Having a French moped myself, I thought it would be fun to go looking for the current mopeds of Paris. In a city that resembles an ad for Smart cars, in which motorbikes and scooters of various descriptions park with impunity on pavements or indeed anywhere they can squeeze in, two wheel travel is widely accepted as the norm.
In such a culture there are intriguing variations on a theme – scooters with a roof such as those from BMW and Renault, three-wheeled scooters, and more traditional mopeds.
taking the last first, I saw quite a number of Motobecanes obviously still going hard, like these ones
This one was amazing – three wheels!
I wondered how they went around corners. Suddenly I had my opportunity as this one pulled away while I had my camera in hand.
Others clearly were workhorses in more ways than one
And if you needed a big truck in a little street you could go for a vespa truck
But the traditional velo-solex is still popular – the bicycle with the engine on the front wheel – very French!
So the peds still swarm in Paris – even the police ride Peugot mopeds around the cobbled back streets!
Posted by Jerry on June 13th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Travel
What is Paris? My guess is it’s more Amelie than Da Vinci Code – at least in Spring. In this city I’ve seen more kisses per square km than any other. The art Nouveau apartment buildings are lit by window boxes bursting with flowers. The narrow cobbled side streets reveal Smart cars parked like shopping trolleys and the pavements are packed with scooters and mopeds. Every corner has a cafe filled with the aroma of fresh baguettes, coffee, cigarettes and the sound of people talking like a bite of chocolate just melted down their throat.
For some it’s the sense of history epitomised by the Louvre with the contrast turned up. Some are not keen on Pei’s glass pyramid entrance, while others are intrigued at the inverted pyramid beneath.
But it’s not where you think it is.
And the Venus de Milo, considered by some to be perfect, stands in the shadow to one side. The back is quite roughly finished so it’s clearly designed for a niche rather than all-round viewing. It is certainly striking, as are the three Graces.
For me it’s about the people – friendly, spontaneous, a little chaotic – like their streets, but always stylish.
The metro subway system is easy to use and fairly clean, and the pneumatic tyres on the trains make them surprisingly quiet. At the right time of day the stations can be almost deserted.
Many of the stations retain the art nouveau signs and lights designed by Hector Guimard that lend form to function in a wonderfully organic way.
The Sunday street market at Port du Vannes is a delight whether you are looking for antiques or buttons and beads
But for many – this is the quintessential Paris icon
According to the lift operator there can be up to three marriage proposals per hour on top of the Tower. At the turn of last century this was where pioneer aviator Santos Dumont used to tie up his personal dirigible!
Posted by Jerry on May 17th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Travel
This is the land of commerce! Where else in the emergency instruction would you find, not only the emergency escape route marked out in case of fire, but also the
emergency route to the vending machines in case you have a bad attack of the munchies! And all this in your hotel safety instructions…
Meanwhile the Mall roof references the height of Victorian railway station design. The interplay of line, angle and curve works very well. And the palm trees are reminiscent of the Paris Orangerie – a signifier of elegant fashion.
And to add to the sense of being in a gallery of contemporary style there are artworks positioned around the mall – like the cubist violin series, called “Three Violins”. It’s more like what happens when your violin has an industrial accident with a bandsaw… I actually liked the way the violin has been sectioned and displaced, giving the violin a sense of movement and time.
I knew I should have brought mine to the ‘States – I was offered a spot at the open mic session at the hotel. I said I’d do it if they could locate a violin. They didn’t so I didn’t, but it was kinda fun to think I could’ve started my overseas tour right then and there! I guess they didn’t know who I was…. 🙂
Posted by Jerry on May 16th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Travel
The US is a land of contrasts, from the elegance of the parks to the visually rich malls. This elegant park bench is in The Mall, Washington DC
as is this floral urn, with its Classical references
And even in the shopping malls there are elements of wonderful design, like these power sockets in the shopping mall
And in the shops, there are the fleeting clothing styles, but these bags caught my eye – completely encrusted with beads and ‘bling’.
Interestingly, the design of the stores themselves, also referenced classical architectural style, but did so by creating facades resembling furniture display cabinets, rather than purely architectural buildings. It was like these stores saw themselves as indoors rather than as retail spaces, adding an elegant domesticity that referenced the interior of elegant homes. Given their up-market contents it is not difficult to see why such a style would appeal. But I thought it was an interesting stylistic feature 🙂
America starts the day with coffee – for some it’s a simple filter coffee, for others a double decaf latte with complications. But it’s always coffee.
Perhaps it’s a pre-breakfast business meeting – notice the power relationship: semiotically (proxemics – spatial orientation – gaze, dress), two have coffees and are leaning forward aggressively while the third has nothing and has his arms folded defensively – this is not a pleasant meeting…
Or a couple bored with life and each other – both with arms folded and looking away from each other, lost in their own worlds and present to neither, each tolerating the other’s presence but wishing they were elsewhere.
And sometimes, it’s a bite out of time to escape into a good book and leave behind the mundane for a little while. This woman let her coffee go cold – such was the power of narrative!
Gradually the Mall rubs the sleep from its eyes and begins the day.
Somehow the off-white tiles stay clean. Every second person carries a take-out coffee and the other half are talking on cell-phones – perhaps to each other.
The stores beckon with the lure of the exotic – Shogun of England, Clarks Shoes (England), Lenkersdorfer, Haagen Dazs – European names and references to that which is not here.
