-
Paris Canal Saint Martin is “unemployed”
Every fifteen years, Paris undertakes the cleaning of Canal Saint-Martin. In river vocabulary, “Chomage” is the process of completely emptying and cleaning a canal. The last “chomage (unemployment)” was fourteen years ago. Was I in Paris or flying across the Atlantic? Not wanting to rely on memory, I grabbed the camera. The sky was blue as I headed from the Bastille where the canal disappears under the promenade along Boulevard Richard Lenoir to République where it once again resurfaces. The Saint Martin Canal is one of Napoleon the first’s projects to provide drinking water to Paris. Construction began in 1805 and it opened in 1825. As I exited the metro…
-
Paris Attack’s Discreet Memorial
On my way to Canal Saint Martin, I exited the metro République by the north exit on the Esplanade André Tollet. I was met by one of the new plaques to the memory of the January and November victims in Paris, Montrouge and Saint-Denis. The Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, unveiled the Paris attacks memorial plaque January 10, 2016. A small grouping of memorials, candles and flowers decorate this small plot discreetly placed away from the plaza center. The notes, candles, notices of opinion or even a plea for information for a lost sixteen-year old boy cover the main République monument below the bronze statue of Marianne, which symbolizes the French Republic.…
-
Why Is There July 14 “Bastille Day”?
Today is Bastille Day on July 14 in France. This year as I am watching the military parade on TV, the rain is pouring down. Aircraft squadrons fly over the Champs-Elysées on the France 1 television channel. A moment later, I look out the window and they fly low over the Bastille area. Parachutists wave to the camera as they dive into the rain. The African national flags of former French colonies (or in the case of Algeria, a former French territory) are attached to their legs. They gather them up with their chute when landing with precision in front of the reviewing stand. These flags can now be displayed…
