On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
randy khan
These photos mostly were taken in the Bois de Bologne, a park in the northwest part of the city, not too far from the northern border. We went there to visit the Fondacion Louis Vuitton, a contemporary art museum. We were there not too long after it opened. It’s a wild Frank Gehry building, and definitely worth a visit, but for spring I thought the park was more interesting.
The park is really big, and these photos capture only the northwest part of it. This is the north side of the museum. You can get to the roof, and the views from there are really great.
This is the Canots du Lac. It’s really just a bit of a lake with a Japanese-style building on it.
The northern part of the park has an amusement park. This is not a huge rollercoaster, but it definitely has style.
This is a very French merry-go-round. Check out the decoration on the urn.
This and the next photo are just some flowers in the park.
More flowers.
Now we’ve left the park for a brief look at some very bright food. First, a fantastic sorbet cone.
And some meringues in a shop window.
One of our favorite things to do in Paris is to go to this flea market, which is on weekends near the Porte de Vanves on the south side of the city. They sell all sorts of things at Paris flea markets that you wouldn’t see at American flea markets, notably bottles of wine (many that seem to have been sitting in basements for years before being sold, but also lots of art (mostly not so great, but still). And it’s fun to see what things are suddenly showing up everywhere – last year it was Chinese paperweights that are supposed to look like they’re from Murano.
For springtime, I’d thought I’d include a photo of this fascinating phenomenon – couples put locks with their names on bridges in Paris. They’re not everywhere, partly because there are favorite bridges and partly because there aren’t good places to put the locks on all of the bridges. There are thousands of them on some of the bridges.
randy khan
Okay, not Versailles! I apparently put the wrong title on the post.
Lapassionara
@randy khan: it’s ok. These photos work just fine. Thank you for posting them.
Benw
@randy khan: haha not going to lie, a dragon-head coaster would be a big improvement to Versailles!
:)
susanna
I like the dragon coaster, and fell in love with how the flowers are arranged in the garden photo. And who does food like the French? The cone and meringues, for beginning…..
?BillinGlendaleCA
Think that building on the lake looks more Korean(lots of bright colors) than Japanese. It reminds me of a building on a lake in Piwon in Seoul(has been featured on OTR many years ago)
ETA: Brightened the shadows in Photoshop, that’s Korean.
randy khan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Could be. My default in Paris is to assume Japanese influence given how gaga the French were for Japonisme in the late 19th to early 20th century, but that’s not true for everything.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: As I noted in my ETA, the colors look a lot like the pavilions I’ve seen in Seoul as well as the Friendship Bell here in San Pedro. Japanese architecture is much less colorful.
The shadows lightened.
The more I look at that photo, there’s other stuff that’s copied from Piwon, the stone arch to the right of the pavilion is a copy of one found in Piwon. Piwon was the Korean King’s private garden behind two of the palaces in Seoul.
Both of these photos were featured on the Aug. 23, 2017 OTR:
Stone entryway.
Pavilion on Lake.
Dan B
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Seconded on Korean style Pavilion by the lake. Similar to but different from classical Chinese.
All the photos look like it was a vibrant place to be. And the Calvinists wouldn’t last a second on the Merry Go Round. First the physicality of the experience and then the Demoiselles on the urn.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Dan B: The Chinese use more red, the Koreans use more greens and blues, the Japanese, more browns.
randy khan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
You’ve convinced me.
sab
Silly me. I have been reading Outlander books. Seriously important event occurred in Bois de Bologne. Glad to have a context.
I love meringues, but they eat my tooth fillings.
Steve in the ATL
@sab:
Was it a drug deal? Because a lot of those take place there!
Elma
The Love Locks must be a pan-European thing. We saw then in Moscow in 2012 and in Lisbon in 2015.
De-lurking just this once
The people who do the locks thing should be forced to jump in the water afterwards.
randy khan
@Elma:
Wikipedia tells me that they originated in Serbia, which I count as a surprise.
WaterGirl
The merry-go-round is so charming. Love the sorbet cone, with the first scoop all flattened out. What’s the flavor of the yellow scoop on top? Looks too yellow to be lemon.
And the garden. Wow. That mix of all the different flowers is wonderful.
*Post title is fixed.
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
I want to say mango, which is my wife’s favorite, but it was a long time ago.
Tenar Arha
@randy khan: all you Paris photographers are basically planning my next trip for me. Thanks!