Wonderful Windows

I've written about Paris doors before (Doors Galore). Lately I've become preoccupied with windows. Their different shapes, the reflections they create, their surround, their positioning within the facade of the building. Once you start looking, you realise how many variations there are and how much there is to see.

Here is a fairly typical Parisian facade. Only the windows on the lower floor have shutters. I wonder why?

The next road along, an apartment building catches the soft morning light. Shutters on all floors.

A cat watches the world go by from her window.

In the south of France, most windows have shutters. Everything is done to keep out the heat from the sun. Here are some shuttered windows in Arles.

Open.

Closed.

Trompe-l'œil.

And ... I'm not even sure what this is about. 

In Paris there are many huge north facing windows, designed to get as much light into the building. This amazing apartment block in the 14th arrondissement was designed by architect André Arfidson and ceramicist Alexandre Bigot.

Here is another beautiful glazed window on Avenue Junot in Montmartre.

Many Parisian windows at ground level have security bars. Here is a plain one. A street artist has felt the need to liven it up.



Another plain set of bars. This time it's the sun that has livened it up.



Curly bars.

French windows with elaborate metalwork balconies completely transform the way this apartment block in the 12th arrondissement looks when they catch the sun.

The way light reflects off windows can change the way they look. Here are some fiery windows at dusk.

Some windows detached from their frames are for sale at the Marché Saint Ouen. Lampposts and their shadows are reflected.

A stained glass window in the Église Saint Pierre diffuses the light from outside into the cool low lit church.

The dormer windows of Chateau de Versailles are some of the most ostentatious widows I've ever seen!

And finally, some bespoke burglar bars on a window in Montmartre. Even Spiderman is intrigued by these.