montpellier.dailyphoto

Edwin Shan

2008-06-30T07:11:00.001-07:00

New York artist Edwin Shan makes drawings of politicians. For the moment he mainly draws Obama's face on tee-shirts and on paper. You can meet him on Union Square on Saturdays.

Give me your hand

2008-06-28T17:35:00.001-07:00

Give me your hand, Madam!

Sky Watch Friday

2008-06-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Since the twin towers fell almost 8 years ago, the Empire State Building has been the king of New York again.

Please visit Wiggers World blog to see who is participating in the Sky Watch Friday today.

ABC Wednesday..... W like Winslow Park

2008-06-25T13:14:00.001-07:00

Just a few photos of Winslow Park, a very beautiful park in Westport, which I photographed last week.

Please visit Mrs Nesbitt's Place and the blogs participating in the ABC Wednesday this week.

Brooklyn Bridge

2008-06-24T05:29:00.001-07:00

The Brooklyn bridge was crowded last Saturday! It was so hot I thought I was going to melt.

Summer solstice

2008-06-22T08:33:00.001-07:00

I was in New York yesterdy. I saw the yogis and the yoginis celebrating the summer solstice in Times Square.

Westport Country Playhouse

2008-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

These are photos of Westport Country Playhouse, which has been recently renovated thanks to the most famous Westport residents, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, among others. Joanne is one of the artistic directors. Paul Newman is a member of the Advisory Council to the Board.

The playhouse has been painted the same colors as barns were in former times but I don't think they used ox blood. :-))

ABC Wednesday...... V like Very Talented

2008-06-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

.... so is my friend, painter Ginette Ayral, who is from Sete.

You can pay her a visit on her blog, FreeArt.

Please also visit Mrs. Nesbitt's place and the blogs participating in the ABC Wednesday this week.

Rain

2008-06-17T06:11:00.001-07:00

It has rained a lot here lately. Last night we had a big storm, a monster storm. Everybody was scared but me. I must be very brave :-)) I drove the car back home right in the middle of the storm, through the forest. That was quite an adventure.

I took the photo in New York City last Saturday. It was raining like "vache qui pisse".

For those who like French cuisine and more generally French culture, you should visit this blog, which I discovered this morning: http://dumieletdusel.canalblog.com/

Literally the name of the blog is "of honey and salt."

Pedicab

2008-06-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

I like the new cabs in New York City (I like the cab drivers too :-)).

If you miss Montpellier (certainly more than I do) you can visit this nice blog (which I already recommended a few months ago):

http://avecunaccent.canalblog.com/

Barn

2008-06-13T16:55:00.001-07:00

This little barn must have been oxblood red in former times. I have recently learned that the early settlers painted their barns with the blood of their cows....

Cette petite grange a du etre couleur sang de boeuf dans les temps anciens. J'ai recemment appris que les premiers colons peignaient leurs granges avec le sang de leurs vaches.

Church

2008-06-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

I forgot the name of this little church located downtown Westport, which was built with cobblestones.

Whitestone Bridge

2008-06-09T11:16:00.001-07:00

This is one of the first photos I took a short time after my plane landed at Kennedy Airport last Thursday. I took it from inside the car, therefore it cannot be a good photo! It shows a part of Whitestone Bridge, in the Bronx. Maybe not as impressive as the Viaduc de Millau but not bad at all....

I have not had the opportunity yet to go to Manhattan and to take good photos (I'd better say "photos I like") but I will soon...

Zapata

2008-06-07T12:24:00.001-07:00

I have been in Westport, Connecticut, for two days now. I love it here. Yesterday my good friend Craig took me to a Mexican restaurant, El Acapulco, in Norwalk.

Je suis a Westport depuis deux jours. Je suis passee directement de mon HLM a une vraie ville de bourgeois tres huppes. La ville est tres belle, j'adore !

J'ai pris mes DVD avec moi. Je posterai encore des photos de Montpellier mais je lui serai un peu infidele.

M. Benaut, pardon pour l'absence d'accents ! :-))

Comédie du Livre

2008-06-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The weekend of the Comédie du Livre which is held every year on the Place de la Comédie and the Esplanade is my favorite weekend of the year. We can meet a lot of writers and other celebrities from all over the world. It took place this weekend. Unfortunately enough the weather was not as good as it is usually in May.

I went to the Comédie on Friday and Saturday.

One of the first celebrities I met there was Eric who manages a video company and a blog called Vudici. There is a video about the Comédie on his blog. If you watch it, you will see me as I was interviewed by Eric.

The lady is our mayor, Hélène Mandroux. The man is Franz-Olivier Giesbert, a journalist and a writer, who hosts a program on TV entitled FOG (his initials). Don't you think FOG and Mme Mandroux seem to be singing in unison?

My French blogger friends will recognize this other celebrity very easily. He is one of the personalities the French like best.

Now I'm going to do something very bad. After the opening of a cultural event, the city hall generally offers drinks and food to the "attendees." Well-behaved people take a glass and an amuse-gueule or two and then they let other people reach the counter. Some people are not well-behaved. They stay before the counter and they drink and eat everything their stomach can contain. We call them pique-assiette. That's what the lady with glasses did.

Thank you very much to all the bloggers who left messages on my previous post. I will not be able to visit your blogs before the end of this week. I am leaving Montpellier for Connecticut on Wednesday.

