The golden hour

 Autumn leaves and lamplight.

Walking Wednesday

 

 

Shadows lengthen on a lively cobbled lane that leads to the river.

Travel Tuesday

Looking back: a view that never gets old.

(click to enlarge)

  

3 hours (or less) from Paris

Fly/Drive 

Cadaqués, Spain

 

Mouthful Monday

 

One bite of this XXL profiterole was pastry Valhalla. 

Below: the unfolding drama of that chocolate pour

 

 

Cemetery Sunday

 

 

Autumn leaves of bright reds and yellows overlook a section of the Montmartre Cemetery.

 

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On the heels of Halloween:

 

Carved from a former gypsum quarry, the sprawling Cimetière de Montmartre is widely considered to be haunted - not just by ghost-hunter TikTokers and superstitious tourists, but in Parisian folklore, documented sightings, and even official police logs.

 

Local tales of shadowy entities scaling the craggy walls after dark and slipping under doorways in surrounding streets - especially those near the bridge nicknamed le pont des âmes, the Bridge of Souls where tragic energy lingers - abound. The entrance gate on Rue Rachel is believed to be the official “spirit doorway,” and 2 a.m. is branded l’heure des malédictions et des âmes agitées, the hour of curses and restless souls. 

 

Beliefs about living near the dead are as varied as a Left Bank cheese planche. Some cultures burn sage, others hang garlic in windows for protection. Others are convinced their tap water will be contaminated. Whatever the belief, the common thread to avoid bad luck and illnesses is, “Don't live too close.”

 

Like Ichabod Crane, nearby residents can be seen scurrying home before nightfall. Some are so busy watching their backs as the sun goes down they've been known to develop whiplash. 

 

The good news? Aside from occasional weeping, giggling, and whispering (in French), you have very quiet neighbors. - BPJ

 

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Some illustrious residents:

 Writers Alexandre Dumas fils, Stendhal, Zola (just his grave; his remains were moved to the Pantheon)

Dancer Vaslav Nijinsky

Composers Jacques Offenbach, Hector Berlioz

New Wave filmmaker François Truffaut

Family Sanson, notorious executioners during the French Revolution

 

Sitting Saturday

A portrait artist has left his post to get coffee.

Above: French singer/songwriter/actor Serge Gainsbourg keeps an eye on things

 

Fortress Friday

 

The medieval Conciergerie from the Pont au Change.