Out on the bummel 5-11-15

Mondays are Deb's day to clean the apartment and I've been banished.  Oh well, make lemonade that's what I say. I had a chore to pick up advanced tickets to the Louvre so when we have visitors we won't be trapped in line waiting for tickets.  
So I jumped on the bus and headed downtown,  about halfway there I got off the bus to walk along a stretch of the route that I've wanted to explore and to find a new grand epicerie (food store) that my sister Gail alerted us to and told us to go.   I did find it and it is very new and modern, it was fun to wander around the store and see what was on offer.
I then headed down the rue de Rivoli to the Louvre and purchased the tickets.  It was about 10 minutes of effort so I decided to head out to the Tuilleries and take photos.   I have been trying to capture a couple of different types of pics, the first is to capture people who are making their living by working in Paris and the other is to capture pics of people who are taking "selfies" (pictures of themselves using their mobile devices).
  
People who make their living here are interesting because the Paris they see is so different than the one that the tourists and us see.   It's not a never ending procession of treks to see this monument or that museum, but a metropolis with which they have to deal everyday.

 Today I happened to be sitting in the shade when I noticed the impromptu vendors suddenly get very alert and make haste to go into a stairway leading into the Louvre de Rivoli.   This is an underground shopping center and exhibition space just west of the Louvre itself and would be a good place to blend in.  They were very intent on watching the circuit of police which periodically cruise the park keeping the peace.  They also confront the vendors to make sure that they are legitimate, i.e. have a vendors license.  Now these guys are trying to sell trinkets at around 1 euro a piece and a license would be very expensive for them.  So when the police come around they make an exit, only to return when the police leave.

To me selfies represent chance to candidly capture people as they attempt to document their holidays and make all the friends and family at home envious.   Yes it's vain, and in most cases not damaging, but it will help them to validate that they're having a great time if only until the next facebook posting.  



Heck I'm doing the same thing with this blog aren't I?  I'm just limiting the selfies and trying to pass along a bit of what it's like to be here for an extended length of time.