Semi-detatched series.

I love this series of 'suburban boundaries' by photographer David Malan. Beautifully observed and captured. Visit his site to see more of this series and some other great personal work.

Au Revoir, Paris.

"There are two kinds of travelers. There is the kind who goes to see what there is to see and sees it, and the kind who has an image in his head and goes out to accomplish it. The first visitor has an easier time, but I think the second visitor sees more. He is constantly comparing what he sees to what he wants, so he sees with his mind, maybe even his heart, or tries to. "  

Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon.

Mooi.

Amsterdam was great. Perhaps because we met up with friends in the city, perhaps because I just happened to sleep in the best bed in a hotel room yet and definitely because the Dutch are the most wonderful gezellig mense.

Beautiful decay.

Some snapshots from our 'Venetian interlude'.  Oh, la bella Venizia! What a magical place, albeit touristy. The kind of place you have to see before you die - or it sinks!

Musée de la Monnaie: Willy Ronis exhibition

We went to see an exhibition of photography by Willy Ronis just before it closed. This French photographer died at the age of 99 in September of last year. His photographs have become synonymous with Paris and he is celebrated for his reportage style of shooting "ordinary people with ordinary lives”. 

It was an extraordinary body of work to see - one that inspires you to look through the viewfinder of your own camera differently each time you lift it for a snap shot. 

Images: Le Petit Parisien (1952), Les Amoureux de la Colonne Bastille (1957), Place Vendôme (1947), Lorraine en hiver (1954).

La couleur verte.

A friend asked me how I felt about our apartment in Paris - did I feel 'hemmed in' in a small space amidst all the concrete and stone that make up the streets and buildings? Well, you can almost swing a cat in our space and admittedly we feel right on top of our neighbours but we don't feel stifled. We spend most of our time outdoors and there is a surprising amount of green in Paris -  it is summertime after all.

Of course the great green areas of Paris are the beautifully landscaped gardens. But above is some of the green we've spotted in unexpected places during our walks. Amazing overgrown window boxes and carefully cultivated vertical green walls. 

Perhaps cultivating vertical gardens is owing to the fact that in the majority of the cities gardens you aren't to sit, walk on or otherwise touch the manicured lawns!