15.4.13

Still no leaves on the trees, but…



Paranthesis: No leaves on the trees... Actually, this is not true any more. I prepared this post a couple of days ago. Suddenly, yesterday, the spring arrived!
 End of parenthesis.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure to walk around for a long moment together with some fellow “greeters”. We are volunteers who regularly take smaller groups of Paris visitors beyond the usual tourist spots. Feel welcome to make an appointment for your next Paris trip. You can do it by going here or by clicking on “Parisien d’un jour” in the sidebar. … and tell your friends!

Sometimes we also visit places and make walks just between us, between “greeters”.  So last Sunday, on the proposal by one of us, Isabelle, we made a walk along Rue des Pyrenées, with some deviations, on the top of the Belleville / Menilmontant areas.  I have already posted about this part of Paris, but I thought that the area is worthy of some more pictures.

So, the spring is definitely late and last week there were still no leaves on the trees - the “April in Paris” is until now not quite what it should be. Anyhow, there is now at last some kind of a spring feeling, especially in nice company, as during this walk together.
  
We are quite on top of Paris and the view over the city is really nice.


There are a number of nicely decorated buildings.





On the façade of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Belleville church, you can curiously enough read “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”, originally a rather revolutionary message. I have not been able to find out how this inscription has ended up here.


This was much more of a workers’ area with a lot of small industries. There are still a number of small idyllic alleys, small individual houses with little gardens, old buildings more or less transformed or under transformation…







… mixed with much more modern ones.


The area is known for the high presence of urban art (see previous posts) (Nemo, Jérome Mesnager, Jef Aerosol, Mosko, janaundjs, Fred le Chevalier, Paul Santoleri, Cyclope…). I noted that the Belleville Park had got some - at least for me - new very nice sophisticated decoration… and there is of course also a lot of tagging.









I even saw some live animals, including some small chicken in a flower shop window. 


16 comments:

Vagabonde said...

Cela fait plaisir de voir Paris sous des couleurs de printemps. Paris est joli sous la neige, bien sur, mais encore plus avec un décor de fleurs, non?

French Girl in Seattle said...

Bonjour Peter. Glad I stopped by today. Hey, do you think I could hire you as a "Greeter" when I come to Paris next July? I would love to have you as a guide and take the exact same walk. Maybe our friend Owen would consider joining us? Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

Amanda said...

So nice to see Paris not in gray for a change.
So many people must have been out enjoy the sun and warmth.

SusuPetal said...

Such coo, street and urban art!

I hope the same happens here, that spring arrives suddenly!1 And soon.

french cravings said...

Peter, I noticed in the shot of the street names the little shapes that remind me of the spaceships in a video game. I have seen them a few times myself around Paris, but know nothing about them. Enlighten me please. x Katie

PeterParis said...

Katie: I think you refer to "Space Invader". I forgot to mention him in my text. You can read more about him here http://www.space-invaders.com/ and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_(artist) ... and elsewhere.

Synne said...

I LOVE that the green leaves are finally coming out to play! What a lovely collection of street art details!

Starman said...

Love the graffiti. The level of talent never ceases to amaze me.

Parisbreakfasts said...

Yes Sunday was like Summer in Paris - very sudden and I had the wrong clothes on or rather too many compared to most Parisians.
What are the names of the streets you took? I'd love to go there too. I don't know the 20th at all!
Maybe Veronique will let me tag along?

claude said...

On sent bien que Vabagonde est comme moi, elle aime Paris.
Un peu de soleil, un peu de chaleur et hop ! le printemps s'installe et ce n'est pas trop tôt.
Très sympa cette série, Peter.

Studio at the Farm said...

What a wonderful walk! It does look like Spring there - in that sunlight. Thank you for taking and sharing your great photos, Peter!

Dédé said...

Les mecs sur les murs, ils tirent la tronche et ils ont plein de cheveux. :-)

Cezar and Léia said...

awww I love the cats and other critters! :)
Finally Spring! These pictures are wonderful, thanks for taking us with you in this walking!Amazing shots!
hugs
Léia

Anonymous said...

How about the little birds?
Are they already out and about saying TWEET to the greeters and tourists?
I don't know why this post got me nostalgic for Paris. So beautiful!Thank you.
Maria

Jeanie said...

April in Michigan isn't quite what it should be, either! Peter, a year ago today we left for France, and as you'll recall, we had plenty of rain during our time there!

This is a great place to discover -- love the orange cat, thank you! And all the pretty buildings. It's amazing how quickly those trees can burst!

Something seems odd and I'm not getting the email notice for your new posts, so I signed up again! Don't want to miss anything!

Shionge said...

No matter how many times I visit Paris..I know I can never get enough of this lovely place :D