Canicule, Tatoos, Tourist Day, Spider-Man 3, Chris Isaak & Tattoos

I hate to start an entry by writing about the weather but from many I've talked to, it's the subject du jour here in Paris. It has been unseasonably hot here with almost no rain this month; this is rarely the case in April. The reason is that scientist are saying that there's a reasonable chance the dreaded "canicule" or "heat wave" of 2003 could be repeated this summer. That summer, thousands of people all across Europe died from the intense heat and lack of medical preparation. Some estimates put the number of deaths just in France at around 15,000! So although there have been new plans put in place to avoid a repeat of that summer, I think everyone is hoping that we're just experience summer now rather than a preview of a coming canicule. Note: coincidentally, as I write this, the BBC is doing a story about how old age homes and hospitals in Paris have been installing new air conditioning systems "just in case".

This weekend I attended the Paris Tattoo Art Festival. It was pretty intense and included a "Worst Tattoo" competition won by a guy who tattooed fake hair on his underarm. You can see some of my images from the Festival here:

Paris Tattoo Art Festival

The mom and sister of a good friend of mine popped into Paris for a 6-hour visit in between cruise ship stops. I got to play tour guide, something I love doing when visitors are really interested in what they're seeing. We did the classic Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Louvre trifecta and then had to say goodbye. It had been a while since I'd actually visited these places so I quite enjoyed it, even though each stop was too short to take it all in.

I photographed singer Chris Isaak and his opening act, Swedish-born Peter von Poehl, a very talented musician.

The concert took place at the Palais des Congres, a classy venue where many big American acts tend to play (I've photographed James Brown there twice!). Isaak is really entertaining in concert and at one point, jumped off stage and walked all throughout the theatre, even sitting next to a young girl in the very last section at the top of the venue.

I also photographed the French premiere of Spider-Man 3, which opens this week in Paris. These big events are fun because I get to see all my fellow French photographers, who are rarely all together other than at Cannes or at big premieres like this one.

And now a couple of photos from the week ...

Parc Floral

A woman rides a razor through FNAC (a big department store)