Paris miscellany

Here are just a few things I've seen and wanted to post about, with no particular theme:

These great big green recycling receptacles are scattered throughout the city. I cracked up when I saw this one with empty wine bottles surrounding it. Apparently it was too full to put them inside, but that won't stop the winos from recycling! (OK, so maybe it was self-respecting citizens that drank all that wine, but if you look really closely, you can see two homeless guys in the background, sitting on their sleeping bags, eating sandwiches, and sharing a bottle of wine...)

The grass is resting. You see these signs almost everywhere there is grass in Paris. There are only a few places where you can actually sit down for a picnic or play soccer on the grass. These signs just crack Lucas up -- he wants to know when the grass will be done resting.

Behind a bakery, I saw this burned baguette that had been thrown out for the birds. This pigeon would taste some, then walk away as if he could find better. But he kept coming back for more.

It seems I will never tire of seeing outdoor cafe tables and chairs. (Mom, this cute color is for you!)

I saw this man standing by his accordion outside one of the Metro entrances. I was feeling tortured about wanting to take a picture of it, so I decided to just ask him if I could. He obliged!

The Proprete de Paris men (otherwise known as green guys). I love them! They are always out cleaning the sidewalks and gutters with their green plastic brooms that are made to look like old-fashioned stick brooms. I shudder to think what the city would look -- and smell -- like without them!

An upward glance at the stairway in our apartment building. No elevator. Thank goodness we live on the first floor!

Horses pulling a cannon down the street in front of our apartment. This was on President Sarkozy's inauguration day -- they had a big ceremony and shot off cannons, and then they were pulling them back to Les Invalides, where all the cannons are kept. It was very interesting to witness a presidential election here (my friends and I even saw Mme. Royal leading a small march in the Latin Quarter!). As in the States, there were people who were ecstatic about the outcome and people who were deeply disappointed.

One of the many produce stands in the Metro tunnels. I mean really. I love fresh produce as much as as the next person, but the hot, sticky, smelly, crowded Metro tunnels do not make me want to purchase food, let alone eat! So strange to me.