Robin Camille Davis
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Balade aux Tuileries

February 03, 2009
Tags: gorgeous, outdoors, paris, photography

Today's petit cours de français (Brown offers a useful conversational French class for the first few weeks here) took place at the Place de la Madeleine, Place de la Concorde, and Tuileries, the park in front of the Louvre. We were our own little tour guides! After class, the five other students dispersed to various places, and Deven and I stayed at Tuileries to take some photos.

André Kertész, a modernist photographer and Deven's favorite, took some very well composed photos of the chairs of Tuileries 70 years ago. Here are some that I have culled from the 'net:

If you'll scroll back up to my delightful photo collage, you'll see that Deven had seized my camera to pull a Kertesz. He took all of those pictures except for the obelisk, the streetlamp, and the one of him (evidemment) on the upper left. The obelisk was a gift from the vice-king of Egypt to Napoleon. It was snapped off of its original base and shipped in one piece all the way to Place de la Concorde. There are hieroglyphics all over it detailing something about Ramses the somethingth (I zoned out at this point—), and the top of it is coated in gold (—because I saw something shiny). The dark things in front of it are a contemporary sculpture installation that Christine, our tutor, declared affreux (dreadful).

You will also notice that I am hovering over that bench. Yes, that's right, Paris is so wonderful that I am walking on air. I am also frowning, but only for the camera in front of a sculpture by "Mason" from the 60s.

Diagnosis: a good day!

P.S. Balade = a stroll or nice walk, not a sentimental narrative in song. I was initially confused when I saw the class schedule, but luckily somebody clarified things before I sang "Danny Boy" to my classmates.

P.P.S. Not in the collage are the lovely, pure white statues that dot the grounds of Tuileries. You may Google them if you wish to see them.

Edit:P.P.P.S. Thanks "r0udy" for catching my mistake! Error fixed.