After many months of preparation, I've released the first edition of my book on the Paris Metro. It's an e-book of original photography, history, and advice for the tourist using the Parisian Metro system.

Nijinsky

By now you probably realize my affection for cemeteries. I did grow up next to one, but beyond that Parisian cemeteries to me have always seemed almost like an index in the back of a really good history book. When you come across one that's interesting, it invites you in for a closer look. I'm including four pictures from the tomb of Vaslav Nijinski. Although born in the Ukraine and buried, originally, in London, Paris was where he did his most famous work, particularly the choreography that he did for Stravinsky's Rites of Spring (which caused riots in Paris) and Debussy. His memorial in Cimetiere Montmartre is an amazing piece of art. The first time I walked up to it I really did think that some live person was resting on the tomb. Nijinski suffered from depression and schizophrenia late in his life, and the statue seems to have captured his mental condition amazingly well.

So Bourgeois

My favorite work of impossible scholarship of the 20th century is Walter Benjamin's unfinished Arcades Project. Benjamin's opus aimed at nothing than being an encylopedia of life in Paris in the mid-1800s, post Haussmann. Suddenly blessed with a city opened up by the expansive bureaus and a period of relative economic and political stability, Paris saw an explosion of the middle class. The arcades of the title refers to the covered shopping areas that suddenly started popping up at this time. These arcades became a place to be a flaneur, a person with the time and means to stroll, a voyeur who also wanted to be seen. These are often called the original shopping malls, although when you see them today they seem one heck of a lot more charming. I've included a series of pictures from some of the arcades and passages that are still standing, as well as a picture of the covered walkway at the Place des Vosges, which was actually built in the early 17th century for the same purpose, and even included stores in the promenade. Of course that was for a more moneyed class.

The Holocaust

One of the things that I admire about France is the way that it seems compelled to confront the horrors of WWII and the holocaust, as well as the complicity of the Vichy government. It's human nature to try to repress the worst things that we do and see. Considering how long it took America to confront the horrors of slavery and institutionalized racism, I think France has done an admirable job of putting the spotlight on the atrocities. The pictures today are mostly from public memorials at Pere Lachaise, although I've also included on of the dozens (if not hundreds) of poignant signs found on school buildings in Paris, noting how many students in the district were among the more than 11,000 children deported, "avec la participation active du gouvernement français de vichy."

Metro Update

Nothing should strike more fear into a lover of the Paris Metro than the announcement that the RATP is "beautifying" its stations. Lest one forget, it was a similar beautification project that almost led to the loss of all of Hector Guimard's iconic art nouveau station exteriors. As the RATP tore out Guimard's stations, they were approached by a U.S. museum that wanted to buy one of the stations in complete form. This prompted a rethinking of that beautification project. The picture I've included here announces a currently ongoing beautification of 250 stations. While there are many that did need sprucing up (and sometimes the new stations are pretty stunning), I worry that they'll cover over what makes the Metro stations so damn wonderful and unique in the world. Like Paris itself, there's a sense of deshabille about the stations, an elegant state of tatters that is lovely and charming and authentic. Ok, they can paint over the blood stains and wash out the homeless piss, add a few historical signs such as the moving tribute to the roundup of Jews at Vel' d'Hiv now at the Bir-Hakeim station, but for god's sake, leave the rest reasonably intact.

Two videos for a rainy day

Ok, a bit of a cop out. It's a rainy, blustery day here in California, and I want to post something on the blog, but am completely without energy. I just downloaded the last of the videos from the trip, and found two short clips of the Eiffel Tower at night. Always worth sharing, right? I promise something more original next week.

Batignolles Cemetery

Of all the cemeteries that I visited, perhaps the most melancholy was Batignolles. It's in the north of the 17th, at Porte de Clichy. This was an area of unrest during the banlieue riots a few years ago, and overall was perhaps the sketchiest area I visited during the trip. I was propositioned (at 10 in the morning!) by two aging Parisian prostitutes on the way to the cemetery, which tells you a little something about the area. The cemetery itself is quite big, but its nestled up against the Peripherique, and in general seems less maintained than the other cemeteries. One gets the sense that like the surrounding neighborhood, the cemetery has seen its time pass. Most of the memorials are moss covered, and there are more broken stones here than at the other cemeteries I visited. Most of the celebrities are 19th century actors or dancers who mean little to the foreign tourist, although there are two big names in the cemetery. Andre Breton is hidden almost directly under the raised Peripherique in the back of the cemtery, but the poet Paul Verlaine's tomb can be found at the first circular intersection one encounters. Verlaine's tragic life (divorced, imprisoned for shooting his lover Arthur Rimbaud, late years as a denizen in absinthe bars) seems to suggest that the punishment for going astray can be banishment to a second-rate cemetery, but how does one explain Breton's final resting spot? At any rate, I only brought the small camera out to the site because of the sketchy neighborhood, so sorry for the quality of the picts. Along with a couple of shots of Verlaine's grave, I've included some of the general cemetery, as well as a scan of a postcard of the older Verlaine in an absinthe bar.