rioja Spain...


...and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Paris: Finally checking off Montmartre

Montmatre is one of the few places we did not manage to walk by during our previous visit to Paris. We were reminded of our remiss many times from all the old French films we watched during COVID. The first full day in Paris we were favored with good weather; we made our pilgrimage.

Actually our rooftop room in the 2nd Arrondissement has a view of the Sacre Coeur. I loved slumming it in our shabby room. It made me feel like a young artist from the many films. The films also prepared me for spotting prostitutes in doorways during the daylight hours. How provincial I seem to myself!

Montmartre had a lot of tourists running around. Whatever souls, spirits, etc. the place sheltered - Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Picasso - are long gone. This place appealed to us as little as the Left Bank. I did like the art nouveau church of Saint Jean de Montmartre and the beautiful mosaics in the Sacre Coeur.

We wake up and can see our morning destination, Sacré-Coeur, from our hotel room window. Nice.


The Porte Saint-Denis (who lost his head on the way to Sacré-Coeur).


Our route to Montmartre took us by the Folies Bergere, whose name we know; but their fabulous Art Deco home was a surprise.


Micromobility in Montmartre. First, one of the ubiquitous, swerving, scooters.


A Yokler; the "Professional Electric Cargo Bike"


Stuart (on-demand delivery) uses K-ryole (last kilometre utility vehicle) cargo carriers.


Introducing the "NEW CITROËN AMI 100% ËLECTRIC"!!


The Art Nouveau Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre Church. Don't see many Art Nouveau churches. This one was beautiful inside and out.




Up the stairs to Sacré-Coeur.




The view from Sacre-Coeur towards the Seine.


Sacré-Coeur interior.




Saint-Dennis carries his head.


We ate our picnic lunch in nearby Claude Charpentier Square underneath a water tower made of the same white stone as Sacré-Coeur.


Also in Montmartre is the famous artists square, Place du Tertre. Always busy.




The famous Montmartre view to Sacre-Coeur.


The last surviving Montmartre vineyard.


The windmill.


Conversations in Place Émile-Goudeau where the young Picasso once lived and worked.


A cafe with a view on Place Émile-Goudeau.


Finally, the Moulin Rouge.

Catching Sting in Paris

The recent half dozen trips in Europe all took place in the spring. We would always see posters advertising summer tours for different bands, by which time we would have invariably retreated home.

During the summer when we were planning for this trip, it somehow got on our radar that we were going to coincide with Sting in Paris. Such an occaission was not to be missed. By then, of course, the show was sold out. We tried the reseller viagogo for the first time. It was a fantastic show for John and me, considering John is the same level of fan as I am.

The next day we happened by the Rex Theatre. It turned out Bob Dylan was in town for three nights. Unfortunately the sold out shows were not on viagogo, and we didn't feel comfortable exchanging hundreds of euros with a stranger. There was no Bob for us.

Our daylong camino to the Sting show from Saint-Malo to Paris included changing buses in Tinténiac, Bretagne where a young man was cleaning signage.


We booked a room at the Hotel Tiquetonne, near Les Halles, and thanks to the pleasant natured front desk person we ended up in a huge-for-Paris double with a fridge and a view towards Montmartre.


Since we arrived in the afternoon we had time to walk past the Hôtel de Ville and Notre-Dame de Paris, and pop into Saint-Eustache, before eating dinner and heading to the show.







The security check lines at the Accor Arena were long but moving, and soon we were inside.


Our seats were in the first row of the upper deck where the sound was loud and crisp, and the video screens easy to see.


Sting did a great show, fronting the band while playing bass, and giving each member of his band a "time to shine". He opened with a rocking Message in a Bottle and finished his encore with a solo version of Fragile.






Now appearing, Bob Dylan. What?!

St-Malo: high tide, low tide, high tide, low tide ...

We know St-Malo from a number of Eric Rohmer's films. The city was badly damaged during WWII and much rebuilt. We happened to be there on an unseasonably warm weekend. There were a lot of people everywhere - in my opinion - I hate to imagine what it is like during summer.

I failed to comprehend how special St-Malo is until we walked on the super wide beach at low tide, way below street level, then at high tide, having the wave come over the seawall, splashing the seawall/promenade. In fact, John got sprinkled walking on the promenade at high tide. He could have easily been drenched. According to the "official" tide chart, the difference between low tide and high tide was about 12.5 meters (41 feet) for each day we were there in mid-October. We have never seen such tide action at any beach town.

Dad, this tide chart is for you!


View from the walls of the old town at mid-tide.


Some sailing action in the waters between Saint-Malo and Dinard.


Saint-Malo's magnificent cement outdoor saltwater pool gets filled up at every high tide.




A view to the re-built Old Town and city walls.




The promenade in late afternoon when the tide is up.


Danger!


The view from the promenade when the tide is out a bit.


And when the tide was way out we had a blast walking on the firm, exposed sand. First, a 35-second video.














Same spot at low and high tide.








High tide; low tide.




A short video in which I, just off camera to the right, barely escape getting doused by a wave.