Saturday, July 12, 2008 – Before Bastille Day

From Our Man in Paris, Rick Erickson, editor of MetropoleParis, getting prepared for Bastille Day –

I absolutely want to score well for Bastille eve at the Bastille with stunning night shots, followed by stunning fireworks shots at the Champ de Mars on Monday. The weather forecast has been stunningly uncooperative. No sunshine is predicted but decoding the prevision leads me to believe it will not be raining, and, since it'll be dark, it matters not that the sun don't shine. I don't foresee being up early enough for the parade, to see Sarkozy and the President of Syria, Assad the Younger.

Out on trial on Wednesday I got as far as the Tuileries, the location of the annual fun fair with cotton candy and shooting galleries. The Ferris wheel is always a treat. But the spinning thing is really wild - I think the eyes don't believe what they see happening to the riders. The camera is dumb and just records. Next time I'll get an audio recording of it too.

The photos - a series of photos - were taken after dark but there were a lot of lights around.

To get even darker I got a 50 mm f/1.8 lens and took that out tonight for its first spin around here. Again there was light but less available than at the Tuileries. I'm converted. Those blazing sunsets are dramatic - as well as rare - but night shots... well, it is Paris isn't it?

The Rendez-Vous is our former all-everything-café and brasserie on the corner between two métro entries. They 'fixed' it up to suit the iPod crowd, to compete with the Indiana Café across the avenue. It was a place we used to go when we didn't want to think hard about where to eat. Open all the time, no reservations ever necessary. Now there is no food, no steak-frites, just cheese and salads with happy hours and Wi-Fi. I don't know if the regulars still go there to spend Sundays at the bar swilling beer and wine and watching the sports on the TV.

Text and Photos Copyright © 2008 - Ric Erickson, MetropoleParis

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik