Still cold...

It's still cold. I feel a bit reluctant to go out for blogging subjects. This week I have also been more "baby-sitting" than usual, which also forced me to get up earlier than usual.... and for once I saw the sun rise... over trees.

Actually, the trees were between two buildings. The chimney on the right...

... produced a lot of smoke. All heating systems work at their maximum.

The birds seemed to leave for some hopefully warmer place...

... and the pilot of this airplane seemed to have changed his mind on where to go. 

"No noise, no pollution"

« No noise, no pollution” is the slogan of the new service that is offered to Parisians: “Autolib’”, an electric car sharing scheme, which started by the end of last year. More or less following the example of “Vélib’”, which was launched in 2007 and which today offers some 20.000 bikes (see previous posts), this car sharing system started in December 2011 with some 250 cars and 250 “stations” - each one offering four or five recharge places - and should reach some 1.700 cars at more than 1.000 stations in 2012 with an aim of 3.000 cars in 2013...

If you go to the “Autolib’” site, you can see where cars are available and where you can find free places for the return.

These electric cars (Blue Car) are designed by Pininfarina. They are equipped by GPS. If you subscribe for 144 €/year = 187 US$, one hour’s drive would be charged by 9 € = 12 US$. You can also use it more occasionally, paying slightly more. The cars are said to allow 250 km (= 155 miles) of driving before needed recharge and if you leave the city centre should be able to reach a max. speed of 130 km/hour (=80 miles).

I guess it’s too early to judge how successful the system will be. I have not yet tried. For the “no pollution”, of course we must not forget that electricity has to be produced somewhere, somehow.

”Autolib’” stations also offer charging services for private owners of electric cars and motorbikes.

Cold

The winter has been quite warm in Paris… until last week. Officially day temperatures have been – and still are - just below freezing point, but due to the easterly, Siberian, winds, during morning hours they are felt like -15°C (5°F). (Fortunately I was in Siberia and Mongolia in September, not now.)

Walking through “my” little park the other day, I noticed that for once it was empty of people. The crocuses and daffodils probably made a pause in their spring efforts. Some plants were well protected. The pigeons know how to protect themselves, trapping air by their fluffed-out feathers and standing on one leg at a time, hiding the other one.

Most ducks and geese seemed to enjoy the nice "houses" that recently have been constructed for them.

Only the seagulls seemed to be flying.

The insects have been offered an hotel and I guess they were all sleeping. A board indicates who lives where.

There is a small waterfall which had covered the nearby branches and leaves by ice.

I left the park for a walk (on the way to the cinema). The outside bar chairs were emptier than ever, with a few exceptions for some smokers.

On my way I took a few photos of people.

 .... and yesterday (Sunday) morning, this is what I found - "my" street and park.

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette

In a recent post, I made an « excuse » about maybe too often posting about churches. Obviously, according to the comments, I’m “allowed” to make a few more and I’m so far still only on a 17-18% level when it comes to the coverage of the Paris churches… so here is about one more. Genie (‘”Paris and Beyond”), who recently was in Paris, made a post, which incited me to go to…

… Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, built in neoclassical style, which stood ready in 1836 and then was on the outskirts of Paris, being more and more populated. A new church was needed. Behind the church you find which was named “Nouvelle Athenes”, which during the next decades became a refined area for the bourgeoisie and also was where lived a number of artists like Liszt, Chopin, Georges Sand, Delacroix… (See some previous posts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.)

“Lorette” refers to the Italian city of Loreto and a legend linked to Virgin Mary. However, the church gave the name to the great number of mistresses, courtesans, who those days lived in the area and were named “lorettes” and who of course also visited the Sunday mass. On the map at the end of the post, I included a picture (made by Paul Gavarni, a famous caricaturist who also has his statue in the area, see previous post) of a “lorette” praying at the church.

But let’s just have a look at the church; from the outside (Sacré Coeur can – the rainy day I took the photo - be more or less seen in the background).…

… and from the inside. What is particular about the church is that most walls are painted (which obviously upset some people when it opened). The ceiling is also remarkable. The organ is by one of the most famous organ manufacturers, Cavaillé-Col (Notre-Dame, La Madeleine, St Roch, Pantheon, St.Sulpice…), and Cesar Franck was for a while the organist.

"Red Kids"

The oldest, still existing, covered market in Paris has the surprising name of « Le Marché des Enfants Rouges » (Red Kids). The explanation is the fact that in this area used between 1536 and 1772 to be an orphanage and the kids were dressed in red; red was the colour representing Christian charity.

We are in the northern part of the Marais, which in the 16^th century was a newly built area in the expanding Paris. There was a need to open a market and it was created here in 1615. Originally it got the name of “Le Marché du Marais”, but rather soon, with reference to the orphanage and the kids, it became known as the “Marché des Enfants Rouges”.

On a map from 1650 we can see the market and how near it then was to the city limits. We are close to the Temple (Le Temple) (see previous posts).

The market was in private hands until 1912, when it was taken over by the city. It was close to be destructed a few years ago, but was saved thanks to some associations and the inhabitants in the neighbourhood.

One of the side entrances to the market goes via what now is a miniature public park and a little “jardin partagé”, a kitchen-garden where some people share the pleasure of growing herbs, vegetables, flowers… On this little place, called the “Potager des Oiseaux”, a dozen of cows produced, until the beginning of the 19^th century, fresh milk to the inhabitants of the vicinity.

The market is quite small, but offers of course what you find in most similar markets.

It’s also a popular place for a lunch or a brunch. It’s closed evenings, so no dinners.

The red colour was later rather referring to communist activities and it may be worth to know that very close and on the same side of the street is a building which once was very much linked to the communist movements. Lenin came here for a meeting in 1909, it was for a while the French Communist Party headquarters and there was a cooperative communist restaurant, where Ho Chi Minh was one of the “managers” in the 1920’s.