Art café

Morning coffee and art happily co-mingle in a spacious community café-gallery at the foot of Sacre Coeur. Artists have included New York enfant terrible and Warhol protégé Jean-Michel Basquiat.

End of an era?

Schnabel-esque, used ashtrays vie for space on a blanket at a neighborhood vide grenier ("empty attic") sidewalk sale.

Window dressing

A giant cat's head balanced atop a dress adds a fun touch to a window display of a small backstreet teen shop.

Klimt

The chairs in the upper photo seem to have been placed there deliberately to match a poster advertising an exhibition of works by Gustav Klimt.

Bronzed defiance

A sculpture of a young girl defiantly faces L'Académie française, the all-male bastion of power created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu to protect the French language. Not until 1980 was a woman elected as a member for the first time.

Caramel, chocolate, pistachio

A line-up of just three of the many éclair flavors at mega traiteur Fauchon on Place de la Madeleine.

Above: salted butter caramel, black chocolate, pistachio.

Blue suede shoes

A pair of blue suede heels takes center stage in a window in a district teeming with fashionable shops and boutiques.

Let all who enter

A stone mascaron, a decorative touch that has long disappeared from modern architecture, keeps watch over an open doorway.

To market to market

Sunday morning finds locals heading for bustling street markets like this one, leaving it to the season's offerings to do the meal planning.

Jazz apéro

A café readies to serve up cocktails, nibbles, and jazz on the side.

Un coin des arts

This graffiti-covered wall was an unexpected treat as I turned onto a narrow street in the heart of a funky gallery district on the Left Bank.

Wine down

Table wines and champagnes, most from small regional producers and many not exported, are displayed on a bed of corks.

Gluten rules

No shortage of gluten in Paris, where there seems to be a boulangerie on almost every block. Piled atop a counter, freshly baked plump brioches are the special of the day.

Walk, don't fly

A lone pigeon carefully made its way to the top of this steep staircase, step by step, then flew away.

Wallace fountain

These forest green fountains named after Englishman Sir Richard Wallace are now a symbol of Paris.

Petit déj' en terrasse

Flaky croissants, jus d'orange freshly pressé and a grand crème get the day off to a good start.

Sign of spring

The symmetry of tables lined up along a sidewalk in the sun is a sure sign that spring has finally arrived.

A Fornasetti fix

The Face equated with Piero Fornasetti that launched 16,000 designs is in excellent company with many more of his mind-boggling pieces. Musée des Arts Décoratifs til June 14.

Tea-totaler's lamp

This lamp inside a vintage clothing shop in the Marais district reminds me of something out of the "Mad Hatter Tea Party."

The Love Wall

The shadow of a tree makes a dramatic splash on The Love Wall, a romantic meeting spot on a leafy square where "I love you" has been immortalized in over 300 different languages.

Easter Sunday

An early morning walk on Easter Sunday revealed this beautiful bed of colors, flowers in full bloom behind the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

Holiday kougelhopfs

For Pâques weekend celebrity boulanger-pâtissier Gontran Cherrier displays a lineup of his nut-studded Alsatian kougelhopfs, each cradling its own pot of chocolate-caramel cream.

Eggs, bells, and fish

For Easter, Meilleur Ouvrier de France and chocolate sculptor Patrick Roger weighs in with his unique oeuvres.

Extra large eggs

Every Easter Paris chocolatiers unveil their chocolate egg creations. These one are enormous and destined to be cracked into pieces and distributed along with their contents.

Smart

A tiny "smart car" sits in front of the Pompidou Center on an early morning. Within hours this area will spring to life with street performers, sidewalk artists and vendors, and no cars will be permitted.