I had another meeting at the OECD this week, so it was back to Paris from Monday to Wednesday. The other highlight of the week was the Santa Faz pilgrimage on Thursday, an important Alicante tradition, dating back to the late 15th century.
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The trip to Paris was less relaxing than the trip in March. It was shorter, and the agenda was packed. But I had arranged to meet up on Monday night with visiting LUGger Leo Wesson from Texas whom I had met several years earlier. I flew to Paris Monday afternoon, installed myself at the hotel in the 17th arrondissment, and walked to a nearby bar:
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There are always interesting details in Paris, like this statue on Place Aimé-Maillart:
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I went for a beer at Brasserie Niel, and a bit later Leo and his partner Diana joined me there:
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Afterwards, we walked down Avenue Niel, passing this beautifully decorated flower shop:
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We found a restaurant to have dinner and enjoy a couple of hours of conversation. Diana masters the escargot holder:
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At one point, Leo borrowed my camera and took a picture of me:
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My hotel was not walking distance from the OECD, so on Tuesday morning I had to take the metro a few stops. When walking in Paris on a sunny morning, I always look for nicely lit scenes. Even the most mundane objects can be beautiful:
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I always enjoy the architecture around the OECD. It is one of the posh parts of Paris, for sure:
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Tuesday was a beautiful day, and people were enjoying the sunshine in the courtyard at the OECD:
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After the meeting ended on Tuesday afternoon, there was a reception in the Chateau, the original OECD building which today houses the offices of OECD’s Secretary General and his deputies on the upper floors and ceremonial meeting rooms on the ground floor. I love visiting this place where one feels the history of the post-war international order (which lamentably is being dismantled right now):
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The reception took place in the magnificent Marshall Room, named after the US Secretary of State George Marshall:
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After the reception, I took the metro back to my hotel. The metro station Péreire Levallois has a bit of an industrial feel to it, but I liked the wall paintings:
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I decided to spend the evening around the Arc de Triomphe, an area I do not visit that often. But first, I took in the café scene on Place du Maréchal Juin:
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The walk to the Arc de Triomphe was about 1 1/2 km. The sight was well worth the walk:
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Place Charles de Gaulle, not the world’s easiest roundabout to navigate:
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Avenue de Champs-Elysées, one of the world’s most famous streets:
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My final photo from Paris, two people relaxing in front of the Arc:
On Wednesday I was at the OECD in meetings all morning, then taxi to Orly airport, catch an online meeting back in Alicante, and then fly home on an evening flight.
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Fortunately, Thursday was a public holiday in Alicante, the day of the big procession. The day started somewhat cloudy:
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But the weather turned out nice for the procession. I rode my bike to the finishing point, the monastery where the Santa Faz relic is kept, 3 km from my house. The procession covers the 8 km from the cathedral in the centre of Alicante to the monastery, and commemorates a miracle involving the relic (a piece of cloth supposedly used to wipe Jesus’s face while carrying the cross) that occurred more than 500 years ago (more information is available at https://alicanteturismo.com/en/fiestas/the-santa-faz-pilgrimage/). The pilgrims were milling around in the narrow streets around the monastery:
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The square in front of the church. The relic is taken out only once a year, on this day, and Mass is held here. This year, about 330,000 people took part in the event, some for religious reasons, others just because it is a local tradition, and still others just to have a good time:
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A well-deserved rest and snack:
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As I often do on such occasions, besides the crowd shots, I focused on individuals, like these two ladies in conversation:
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I met up with two colleagues from work, Karin and Alexandra (both German) who had done the full procession (in fact, Alexandra was so hard core that she also walked back to her apartment in the centre):
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Given the number of people and the nature of the event, there was a reasonably heavy police presence, although at no point did it feel oppressive. Sadly, we live in times when this is necessary:
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Faces in the crowd:
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I finish with a few photos from my walks with Mochi, starting with morning light on the beach:
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Morning light in a neighbour’s fence:
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When Mochi and I walk, we usually meet some of the many cats that live in the neighbourhood:
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Mochi is obsessed with the cats. I don’t think that he wants to hurt them, he is just curious:
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The cats just go to a safe place and look at Mochi with superiority:
More photos from Santa Faz can be seen here.