The Paris Bike Show just ended. I'm not much of a bike expert so most of it flew right over me (I only recognized a handful of brands).
People (mostly men obviously) pay 12 euros for a chance to sit on a Ducati...
...have their picture taken on a BMW...
...or drool over some of the fancier models
Once you're back down from cloud nine, it dawns on you that pretty much every model on the floor is way beyond your budget.
They had a vintage section as well with some alien-looking older models
In the end, I liked this little Honda Zoomer the best
Nothing fancy, rugged, and no chrome (I'm not gonna get a bike so I can spend every weekend polishing it). 50cc (so no need for a license) and looks nimble enough to survive Parisian traffic. And at 2,600 €, it's almost affordable.
Album:
2011 Salon de la Moto - Burnout
To celebrate the end of the bike show, bikeshop Moto et Motards did a burnout on their Yamaha
Here they're giving the crowd a taste
More excitement
The big finale
The aftermath
Not much left of the tire in the end
...no sun up in the sky...♪ stormy weather ♫
Nature getting mad at Paris. Stood at the window for a good hour, got only one decent shot. Never knew catching lightning on film was this hard.
By the way, I was humming Stormy Weather the entire time.
Bastille Day
Update: the official video of the fireworks is up now (note: reload page if the video doesn't play).
Feu d'artifice du 14 juillet 2011 : l'intégrale par mairiedeparis
This year's Bastille Day fireworks show just ended. I remembered the crowds from last year and how you had to get there hours ahead to get a decent place, so I decided to watch the show from home this time around.
Disclaimer: my dinky camera doesn't like the night so, out of 50+ shots, I only got 4 decent ones.
The show lasted a good half hour. Here's a clip of the last minute of the show:
Call me a nerd but I thought the most interesting part of the whole thing was the very end where you can really notice how it takes at least a good 3 or 4 seconds for the sound to get to you. By the way, the people hollering are my French neighbors on my street, who are normally very quiet.
Feu d'artifice du 14 juillet 2011 : l'intégrale par mairiedeparis
This year's Bastille Day fireworks show just ended. I remembered the crowds from last year and how you had to get there hours ahead to get a decent place, so I decided to watch the show from home this time around.
Disclaimer: my dinky camera doesn't like the night so, out of 50+ shots, I only got 4 decent ones.
The show lasted a good half hour. Here's a clip of the last minute of the show:
Call me a nerd but I thought the most interesting part of the whole thing was the very end where you can really notice how it takes at least a good 3 or 4 seconds for the sound to get to you. By the way, the people hollering are my French neighbors on my street, who are normally very quiet.
There goes the neighborhood...
New Starbucks in the neighborhood. As if Paris doesn't already have enough cafés. Well, at least it wasn't a McDonald's...
Springtime in Saint Denis
Tomorrow's summer, so here's some pics to remember this spring by. No exotic locations this time. These were all taken within a mile from the office during my daily post-lunch stroll. Maybe that does make them unusual since Saint Denis isn't exactly the pretty of cities...
Complete album:
Complete album:
London
Finally visited London. It was only a day trip, but I still managed to visit most of the major landmarks.
St Paul's Cathedral
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace (rather bland-looking considering it's the queen's home - no match for Versailles)
Piccadilly Circus (not nearly as big as I imagined - it's no Times Square)
London Eye (tempting but not worth the money according to some sources)
Tower of London (Beheadings "R" Us)
Tower Bridge (which I had always thought to be London Bridge)
Trafalgar Square (that place with the big lions)
The Globe Theatre (not the original one built by Shakespeare - that one burned down)
Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate will have their lovely wedding)
Covent Garden (old marketplace turned into a shopping district)
The Gherkin (my favorite building since I saw it once on an issue of Architectural Record)
By the way, my definition of visited is "stopped for a second outside to take a picture." I actually didn't have time to go into any of them.
Lovely city, but extremely confusing. Its layout is a mess and the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road doesn't help at all.
Handy tip for the tourist: "Look Right" "Look Left"
Amazing city overall with tons of stuff to do. Very different from Paris (and much bigger too). I will definitely have to make another trip since one day isn't nearly enough to see everything. Besides, I was sore for days after busting myself biking around the city all day. But if you're crazy like me, you can still have a go at it: Frommer's One Day in London (note: 10 Downing Street is kind of a letdown since they don't let you get close and you can't really see anything from the gates).
Album:
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