La Comédie du Livre s'est tenue ce week-end à Montpellier. Les photos que j'ai postées montrent Eric Galland, de la société (et du blog) Vudici. Si vous regardez la vidéo qu'il a mise en ligne sur la Comédie, vous pourrez me voir et m'entendre :-)) La dame de la seconde photo est Hélène Mandroux notre maire, et l'homme est Franz-Olivier Giesbert qu'il est inutile de présenter.... J'espère que vous reconnaîtrez l'homme aux cheveux blancs de la troisième photo. Dans la quatrième, on peut voir une pique-assiette ordinaire qui a dévoré pratiquement un plat sous mon regard courroucé.

Sky Watch .... in Sète

2008-05-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

A view of the magnificent harbor of Sète...

Please go to Tom Wigley's blog and leave him a comment. The list of participants in the Sky Watch is on his blog.

A fountain near the Corum

2008-05-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of fountains in Montpellier. This old one is located at the beginning of the Quai du Verdanson.

There is a list of fountains on the site of the city hall.

Cette ancienne fontaine est située à l'entrée du quai du Verdanson, près du Corum. Montpellier est la ville aux 100 fontaines, dont on peut voir la liste sur le site de l'hôtel de ville.

ABC Wednesday..... S is for Saint Roch

2008-05-28T04:20:00.001-07:00

Saint Roch is the patron saint of the city of Montpellier where he was born in 1340 (approx.). Every year in August people from all over the world come here for the procession organized in memory of the saint.
Please visit Mrs. Nesbitt's place and the blogs of all participants in the ABC Wednesday...

El Cuba Café

2008-05-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Two big palm trees seem to be mounting guard before the Cuba Café in Odysseum.

Ne dirait-on pas qu'ils montent la garde devant le Cuba Café, ces deux palmiers ? J'en ai décapité un, mais tant pis, aujourd'hui on fait avec ce qu'on a :-))

Zoe

2008-05-26T04:32:00.001-07:00

Zoe is my son Gregory and his fiancee Valérie's cat. She is a very funny cat!

Goats

2008-05-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

I met these goats on top of a hill in Cournonterral. When they saw me they placed themselves around the sheep as if they wanted to protect them. They had nothing to be afraid of as I am unable to kill a fly but maybe the lens of my camera reminded them of the robbers and hunters that pullulate in the area.

C'est presque vrai que ces chèvres observaient le ciel au-dessus de Cournonterral. A mon arrivée, elles se sont tournées vers mon objectif et se sont placées autour des brebis comme si elles voulaient les protéger. Ces dernières n'avaient pourtant rien à craindre de moi qui suis incapable de tuer une mouche (surtout depuis que j'ai entendu la chanson de Dick Hannegarn) mais peut-être que l'objectif de mon appareil leur rappelait les voleurs et les chasseurs qui pullulent dans le coin.

Je me demande si je peux participer à l'opération SkyWatch avec des photos de ce ciel au-dessus de la colline ???

Some good news: QuintTarantino is back on line. His wonderful blog, Not a secret blog, was erased by ill-intentioned people (I won't mention who they might be in order not to get attacked). You can find his new blog, Lenses & Visions here.

The man and the bird

2008-05-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

I watched him for a while yesterday afternoon near Saint-Roch church. The bird would not leave him. I could not determine what bird that was.

Je l'ai observé un petit moment avant de le photographier hier après-midi près de l'église Saint-Roch. L'oiseau ne voulait pas le quitter. Il grimpait sur ses épaules. Je ne sais pas de quel oiseau il s'agit. Peut-être bien que l'homme est un charmeur d'oiseaux.

ABC Wednesday.... R is for roses

2008-05-21T02:50:00.000-07:00

I photographed these beautiful roses in my friend Ginette's garden in Sète. Ginette is a talented painter whose art movement is called FREEART (she called it that way). Please visit her blog and encourage her to exhibit her paintings!

Please also visit Mrs Nesbitt's place, leave her a comment and visit the blogs of the participants in the ABC Wednesday...

Olive tree

2008-05-20T02:02:00.001-07:00

Petit hommage à notre ami Olivier d'Evry, qui est beaucoup moins âgé et même beaucoup plus jeune que l'olivier de la photo. Une pierre près de l'arbre annonce qu'il est né en 908. Vous imaginez ça, un arbre de plus de mille ans... C'est vrai qu'il est bien ridé. J'ai été enchantée de le voir près du Pont du Gard. Mais j'ai déchanté quand mon ami internaute Roberto m'a dit que les oliviers du Pont du Gard avaient été importés à grand prix du Portugal. Je n'ai rien contre les oliviers portugais, mais au moins sur le site, ils auraient dû le faire savoir que l'olivier ne poussait pas naturellement sur des terrains aussi rocailleux.

I photographed this olive tree on the site of the Pont du Gard last week. On a stone near it it was written that the tree was born in the year 908. It is over 1000 years old! Actually it was born in Portugal and was imported a few years or decades ago. Olive trees do not grow on rocky grounds.

Capoeira

2008-05-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

While Catalan musicians were playing on the Esplanade, capoeira players were performing on the Comédie...

What I don't like:

When thieves can't steal your bike, they just break it!