Chateau de Versailles

Approaching the chateau


BJ and I standing in Hall of Mirrors



The Gardens - infinitive view


Perfectly trimmed trees, green lawn


One of the many fountains in the French garden
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Palais de Tokyo, 16e arrondissement

In this exhibition, one of the most memoral pieces is this flow chart that tracks the history of pop/rock music.

Visual Explanations
a musical streams-of-story, an appealing history of "marketing trends and stylistic patterns in the development of pop/rock music" Topping the chart is a time-series that tracks sales of popular and rock music as a share of total record sales, although the names are not scaled in proportion to their contributions to the grand total. Bold letters indicate some 24 stylistic categories, fountains flowing into musical streams...


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Le Corbusier

Villa Savoye in Poissy
Architect: Le Corbusier



Described as "Machine for Living (in)", Villa Savoye is one of the famous houses of the modern Architecture movement. The house is raised on pilotis, separated from the earth.

Covered parking space: The curve of the ground floor is the turning radius of a 1927 Citroen.


Unusual vertical circulation: spiral staircase...


and ramps to make the house very dynamic.


Roof garden


The bathroom, blue tiled bath tub and black tiled recliner
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Champs Elysées, 8e arrondissement

standing in front of the Triumphant Arch


Champs Elysees toward the Arch


Louis Vuitton Flagship store under renovation
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Pompidou Centre, 4e arrondissement

Built in the 1970s, this "modern" building with its exo-skeletal structure creates column-free floorplates that allow a variety of functions. It incorporates Museum of Modern Art, Exhibition halls and public library.
website


Architects: Richard Roger, Renzo Piano, Gianfranco Franchini




We met Felix (also Architecture Student) at Villa Savoye a couple of days ago. Today we bumped into each other again at Pompidou Centre.

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Cathedral of Notre Dame, 4e arrondissement

On the Ile-de-la-Cité sits the Cathedral of Notre Dame ca. 1345.


The story of Quasimodo "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"


The bell


Gargoyle and Eiffel Tower


People are resting in the shade just outside Notre Dame Cathedral.


People playing with flame at night in front of Notre Dame Cathedral.


Deportation Memorial to the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps. Descending the steps as the city of Paris disappears around you, surrounded by walls like a prisoner. A plaque on the floor reads "They descended into the mouth of the earth and they did not return."


This hallway stretches in front of you, lined with 200,000 crystals, each representing one victim. Flickering at the far end is the eternal flame of hope. At your feet lies the tomb of the unknown deportee. As you exit, above your head the message reads "Forgive but never forget."
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Arab World Institute, 5e arrondissement

Where: Institute of the Arabic Worlds
When: opened December 1987
Architect: Jean Nouvel, Pierre Soria et Architecture Studio




South facade takes the arabic geometric motives and they are incorporated into mechanical lenses that open and close according to the time of day.


Library





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Paris, Easter Weekend

Easter long weekend BJ and I planned a trip to Paris by taking the Eurostar early in the morning. We had to get to Waterloo station for the train at 7am from Camden. The only bus available at that hour took us to the Strand and so we had to walk to the train station by crossing the Waterloo Bridge.


This was taken from Waterloo Bridge before sunrise.


Arrived in Paris...

More Photos
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AJ in London

AJ's visiting us after her amazing trip to India, on her way back to Canada. BJ and I, being the good hosts, took her out and about in the city of London.
















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Amazing Landscape in Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat is one of seven hills in Edinburgh, Scotland.










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Close in Edinburgh Part 2

From the main street through the close you get to the top of a row of painted buildings. It was just amazing to realize that the street section works with the topography.




See? We're standing by the guardrail.



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