The moment I saw it, I knew this was more than just an old bike.
A week ago, I entered a photo of an old bicycle that I once took in a Facebook photo contest, aptly called Alberta Photography Contest. It’s a pretty wide-open contest, and it’s purely for fun. Depending on the theme, I contribute a photo from time-to-time. Last week, the theme was bicycles, and I immediately recalled this photo.
If you ask me, the photo itself isn’t particularly remarkable. It appears to be a very, very old and very weathered old bicycle on a street in Paris. That day, my wife and I had booked ourselves on an afternoon-long chocolate and pastry tour. That’s right, a whole afternoon of visiting the most decadent chocolatiers and patisseries in all of France. We strolled from shop to shop, speaking with the masters themselves and sampling an ample amount of desserts and buying a little to-go. Oh, and the macaroons, my God, the macaroons. Amazing! Along the way, we made a stop at Sainte-Sulpice church, well-known for the rose line that crosses it’s floor, popularized in the DaVinci Code film.
Near the end of the tour, we happened across this bicycle on the street.
It immediately caught our attention. It didn’t just seem old. It seemed incredibly old. We stared at it for a while, and speculated about it. Just as we were about to walk away, I heard a man’s voice beside us. We struck up a chat about the bicycle, which as you see turned out to be his. He explained that it was a World War II-era bicycle, used in service at the time as a courier bike. To this day, that bicycle remains in working condition, and aside from some new tires and tubes, pedals, brakes, stand, and a bell, it’s all original. And he rides it every day.
Cool. I think that story is much more interesting than the photo itself. I love this stuff, and his story was enchanting.
Oh, yeah, and one more thing. Not long after we happened across this bike, we also happened across this fellow across the street:
That funny-looking old guy with the silver ponytail is Karl Lagerfeld, the king of the kingdom that is Chanel. Ladies, I’m sure you know who he is. He practically owns Paris. Yup, there he is, right there.
Cool.
Smile.
Jamey
P.S. Oh, yeah, and I don’t much like to brag, but this photo won the contest this week. Check it out: http://albertaphotographycontest.blogspot.com/2011/11/bicycles.html.
