Paris - Top Ten Visited Pages

Paris in my pocket! - The Top 10 …

Thanks to the technical wonders of Blogger, Picasa Web Albums and StatCounter I have been collecting some statistics and information on readership of this blog.

I realise that it would take you all quite some time to read through every posting on every page here, and so for those of you needing a quick round up of readers’ most visited pages and images, I have compiled a list of the top ten postings in order of viewing popularity – there were some surprises.

1 – The Basilica of Sacré Cœur – Montmartre

This one doesn’t surprise me. It is an inspiring place.  Included here as a bonus then, a previously unused image of the Basilica. 

2 – Grande Arche Elevators

I cannot explain this one's placing at number 2. Yes, I do think it is an unusual image, and the Arche itself is impressive ....... but number 2?

3 – Ecole Militaire

A little surprising to find this one so high on the list, military affairs must attract more web traffic than I supposed.

4 – Paris (Sign at the Parc Floral de Paris)

This was the first image posted, so perhaps there has been more time for viewing it than the others – but then some fairly recent images also appear on this list. I suspect it is just that people love Paris!

5 – Chateau de Vincennes

It is gratifying to find such interest in the Chateau. I’d like to revisit it myself.

6 – Grande Arche  de la Fraternite (Detail)

In view of item 2, its not surprising this one appears.

7 – The Seine - Restaurant Boat

I checked to see if the post contained the word sex. It doesn’t so I cannot explain this one’s popularity either.

8 – Gazebo at Versailles

One of the later postings, it must be the romance of the place that attracts attention. Or, different expectations from the words Temple of Love?

9 – Boulevard Clichy

The word sex does appear in this posting ;-) ….. Say no more.

10- Louvre – The Pyramide from the Coeur Caree

I’m pleased about this one – it is one of my favourite shots. (My absolute favourite in the album is The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which came in at number 13).

I have been delighted to find that many of these images have been selected for inclusion on Google Earth - quite an accomplishment for 'le little camera'.

Paris - Au revoir and à bientôt

Plate CXX - The Ending …

I had packed my film cartridges safely in my suitcase. The last spool was still in the indispensable little camera that had accompanied my every move of the past few weeks and was safely in my pocket – with it, so too was the city. I wondered what magical images these films contained. I would only know when I arrived back home. I hoped there would be at least one or two good ones that I could share with friends.

It was time to bid farewell to Paris; to the streets and boulevards, the buildings, the people and the crowds. To the landmarks and the parks, the museums, the galleries, and the statues. To the churches and cathedrals, the chateaux, the hôtels and the palaces. To the stations, the buses, the trains and the markets. And to the shops and boutiques, the restaurants, the night spots and the cemeteries.

As if following the directions of the street mime (a curious combination of Abraham Lincoln and Charlie Chaplin) I headed towards Chatelet Les Halles and started the journey from the city centre back to Orlyval, and then onwards to the airport to catch the Air France plane back home - my last small taste of France. The RER and Metro lines which had been a somewhat confusing on arrival were now like familiar old friends. The smells of the coaches and stations had become what I will always think of as the parfum de Paris. As clichéd as it sounds I knew my life would never be the same. So often when one realises a long held dream there is a sense of anticlimax but for me, on visiting Paris, this was not the case. I had been enthralled, enchanted and totally captivated by the city and its residents. It had met and surpassed every expectation I had harboured since those far back schooldays in Miss Cooke’s language classes. I understood fully the meanings of those French expressions used on parting - au revoir, and a bientôt.  I knew I would return as often as I could.

I have.

I shall.

Acknowledgements…

Factual information included with these posts comes from a variety sources, and while I’d like to acknowledge them all, many have been forgotten over time. I did buy some city tour guides before my visit and, as always when travelling, relied heavily on Frommer’s Budget Travel Guide. Many notes were taken during visits to the locations shown (I did eavesdrop on numerous tour guides), and I included these in letters home during my stay. With my wife having kept these letters I drew extensively from them, including many anecdotal details. I have widely used internet sources to check statements and statistics for accuracy and currency. Official websites (where existent) have been consulted, failing which, for consistency, I turned to Wikipedia. Thanks to all the contributors to this magnificent resource. I blame no-one else for any inaccuracies that may have crept in – feel free to post comments and correct me wherever I am wrong – keep the dialogue going. If you have enjoyed this blog, please tell your friends and any other Paris aficionados you know of to pay a visit. If not, tell me.

Dave

Paris - Père Lachaise - 19e

Plate CIXX – Pere Lachaise – Edith Piaf …

It is said that over forty thousand people accompanied Edith Gassion on her final journey to Père Lachaise. It is not hard to understand why. Better known as Edith Piaf, La Môme, or (France’s) Little Sparrow, the four feet ten inches tall singer in her customary costume of a simple black dress will, to me and many others, forever remain the defining voice of Paris.

I had to find her. To the south-east of the graveyard in a simple polished black granite grave, surmounted by a crucifix such as had become her trademark, and engraved with the name Famille Gassion-Piaf, Edith now rests alongside family members unable to give her the strength and support she craved in her life.

From the accordionists busking in the underground metro stations, or the Wurlitzer sounds of the carousels of the city, to the cd vendors with their portable players on the pavements outside Galeries Lafayette it is unlikely during a city visit that you will not somewhere hear the music of Piaf. Through a life that was always tinged with tragedy, starting in the back streets and brothels of Montmatre, Edith Piaf became the best known French entertainer in the world. Her love affair with America (excepting for its food) ensured her international renown. With a voice that used none of today’s musical contrivances Piaf could express the gaiety and laughter of a city at play one minute to the sadness of a bereft lover the next. She is unique.

I would be leaving Paris shortly. I knew I would come back again. In my head Piaf was singing… 

Je pense à toi sans cesse.

Paris, je m'ennuie de toi, mon vieux.

On se retrouvera tous les deux,

Mon grand Paris………