come and gone

on a day when some happily halloweened americans will actually don masks and costumes of their old presidents, infamous or not, to celebrate the glories of the candy manufacturing industry, I can't imagine that the dignified french would ever consider impersonating their ex-presidents, even ones in their youthful and intellectually elegant heyday, for any occasion...
[these dated posters were found already artistically torn away on a wall in the marais during the may 2007 election...most probably culled from the mementos of some nostalgic politico still hankering for the france of yore]

locatema

from sneaking into courtyards, some of the most interesting are off the rue du faubourg saint antoine...like this imposing phallicentric complex erected in the industrial age to house busy men making many, many useful and good quality [because they are french] things...

shoe hive

the incredible ingenuity with a few hundred plastic cups...just to display one precious pair of shoes

passage josset

so much of paris is becoming sanitized and americanized these days...it is increasingly rare to chance upon lost in time artisan ateliers such as this one still with its old sign on the door and a long out of date telephone number on it...

prelude