I was in Paris a year ago and it’s fun to look back at my photos and see what I was doing each day. One of the things I liked best was watching everyday life. I don’t know what those big iron bollard-type things on either side of old Parisian outer doors are called, but I imagine they protect the stonework from getting side-swiped by vehicles going in and out. They are often decorative, and these ones looked rather like bee hives. As I approached I inadvertently interrupted this elderly lady counting the ridges on the bollard on the other side with her walking stick. When I was past, I looked back and she was counting them on the other side in what seemed like a little ritual!
A few doors down there was a gate rather than a door and I could see through into a manicured courtyard, a palatial-looking home for these two cats. (Click photo to see it bigger at Flickr). The tabby came up to me and said hello through the bars of the gate.
I loved old doors on the street like this one, so huge and solid, and with so many layers of peeling paint. Can you see a face?
Maybe I’ll post some more over the next few weeks? I didn’t post much while I was travelling.
