A Pinay in Europe

It is a world icon, this poster of a kissing couple in black and white, adorning all the souvenir shops of Paris.  If Eiffel Tower is the structure that identifies Paris, this photo symbolizes what Paris stands for - the City of Love and Romance!

But much as I have always coveted a copy of this poster to Paris-ify the wall of my sitting room, I never really thought about the man from whom this photo came into being.   It was only when I read about his photo exhibition which is ongoing at the Hotel de Ville that I came to find out that he was the photographer of this picture of a couple stealing a passionate kiss on a Paris street.

Robert Doisneau (1912-1994) is one of the most famous French photographers  and “The Kiss by the City Hall” is arguably one of his most famous  photographs.

Did you know that when the woman in the photo put her original print for auction in 2005 in Paris - 55 years after it was taken - it fetched for $202,000!

I have accumulated my own “Kiss” shots over the past months and by using it as our today’s Theme, I might get lucky enough to find a buyer… who knows?

Here is the poster icon of Robert Doisneau,  “The Kiss by the City Hall”.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - — - -

And this is “The Kiss” versions of mariadams!

The Kiss outside the Cinema….at the Champs Elysées

The Kiss by the Pont-Neuf

The Kiss on top of Galeries Lafayette

The Kiss at the Vatican (Rome)

The Kiss at Charles Bridge (Prague)

The Kiss in the Laundry

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Eiffel’s misty head
goes well with lady in red

Eiffel RER station?

V for Victory….

Lifting the Eiffel

Flying high

“I’m coming to take you, my Eiffel…”

Jumping happy!

She has a male Tinker Bell on her hand, the other carries a group of tourists… cool! 

More interested in the muses (at Palais de Chaillot)

Eiffel in our hearts

Speechless…

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We couldn’t believe our eyes that we are actually in Siena! It has always been a dream but never really made concrete plans when to visit.  Now that we are here, I just want to make this moment last by taking loads and loads of photos. 

Let me begin with images of people: tourists and locals alike.  

Dumbstruck tourists in Piazza del Campo. 

This cafe in the piazza is definitely the place to see and be seen!

Ooopppsss…I got caught!

There are also low-key cafes for those who want to be away from the crowd

Smile….you are also on my camera!

He’s probably reading a guidebook about Siena.  Definitely this terrace belongs to one of the most expensive apartments in town, it’s right in front of the Palazzo Pubblico in Piazza del Campo!

… which makes it also a great spot to chat over a glass of beer

I’m caught in the act again!

Nice shots, huh…..mine, too!

Sightseeing in Siena wearing the colours of Siena.  Did you know that the pigment got its name from the clay earth found in the area? 

“Ciao!  I’d like to order more ties, please….”

Window-shopping for Italian gastronomic souvenirs

Lady in red

Another lady in red

Look out, mister, someone’s watching you.

You can dine in Siena without really breaking the bank

….. or I should say…..piggy bank!  You can find these 1-euro snack bars tucked in not so hidden alleys

Lucky “cane” (pronounced ka-neh, Italian for dog)…. wearing a Burberry!

Browsing the day’s news

“Carabineri”…..Gendarmerie in French…..Police in English

Laundry day for father and daughter

A 3D artwork of a half-naked woman peeking out from a window.

It is near Piazza San Francesco in the Bruco district.

This photo has a man peeking out of the window, too

And down below is quite a romantic place to start “friendships”

And that’s what steps are made for…to add to the romantic setting

A motorbike getting towed! 

Queueing up for something nice to eat

Taking a look at the Fontebranda, the oldest fountain in Siena.

Kids playing football by the Fontebranda.  This famous fountain of Italy is actually mentioned in the 30th canto of Dante’s Inferno

A passerby taking a long look at this spot bedecked with flowers.  A memory for a dead loved one who was killed right on that place most likely from a vehicle accident.

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I’m back from a long hiatus!  When it’s the holiday season here in Europe, I had to take time out from my own personal holidays to play tourist guide to my sister and her family who came for a 4 country - 16 city tour!  So again,  thousands more photos have been added to my collection and I just had to find the time and the topic when to post them here. 

