A day after Christmas

On boxing day the sun came out. It was still freezing, but there was light. It was a 'sunglasses' kind of day, if you remembered to bring them out with you of course. I was suffering the mandatory post Christmas anticlimax when I went up the hill to buy the Sunday croissants. I went out gnashing my teeth, muttering and grumbling and came home with a smile on my face.

For a start there were lovely crisp shadows everywhere. You can't underestimate the significance of a shadow. It means there's sun, and sun is good for the soul.

In this photo you could almost be forgiven for not thinking that it's the middle of winter with snow on the ground. This house, on Place du Calvaire, is called La Maison Neumont and was built in 1905 for the artist Maurice Neumont who died in 1930. Apparently the house is now lived in by a (very very very) wealthy Swiss family. It's beautiful.

I walked up to the Place de Tertre where there were more people than there had been when I was up there at  8h30 in the morning back in October. The restaurants have now cleared away the tables and chairs in the middle of the Place, leaving free reign to the painters and their brightly coloured umbrellas..

As the trees have no leaves you can see the Sacré Cœur over the roof tops.

And behind L'église Saint-Pierre de Montmartre.

More shadows.

Some snow.

A rainbow.

A lovely glazed door.

This was taken from this tiny public garden on Rue Norvins (the lower end) that opened recently. The park itself is nothing amazing, but the views you get from the park, are.

And finally a bit of mosaic cuteness. He blends in so well I nearly missed him.