I was in Paris to attend Valérie Jardin’s street Photography workshop and on Saturday we had spent a full day exploring Paris. This was the second day of the workshop starting at the Pantheon and then exploring the 5éme before meeting back at the American Academy to review our images.
Day 4: Sunday 29th January: Workshop
This was a quiet night that was only disrupted by the 6:20 am garbage collection closely followed by street cleaners singing along to their very load beatbox at 6:35 am.
As I left the hotel I asked the receptionist to book a taxi for me on Tuesday morning to take me to the Gare du Nord. Walking to the station would have to be my last resort. My morning’s good news was that on the Eurostar website my train was not one of the ones that have been cancelled on Tuesday.
Around the Pantheon
We had a later start for the second day of the workshop. Outside the Pantheon, I enjoyed the early morning sunshine while I waited for our day to start.
In the open space two girls were sitting on chairs putting on make-up. They were chatting furiously to each other, planning something. I found out at lunchtime what they were planning!
I waited at the corner where cars had to swerve around the Pantheon.
Three students came past me wearing red anoraks carrying bags and what looked like vacuum flasks. They went to the church behind the Pantheon where I could see people sleeping on the steps. In a moment they were giving out food and pouring hot drinks from their flasks.
Pont de l’Archevêché
We first walked to the Pont de l’Archevêché and paused there to take pictures. On the way we passed on the few Paris Metro signs.
This beautiful Jaguar E-Type passed us along the Quai.
I stood and watched the people below me walking alongside the Seine.
Café St Regis on the Île Saint-Louis
Once over the bridge and on Île Saint-Louis, I joined one of the members of the group for a coffee outside. The café, has an interesting reputation for the way it dealt with customers, especially customers that were taking photographs.
I did manage to sneak a picture inside.
And this how we both appeared on Valérie’s Instagram!
Pont de la Tournelle
This bridge onto the Île Saint-Louis was one of my favourite places in my earlier workshop. Just as important on that visit I had managed to take quite a few ‘keepers’ and so I was looking forward to spending time there.
On the bridge I practiced capturing people walking past, trying to get their feet and their legs in the “perfect” position.
The American ladies
I chatted to an American lady and asked to take a street portrait of her and her coat. We were joined by her friends, and I added their portraits to my collection.
The last lady to arrive had a Canon EOS R5 and an RF 100-500 lens. She was just back from an African safari. While we chatted she told me how well the camera and the lens had performed on the safari.
To the Rue Mouffard
As a group we walked back over the Seine and headed back into the 5éme.
Rue Mouffard
The market was open on Rue Mouffard. We walked down past the Parisiennes shopping.
The queues outside of the boulangerie where as long as I remembered from my earlier visit.
Coffee time
At the bottom of the hill I headed for one of the cafes. The weather was warmer, so I took my cafe au lait outside and sat at a table in the sunshine.
The dancers
In the small square the sound system was set up and I could hear the accordion playing. Around the square a small crowd was already gathering around.
There were some familiar faces amongst all the dancers.
When the church service ended, I watched a family celebrating after a christening.
Then all too soon, the outdoor part of the workshop was over. Now we had some time for lunch with option of going back to our hotels to pick up our laptops before making our way to the American Academy.
Restaurant Istanbul
The cafes all had long queues. The queues outside the crepe windows were even longer. At almost at the top of the street I went into a Turkish café and bought a spicy chicken tikka sandwich .
I sat on a concrete block in the square at the top of the street. The sandwich was delicious, the locals didn’t know what they were missing.
I had moved around the square before eating as next to the closed fountain there had been an open box filled with dead rats – yuck!
The Pantheon
I had decided that any images from this morning would have to wait and I planned to use the seven selected from the evening before. This meant I didn’t have to go back to the hotel.
To get to the American Academy I had to pass the Pantheon. The girls that had seen putting on makeup had now been joined by a group of fellow dancers. With the dancers was a girl with a beatbox. She was shouting instructions to them, coaching them to perform. The whole event was being videoed by another girl with a camera on a harness.
The next 20 minutes passed quickly, and then it became a rush to get to the American Academy for the review session.
Afternoon and reviews
The afternoon was spent looking at each other’s images. Wow!
These are my images.
On reflection then and now (December 2024) I clearly had missed the point.
During the review session, I received an email from Eurostar telling me to check my seating as the trains were being reconfigured. A quick check and I had the same seat in the same coach as before. After all my concerns it was now looking good for travel back to London on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!
Evening in the 5éme
After all the reviews we left the American Centre headed for Rue Soufflot for a farewell drink. We were joined by a friend from my January 2020 workshop.
After all the goodbyes, we went back to Rue Mouffard for dinner. Surprisingly for me, a lot of the restaurants were closed. On the way we passed the apartment building where Emily in the Netflix programme “Emily in Paris” lived.
One of the only open restaurants was a Bretagne one. I had a gauffre with cider.
Then it was back to my hotel and hoping for a quiet night’s sleep before my 1-2-1 workshop the next day.
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