And then, unexpectedly, the frost and snow came back. Frustratingly, all the parks and gardens in Paris are closed when there is a small bit of snow or ice. I guess they are worried about people slipping and starting legal action …
But, one morning, miraculously, one morning the gates of Montsouris were open. I rushed in and found this fellow with his high-performance camera.
And no, the icicle didn’t move.
Week 8: It was a beautiful sunny day in winter. Not a single cloud could be seen over Paris. In Luxembourg, the trees and bushes were bare of leaves. At the south end of the park, I saw this:
Taking this, I had a certain photographic reference in my mind’s eye. ..
Now we are into some deep bad weather. Overcast skies, rain. I went to the Musée Bourdelle one rainy Saturday afternoon and thought, well I can photograph inside. I was lucky! I found this photograph. There is a photographic connection in all of this, by the way: Berenice Abbot came to Paris to study sculpture with Bourdelle. But she met Man Ray, and then abandoned Bourdelle. Then she met Atget and abandoned Man Ray!
The Musée Bourdelle is one of the less-well known Parisian museums but it certainly worth a visit. There is a beautiful small garden inside and entry, and one can visit the sculptor’s workshops. Entry is free.
And so the floods arrived. Like a lot of other people I rushed down to the banks of the Seine to take photographs. I didn’t realise there were so many joggers down there on the weekend! I thought it would be full of photographers, but inside I had to constantly dodge left to avoid getting hit by joggers. I had thought that the experience of June 2016 was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Instead, not at all! And the waters had almost risen as much this time as the last time around. Although, of course, not as much as the historic flood at the start of the 20th century.
Here is one photograph of a fellow looking out over the flooded square du Vert-Galant. Jacques de Molay, as you may know, was burned to death in the 1243 only a few short metres from here.
