Yesterday was a beautiful day in Paris. I went to visit my friend Alexandre who lives in Ménilmontant.

The sound of « Ménilmontant » always instill a sense of romance in me when I hear someone utter the word. Back when I was still living in Taiwan I lived in a rooftop apartment for a few years. I could see the roofs of the houses nearby from my window. During weekends I would play Charles Trenet and read Marcel Proust, imaging that I were in Paris.

Never thought back then that one day I would actually call Paris home.

Alexandre is also a Leica photographer, shooting M6 in Tri-X alongside with some other gears. Unlike me, he’s also a talented portrait photographer. His nice rooftop apartment features some deeply touching works of his, as well as his lovely cat.

We had a quick coffee at his terrace and then headed out for a photo walk.

Neighboring the also vibrant Belleville, Ménilmontant is a neighborhood mixed with a lot of quirky cultures. Many of the residents here are attracted by it and settle here. The hilly streets also give a lot of inspirations to street photographers.

We walked aimlessly and slowly, chatting about photography and life. I told Alexandre that sometimes I felt my photography is too old fashion, not modern or innovative enough. He assured me that I should worry about that. It’s true that galleries these days want photographers to be really artistic or coming from a storied personal context. On the other hand he still had photographers that were able to just self publish and achieve the goals.

We finished the walk at the always crowded and noisy Belleville. For those not living in Paris, Belleville today is the true China Town of Paris, not the much referred-to 13th arrondissement. Alexandre too me to his favorite Wen Zhou restaurant. We shared a plate of « lion head », talked about Silicon Valley (our day job) and concluded our nice little walk.