Mugshot

I am french. So, genetically, a coffee drinker. It's the truth, it is in my genes!
But... I've spent long years in tea drinking fields, England, Scotland, India, etc, and I've got infected... Yes, I drink tea as well!!! A nice oolong, or masala chai... Better than bad coffee!
And so, tea selling shops are spreading in France, it's a pandemic...
DEAR COFFEE DRINKERS:I'M NOT YOUR ENEMY!!!

Paradiso

My favorite bar/restaurant/exhibition place in Europe... In the Giardini area of Venice, and part of the Biennale

A Monday mural in love

I know, it's 3 days early, but happy Valentine everybody!
More Monday Murals here.

A weekend reflection

Can you see me?
More weekend reflections here.

Pizzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Do you ever have a craving for an authentic Italian wood-oven pizza, with a little musica, a few canzone to go with? Well, I do, now. The nearest Italian pizzeria being some 400 km away, here is some musica, from Genova, city infamous from it's crumbling bridge.

Weekend in black and white

Crossing the ponte degli Alpini in Bassano del Grappa, near Venice.
More b&w here

Colors

Something to light up a grey rainy day

Place Gutenberg

By rain, by snow, winter or summer...

The world and the Currywurst

Berlin without Currywurst is not really Berlin...Pork sausage, with ketchup, vinegar and curry powder  I like my Wurst as any German does, or half-German in my case. The Germans eat 800 millions of them every year, according to the Currywurst museum (I'm not kidding, there is such a museum) in Berlin. I'm travelling a lot, but I've never seen it elsewhere.
The hot air balloon, Welt is German for world, is probably taking the Wurst around the world....Could be worse...;-).

Walking through a sea of roses

Where is she going? Is she on her way to friends, to a trendy coffee place, to see her lover?
Seen in Faro, Portugal, last June.
More Monday Murals right....here.

Bridge over troubled water

Crossing the bridge. Wouldn't want to get my feathers wet, me!

Weekend reflection

Last summer, so long ago...
More weekend reflections here

Weekend in black and white

Water, birds, snow, a little sunshine... What else do you need?
More b&w here.

Whiteout

Theme day tomorrow, the theme is: white. It snowed a little last night, but now, at 2 PM, it's all gone. The weather report predicted a snow apocalypse, but...FAKE NEWS, lol.
A lot more white here.
Post dedicated to my friends  Gunn and Steve.:-)

Deudeuche!

A shiny oldtimer! The 2cv, (deux chvaus, 2 horses, aka deudeuche) the quintessential french car, rarely to be seen nowadays. They were built from 1948 till 1990. Want one? They can cost over 12000 euros.
More here.

The door to...

... well-being. Technical door to one of the thermal springs in the neighbor town of Baden-Baden, 40 km away in Germany. One of the springs of my favorite spa, the Friedrichsbad

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