For this Monday’s theme, I chose the topic on Legs!  Legs do communicate and by observing their movement, you can more or less imagine what the person is thinking!

All these photos were taken in Rome, a great city for people-watching!

She: Seductive, He:  Confident

Fashionista and confident

She: this would be great to post on Facebook

Thank goodness, the conference is over!  Now it’s time to do some sightseeing.

She likes to shop, he is doing a mental calculation of the bill

Stopping for a cold drink, but she couldn’t find her purse!

Mesmerized and speechless seeing the Coliseum up close

Sitting through history

Slightly demanding and usually gets what she wants

Opposing worlds but they do love each other, no doubt about it.

Enjoying the holiday break, back to work in no time!

Friends, countrymen.. you can take your souvenir photos with us.  Very cheap!

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It’s the favorite place to be every summer and since it’s the peak season of summer, our theme this Monday is everything about the Beach.

It’s the ideal place for romance
Bournemouth, England

and for showing off nice costumes and errr…..curves, with the boyfriend
Menton, France

A great place to get carried away behind the rocks, with Doogie on watch
Ventimiglia, Italy

A place to display your new shape, after going through extreme dieting
Menton, France

Tops of them all, to get the bronze effect
Menton, France

A place for grandpa to feel young again
Spotorno, Italy

To attain sublime peace and quiet
Spotorno, Italy

Or simply to catch up with reading
Spotorno, Italy

or plain sunbathing
Bordighera, Italy

In the summer, it’s the place to be…anyway
Cannes, France

and bond with friends
Nice, France

or just a quiet day with your loved one
Lyme Regis, England

A place where beach-umbrella-and-sunlounges-for-rent is booming
Cannes, France

A place to socialize
Cannes, France

or to enjoy the sea under the shade
Cannes, France

to read on your rented beach cottage
Lyme Regis, England

Or simply frolick in the water
Nice, France

But beware, it can be a deadly place
Ayshire, Scotland

or lovely place when meeting up with your long lost lover
Lido Beach, Venice, Italy

But the winter gives an entirely different picture
Wales, United Kingdom

so summer is still the favorite season
somewhere in the south of France

for families to picnic on a Sunday
Whitby, England

I simply love the beach!

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Our theme for today is very timely - Backpackers. 

It’s the time of the year when you see them just about everywhere and it is fascinating to observe how they struggle to lug all their possessions - most often voluminous and most likely numerous, defeating the purpose of lightweight travelling.  Here they are and if you are a backpacker like them, it will give you an idea how you would look like in the eyes of observers like myself..

The shoes-loving backpacker

Thank goodness for public benches…

Backpacks are like children, they don’t pay fares but are allowed to take free seats

All limbs are taken

A backpacker forever

Taking a backpacker-type of nap

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I would like to dedicate this post to my pa-in-law in honor of his passing. He was the gentlest Englishman I have ever met. He was very good to me and always thanked me for being very kind to him. I treated him like my real father, you see. He had a soft heart towards me, I guess because of his unforgettable experience working with Filipinos when he was sent to Cebu to work as Consultant for Philippine Airlines on flight simulators.

It was sad to see his closed coffin today, but the sadness turned to pride when we saw his war medals displayed on top of the casket alongside the old morse code machine which he himself made and which my husband, when he was a young boy, learned to communicate with his father just by emitting dots and dashes from this old gadget, the father of all radio communications!

Today, H finally took home this memento …but alas, his bag where it was stored got held up at the airport’s xray machine. “Is that a morse code?”, the airport security officer asked. Whew, we thought they were going to confiscate it!

The morse code

The war medals which H just discovered lately. My pa-in-law had always been very humble as to his achievements

The pride we feel about my pa-in-law’s past achievements were even accentuated when we saw a bunch of old gentlemen already standing infront of the church when we arrived. It was like a scene in a movie, “The Gentlemen’s Club”, what with these elegantly attired men who personify the dying breed of honorable and courteous Englishmen.

That my pa-in-law was truly a part of this breed, there’s no question about it. Sadly, the England they knew and fought for is very different from today.

H and myself almost cried when pa’s best friend came with all the trimmings of a hero

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