It is (not yet) Christmas!

No ‘still painting” posts any more! The flat is now (almost) ready to receive the furniture. I have finished my part this weekend, but my son and his wife are still busy refreshing the wooden floors…

Late Friday evening I took a walk around the city to check some of the Christmas decorations – just installed.

The two department stores, Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, situated very close to each other on the same street, Boulevard Haussmann (8th arrdt.), are of course competitors, including e.g. who has the nicest glass dome (see my post June 26), but of course also right now who has the nicest “Christmas dress” and the most nicely decorated shop windows. The top picture is one of these windows. You can find some of these pictures on my photo blog.

Glass domes

A number of the Paris buildings from the beginning of the 20th century have some fantastic glass domes, or “cupolas”. Some of them are easy to see and take pictures of, some less. Here I show some examples which most of you may have seen, but perhaps not all of you have paid your highest attention to. These photos are taken at the department stores Les Galeries Lafayette (the first five below and the one on top) and Le Printemps (the three other ones).

Both these department stores started their activities in the late 19th century, but the present buildings are basically from the beginning of last century. The Galeries Lafayette dome was created in 1912 and the Le Printemps one in 1923.

These department stores are neighbors on Boulevard Haussmann. Just across the street, there is an old bank office, also with a fantastic glass dome. I took some pictures also there, but was kindly, but firmly, asked by some guards to delete them. If you want to see also this dome, you must go there.

The photos from this patchwork - and some more - can be seen on my other blog, "Peter - photos".