The window of this pretty shop.

Some of what is offered.

Pretty display in the shop.

And this was in the window.

The reflection in a cracked rear view mirror.

I liked this coffee cup painted on one of those protective doors covering a shop.

I wanted to get both yellow clad legs as this lady quickly walked by but only got one.

Sort of a scary fellow to have over your door.

You can see how high the area was where we walked. I seldom see the Pompidou Museum from above-just at Montmartre in front of Sacre Coeur.

One of the street cleaners. He could hardly walk and looked to be way beyond retirement age. For some reason, this often seems to be the case in Paris. You never see them energetically sweeping the street, just using their brooms here and there and slowly moving along.

He had turned on the water which then rushes into the gutter taking debris into the sewer system. Being from Texas I was at first appalled when I saw this, feeling it really wasted water but, then, they didn’t ask me my opinion, and I think it is waste water.

The Space Alien is probably the best known. I’ve been seeing it for years-mosaic tiles made into the alien.

Here’s an enormous one slowing peeling off the wall.

Of course, there was Nemo, one of my favorites. He always gets permission to do his art.

This intricate art is done by a husband wife team.

We came upon a group of artists at work. The air was full of that smell of spray paint and I was worried about their lungs.

Some art on the ground.

Interesting. I’m sure it means something socially.

Another well known artist (I’ve blanked out on his name). The tree isn’t real-it’s painted on the wall.

A quick video taken during the tour.

So, the tour was fun and I’ve posted only a few of the many street art that we saw. It required a lot of walking, some of it uphill, so you have to be in fairly good shape to do the tour. I’m sure I was the oldest person on the tour as it is something young people are interested in as a rule but I found this whole other way of life interesting to hear about and see.

The cow had me wondering if Paris was going to start one of those decorated cow displays again as they did-along with many other cities-several years ago.

I just loved the color and texture of the chairs and stools in this restaurant.

The desserts in the window of Gerard Mulot always look like art.

I don’t know how many more locks will fit onto this bridge crossing over to the Left Bank. They used to cut them off but now it looks like all of them will remain.

A view of the Arc de Triumph from the side. It was just nice to get another angle as I am so often seeing it from the front. It’s been the stage for a lot of action in the last couple of weeks, first with Veterans Day here in France and the laying of the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and then, yesterday, a visit from the newly elected President, Hollande. It poured and his suit was soaked. I saw this on the TV as I wasn’t there in person.

A view of Avenue Daumesnil. This is a line of shops, most having to do with decoration and very high end, that once housed wine. The Promenade Plantee is on top where an old railroad track once ran.

Some McDonald’s in Paris now have a little coffee section and you can even get their macarons. This sign shows a cafe gourmand, a little plate of tiny desserts to go with your coffee which many restaurants now serve.

This was the first iris I saw in bloom on Promenade Plantee. I never see one now without being reminded of Provence. The roses are starting to bloom as well.

She rented an apartment or two in this area. The cafe was under trees and pink blossoms were everywhere.

One of the statues of a Wallace fountain there had been “gussied up”.

A bike in front of a wine store.

Cute flower arrangement at a florist.

The lovely, ageless interior of a boulangerie.

Over one of the entrances.

The interior of the market.

A view of one of the places to eat. Tagine meals seemed to be the most popular along with a Japanese place.

I didn’t get this but thought it looked so colorful.

This was in a nearby street. It’s called a Twizy and it’s just a little wider than a motorcycle and has four wheels.

Love this window.

This lady looked so fashionable with her black outfit with accents of orange.

The garden in the Musee Carnavalet-it’s free by the way.

And there’s a victory angel there as well.

Place des Vosges was full of people enjoying the sun. This is one park where people are allowed on the grass.

The Marriage Freres Tea shop as seen from the door. I like the dark wood there and the scent of many teas that waft out the door.

I seem to see a lot of red velvet couches in restaurants and bars. They always catch my eye.

This is a little street, rue de Tresor, used to be pretty empty of people but they added some really nice flower beds and now all of the cafes along the side are full.

A little blurry, but I like the behind of the dog as it entered the building. It seemed so excited to get inside as dogs often are-excited by just about everything.

Here’s our beach which goes on for quite a while. There’s a paved path higher up as well and we can walk or bike all the way to la Rochelle. We were sort of walking/jogging on the path and then decided to go down to the water where the sand is packed and all of the sudden I had all sorts of energy and we ran for quite a ways. Maybe it’s the ozone in the air.

We drove over to nearby Ile de Re while there which is a fairly popular island with the French. I had never heard of it before. It’s pretty perfect, sort of like Disneyland and full of tourists but still a delight to visit. I spotted this little fishing boat pulling into the little harbor.

And here is yet another lighthouse. They are just so photogenic.

There are donkeys on the island and they are famous for being “dressed” in little pants or culottes as they call them. I wonder who in the world thought this up? This small group of donkeys had little saddles on them for children to have rides.

Elegant door knocker on an elegant door.

There’s a huge beach there called the Plage des Bois which is sort of wild looking. When the tide goes out there are all sorts of tide pools to look at.

There are two light houses there right by the harbor, one red, one green, to guide boats into the narrow opening of the harbor. I just have a thing for light houses. I love the way they look and there is something romantic about guiding ships at night into safety.

Here is what a boat would see as it headed into the harbor. I love these two towers.

An interesting building with a model of an iron ship on the corner. There were a couple of buildings like this with some sort of tiles on the outside maybe covering timber in the building? One day I will find out.

I especially love this scallop shell on a freshly renovated building. So pretty.

The trees at the Palais Royal garden. Look: there are shadows from the sun!

Nothing to do with light but I’m always intrigued with this red velvet couch in a bistro in the Passage Vivienne.

A tea shop in Passage Vivienne with the sun coming in from sky lights up above.

There is all sorts of rod iron in the Palais Royal and most of it has the nice gold spears on top.

I’ve seen this guy all over Paris and even saw him on TV. I guess he has some sort of thing with wheels to move the piano around. He was very good.

This group was at the entrance of the Palais Royal.

This man was singing soprano as you can hear. He was very intense.