быстро!

A typical parisian bistrot, or bistroquet. Some say that the word bistro came from the russian word bistro, quickly, from when russian troops occupied Paris, during the napoleonic wars. As in: beer, quickly!
More about it here.
More Monday Murals here.

Budapest, with Jethro Tull

Let's go away for a day... I discovered Budapest last summer, and I love the place (and the local prices).
The parliament, office of the troublesome Mr Orban.

My photo, but obviously not my video!

A weekend reflection painting of sorts

A little digital painting today, trying to render the impression of snowfall. Well, kind off.
The Petite France area, of course, such a good photo spot!
More weekend reflections here.https://weekendreflection.blogspot.com/

Weekend in black and white

Snowed in playground in the Petite France.
More b&w here, as usual. Easy peasy, just CLICK!

Aubette on ice

This is the Aubette on place Kleber, the city's main square. An old garrison building from the mid 18th century. Nowadays, a shopping mall where you can have an Californian apple and Seattle coffee, among other things, with a concert hall. Oh: and the international bookshop, important!!!
This winter, there is also an ice rink in front. And a very convenient meeting point!

Bye bye

No worries, it's not me, but the tree saying bye bye. It's been taken down as I write this. So, Christmas is definitely over.
It is snowing... Too late for a white Christmas.

Petite France

After the catastrophic holiday season we've had, terrorist attack, yellow jackets, the city council apparently decided to leave the Christmas lights on a while longer.

You're now entering the...

...japanese sector.

More from the Eastside Gallery in Berlin.

Many more Monday Murals here

A weekend reflection

More reflections here

Weekend!

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

Weekend in black and white

I spent the day for the first time ever in Baden-Baden, a small and lovely spa town in the Black Forest, 40 km from here. In Germany. By browsing the net, I discovered that the town an important russian population in the 19th century. People like Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky,  Goncharov, many Romanovs stayed there... They all wanted to the local casino. There is even a russian orthodox church.
Anyway, more b&w here, as usual

Let the sunshine in!

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman

The white Black Forest

The Schwarzwald range, seen from my balcony. Complete with the huge television antenna on top of the Feldberg, some 85 km, 50 miles away. I can only see only see that far by very clear weather.
It's getting colder, but no immense snowfalls like the ones causing chaos further east in Germany and Austria.

Ain't no sunshine...

Well, we actually had a little sunshine yesterday, a few fleeting moments of vitamin Sun.

Frieden

German for peace. A mural on whet's left of the old Berlin wall.
More Monday Murals in Sami's colourful world

A weekend reflection

More weekend reflections here.
So, coffee anyone?

Parc de l'Orangerie

A last glimpse of autumn

Weekend in black and white

Like a bird on...a shopping trolley, as Leonard Cohen might (not) say...
More b&w this weekend here

Freezing

Gandhiji

Mahatma Gandhi. My personal hero. The statue was a present from the Indian government to Strasbourg, in 2011. The artist is Ram Sutar, one of the foremost  Indian sculptors, also known for building the statue of unity in Gujarat, India.
Someone bring Gandhi some warmer clothes!!!

Blue

Blue sky, last summer. Well, it is winter now, we just had a first very fleeting glimpse of blue sky this yrar, all 5 minutes of it. Yeah!

A Monday Mural

Somewhere near the Marques de Pombal square in Lisbon, Portugal. Not a square square :-).I have no idea who they are.
More murals here this Monday
And don't miss last Monday's Elephant Woman mural!

Behind locked doors

Maybe someone's secret garden

Are you looking at me???

Grumpy cat.

Weekend in black and white

Who ordered a taxi???
More b&w here

K7

Things one can do with old audio tapes. Called cassettes in french, shortened to k7. Do you still have yours?

Palais des Rohan

The fountain next to the palace of the prince-bishops and cardinals of the Rohan family. A notable family from Brittany who at a time monopolized all the the secular and regular powers in town, with a whiff of game of thrones.
Well, I like this fountain. Can't say the same about the family.

City Daily Photo theme day: photo of the year

Well, the choice was fairly easy this year! It might not be my best, but it is definitely my favorite photo of the year, during the first of my trips to Portugal, in January 2018.
To see more, just click here

Wishing you all a very happy 2019!

A Monday mural

A feminine and Portuguese version of the  elephant man. Seen in Lisbon last summer.
Want to see more? Just click here!

Ilha de Armona

It's cold, it's grey...The Australian heat wave sounds delightful!
Enjoy a bit of color!

Are you looking at me?

Weekend in black and white

A detail of the cathedral.
It's the weekend, the last this year, and it's black and white, like the weather here.

Just a detail...

... on an old house in the Petite France

Enter at your own risks

Inviting, isn't it? Well, it actually is, inviting you to visit the Tomi Ungerer museum

Joyeux Noel!

Above, it's Alsatian for merry Christmas and a happy new year. You probably guessed... :-)
Frohe Weihnachten, God Jul, buon natale, feliz navidad, bon nadal, kali chronia, nollaig shona, feliz natal, craciun fericit.

Ho Ho Ho!

Guess who is coming tonight, on his fancy green ride? Well, did you behave this year, have you been a good girl/boy?

A weekend reflection

More weekend reflections here.

Chaos!!!

Like a fool, needing some parsley, I ventured into town this morning. Very bad idea! I absolutely HATE queuing in shops! Luckily, I managed to escape the "last Saturday before Christmas shopping chaos" unscathed (coffee helped). My bad: should have thought about that parsley before.

Weekend in black and white

Winter is coming! At 22h 22 minutes and 44 seconds exactly tonight, local time. All those of you on holidays: don't overdue it :-) !
More b&w here

Last day

Last few hours of autumn, although it is not really ending. Looks like early spring, march kind of weather.

Gone

Well, last Sunday's snow has all gone. We will probably have the warmest Christmas in decades, grey and around 15 degrees C, or 60 F.
Last chance to see the Christmas market, as it closes on the 24th, 5 or 6 PM!

Lights in the city

Some nice lighting this year, in the Grand Rue

Ein Monday Mural in Berlin

See, you understand German! :-)
A part of the old Berlin wall called East Side Gallery. 110 artists were asked to decorate a one mile long stretch of the wall, back in 1991.
More excellent Monday Murals here

Winter!

And BANG! Suddenly, overnight,  it's winter! The white kind, not the fake grey and dreary one.
One question though: will we finally have a white Christmas???
More Weekend Reflections here

The little house in the...

...tree. At home among the stars.

All hands on

Part of the East Side Gallery, the decorated remains of old Berlin Wall.
More b&w here, as usual

Allez les amis, on continue

The show must go on.

Je suis Strasbourg

Terror attack here last night, 3 dead, 13 injured, 8 of them between life and death. The lone shooter fled. Cherif, 29 years old, radicalised Muslim, born and bred in Strasbourg, was arrested 27 times in France, Germany and Switzerland, the first time aged 10, spent several years in jail. He was well known by the anti-terrorist police, and was...free.

The Dom

This the protestant cathedral in Berlin, just next to the world famous Pergamon museum, on the Museum Island, on a glorious but freezing day The entrance will set you back 7 euros...
More about it here, in English.