A Holiday Sampler . . .

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For James Reflections Weekend, these first two are from Cologne, Germany, across from the cathedral there. Famous faces. Call me a "reflections papparazzi".
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This next was high up in the tower of the cathedral. People just have to leave a trace of their presence, affirmation of existence. I guess a blog in cyberspace is the same sort of thing ?
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Finally, saw this fading photo on ceramic in a cemetery near Chantilly, France, this afternoon. Born in 1919, she died in 1940, her short life spanning the space between two World Wars. RIP Marie Lousie.
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As mentioned earlier, I admit to spending a bit of time these days on Facebook cultivating my new photography page there under Owen Phillips Photography France, and also looking around at the surprising number of excellent pages produced by people who have similar interests in cemeteries and abandoned buildings, or other artwork in various places.
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Some particularly good sites I've come across in my wandering on Facebook so far are (click the links here to go there, and these are not in any particular order) :
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Historic Cemeteries
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Staglieno Cemetery and More
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Maurizio Ghiggeri Photography
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Jeanne Trend-Hill Headstone Hunter
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Headstones and History
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Charnel Rose Photography
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Abandoned Love Photography
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Ms Misunderstoods Moments
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Dirty Angel Photography
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Abandoned Americana
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Martin Vegas
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And no doubt all that is just the tip of the iceberg. But am still checking in here too from time to time...
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Armistice Day Arriving

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The 94th anniversary of the end of World War One is coming up on November 11th, a national holiday here in France. A fitting time to post a few photos from a couple of sites I had the good fortune to visit recently, thanks to a chance meeting at a stone quarry in the middle of nowhere with two gentlemen also interested the history of what was called "la Grande Guerre"... the Great War. Near the town of Noyon the ruins of a chapel destroyed during the war still remain, with a cast iron Christ within which fell during the shelling. As he suffered some 2000 years ago, so too did his replica suffer nearly 100 years ago in this chapel which stood immediately adjacent to the trenches of the front lines. It is surprising the sculpture was not more heavily damaged, as artillery shells fell like rain in that area.
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More cast iron work in the chapel, with autumn colors, and the iron Crucifixion figure at upper left.
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In the cemetery at Thiescourt, also near the front lines, a memorial to those dreadful years... 1914 to 1918.
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The gate to the German cemetery at Thiescourt.
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During the first world war the German army allowed soldiers of Jewish faith to serve. Things would change not long thereafter.
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"To the memory of Henri Bruge. Born the 1st of February 1882 at Ergues in the Pas de Calais, Adjutant Chef in the 4th Regiment of Cuirassiers, died for France, reported missing in action at Plémont on 9 June1918, awarded the War Cross with silver star and the Military Medal posthumously"
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At the entrance to the old stone quarries near Dreslincourt, occupied by the Germans for three years during the war. They left Gothic inscriptions carved on the outside stone walls, later shattered when they tried to blow up a nearby entrance to the quarry. The words carved here were part of a poem, saying :
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"The world might be torn apart
Every oath like straw
I know a word like iron
It's called soldiers loyalty"
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In German "soldiers loyalty" was one word : Soldatentreu
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Another German sign carved above an entrance to the stone quarries, a labyrinthine series of tunnels that go on for kilometers underground... it would be very easy to get lost in there. I was lucky to have a good guide who knew the place well.
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Graffiti from the war years... they didn't have spray paint cans back then, so they carved instead.
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In the woods outside unexploded artillery shells can still be found lying about. Chilling reminders of the not so distant past here.
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An imperial eagle carved on an exterior quarry wall.
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More German, to the effect that the German soldiers feared only God.
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Inside the miles of tunnels there were signposts, here indicating the way to the Command Post Calypso.
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Boots from the war still remain undisturbed deep in the tunnels.
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A wonderful French rooster carved on a wall to honor the 324th Infantry Regiment.
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Near one of the entrances to the quarry tunnels.
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German barbed wire from the war, rusting but still ready to unroll and use apparently. Maybe a bit fragile now, but still looking nasty.
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More artillery shells found in farm fields nearby, waiting to be collected by the munitions disposal service which still remains busy nearly 100 years later.
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The Love Lock Bridge of Paris : Pont des Arts

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Writing about the huge collection of padlocks, bicycle locks, small locks, big locks, wide locks, thin locks, love locks, dread locks, goldi-locks which festoon (grace?) the sides of the Pont des Arts in Paris, adjacent to the Louvre, is sort of like writing about the Eiffel Tower.  Nearly every one who has been to Paris any time recently will say, "Been there, done that". 
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Well, I hadn't been there yet, though I'd heard several times about the locks of love on the Pont des Arts, and also on the Pont de l’Archevêché just behind Notre Dame Cathedral. So while in Paris to go see the Manuel Alvarez Bravo photo exposition at the Jeu de Paume, with la Grenouille, we strolled over to the Pont des Arts to see what all the fuss was about. Rarely have I seen so many cameras out and snapping away, close up and from a distance, at all the locks fastened to the fencing on the sides of the bridge, symbolizing, supposedly, the everlasting love of the people who placed them there. 
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Not everyone is too thrilled about all the locks and the message they represent. The NYT ran an article in August of this year about the locks titled "An Affront to Love, French-Style". Another article in the Independent relates how the Paris City Hall organised the removal of all the locks, only to see the locks return in even greater numbers after the removal. Personally, I would apply the old dictum, "If it feels good, do it" to the phenomenon. I find this far less offensive than the majority of brainless graffiti that gets painted most anywhere these days. And the variety of colors, styles, and messages makes for some entertaining lock viewing moments, we spent nearly an hour inspecting both sides of the bridge. And honestly, even if imho a padlock is not the right symbol for love, for those who think it is, or are simply having fun, are they hurting anything ? I think not. Some folks are for Rock and Roll, others for Lock and LOL.
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This was the largest of the locks we saw, a sheet metal, bolts, and cable affair, though perhaps not functional. Could double as a chastity device, albeit an uncomfortable one ?
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Visible here the small park at the tip of the Ile de la Cité where American war protesters were camped out in 1970 when I first came to Paris. (ok, that dates me a bit...)
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Not only were there locks, but a trumpeter trumpeting out his love...
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And readers soaking up all those good vibrations...
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And young lovers... which is what Paris is all about, whether one likes the locks, or not...
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Return to the Future Past . . .

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Here are a few more photos from the same site that the photo currently entered in a contest was taken at (see below post, and please vote), out in a stretch of woods in northern France that not many people ever visit, where there are dozens of large sculptures carved in the stone of an old quarry, which date from the First World War. You can also see more pictures of this site here. Sadly, this little known site is out in a remote forest, exposed to the weather, and the magnificent artwork here is slowly but surely disappearing. I'm going back there tomorrow to make another series of photos to help document what's left. Wish you could come...
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