Trip Backlog: Trocadero

I'm currently in the middle of backlogging trips made before the conception of this blog, and today's backlog is on the City of Lights. Forgive me if I keep coming back to this city; I love it to bits, and if I were to be blessed with the opportunity to live there for a small portion of my life, I would be so happy. Riding the Metro, frequenting the weekend street markets, reading a book in Tuileries, hanging out by the courts of Roland Garros... oh, to go back there again! I wish I were living the life of Carla Loves Photography (yes, an Australian Carla who moved to Italy to follow her photographer dreams and is now living in Paris!).

While the whole of this city is just absolutely marvelous, I must say that there is one bit of this magical place I shall never forget: Trocadero. (Station along Lines 6 and 9, in the sixteenth arrondissement.) Whenever I hear a friend is heading off there, I always tell her: "Go to Trocadero! Go to Trocadero! You musn't miss it!" because I do believe that from a tourist-y point of view, it gives the best view of the Eiffel. It's as if it's a balcony jutting out from a building, and all of the best of Paris is lying before you for you to inhale. 

In this place there are stalls selling crepes of all sorts of fillings, and men selling Eiffel Tower keychains left and right. A group of Filipinos are having lunch on the grassy steps, and a couple is sitting by the ledge, taking pictures as they lean against each other. Young men are roller-skating down the stairs, and you can't miss those people sunbathing as they lie on the concrete, relishing the warmth. There's a tiny merry-go-round down below, and a bateux mouche is making its nth trip along the winding Seine. 

The sky is a dangerous gray, and right after you take your photos with the Eiffel as your backdrop, lightning strikes and it begins to rain. Spring, after all, is full of these erratic rain showers, and you run for cover, back to the Metro, back to Rue d'Orleans - all the while promising to yourself that you will return to Trocadero -- to Paris -- one day. One day.

Photographs and Postcards for Sale :)

My creative juices went to this project instead of thesis work this Christmas break, and though I'm a bit regretful of that, it's all gooooood. I've always wanted to do this anyway, and I have now, finally. Still looking for the perfect printer company/shop for postcards (unbelievably, it is hard to find one who does unique prints!), but for now, I printed the photographs as photographs in dependable Picture City. 

And good news! You can order a stack of ten photos for yourself! I hope you're quite the old soul and paper-product-lover like me! :) For more pictures and details, click here. 

I've three sets so far (two of Paris and one of the sea), and I'm waiting for Valentine's greeting cards to arrive from where I printed them. Unfortunately, the shop said I'll be receiving them by next Wednesday (late!), so I'll have to be patient. Still, I'm excited for that too, so watch out for that! :)

P.S. YAY, played with Curves to process these pictures and finally came up with one that suited me and my style! Thanks very much, Chai, for the inspiration. :)

Another postcard entry!

Oh, September. How fast time flies. I've found myself daydreaming about summer countless times already, planning what to do and where to go once I graduate, if I graduate. (*crosses fingers*) 

My friend Caddy is off to Europe with Rosie this October, and I know they'll have the time of their lives. The best time, after all, is to go when you're young. So many things to see, so many people to meet! 

For now I leave you with the postcards I managed to find tonight. There's Michelangelo, Monet, King Louis XIV, a boquinist, a souvenir of a hostel, Art Noveau, and an old picture of the Eiffel. 

The Flaneur

Source

"In any event, the flaneur is in search of experience, not knowledge."

Walter Benjamin

If I ever come across this book here in Manila, I will definitely buy it, no matter what the cost. I think this book is as lovely as A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh series, even if, truth be told, I have yet to complete those books! 

This book gives off the same, comfortable, endearing aura as A Year in Provence, and if you were to go back, again and again, to the prettiest city in the world (for me, at least), I believe it is somewhat of a must that you read this, as it defines the true flaneur who wants to immerse himself in Paris, not in the person of a tourist, but in the person of a cross between a guest and a true blue Parisian in search of experience: 

THE EXACT NATURE OF A FLANEUR: He (or she) is not a foreign tourist eagerly tracing down the major sights and ticking them off a list of standard wonders. He (or she) is a Parisian in search of a private moment, not a lesson, and where as wonders can lead to edification, they are not likely to give the viewer gooseflesh. ~ Edmund White