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  (texte en français ci-dessous) The collection of Historical Scientific Instruments | Harvard, Cambridge, Mass The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard occupies just one room on the ground floor of One Oxford Street and it's not necessarily very visible if you don't know what you're looking for. You will also have to dare to enter a building which seems reserved for students to find its entrance on the left. You will then be very well received by those who undoubtedly take it in turns and perhaps on a voluntary basis to welcome the rare visitors who venture there. It's an Ali-Baba's cave of superb instruments which in the past measured time, electric currents, atomic radiation, the course of the stars and everything you can imagine that a university like Harvard could have studied in its scientific sections since the 17th century. They are beautiful objects, well-polished, often mysterious and you would no doubt like to touch some of them, op...

  The 9 best self-guided walking tours for newcomers in Philly are surely on CitywalksSpace and here is why: Unlike rigid group tours or generic tourist guides, CitywalksSpace offers curated, thoughtful self-guided walking tours that will help you both see and feel the city’s character — at your own pace. Unique and curated routes These walking tours are designed to be “unusual, unique, and curated.” Rather than just pointing you from one major landmark to the next, they lead you through iconic and off-beat parts of the city , including art-filled streets, authentic neighborhoods, and charming parks and gardens. It then gives you a deeper sense of Philadelphia’s personality and history beyond the typical tourist spots. Freedom and flexibility One of the best parts about CitywalksSpace’s self-guided tours is that you remain completely independent throughout your walk. You don’t need to be tied to a guide’s schedule or pace — you decide when to stop for a coffee, take photos, or ...

(Texte en français ci-dessous) When you’re in Midtown on the East River side, you can’t miss seeing the Pepsi-Cola sign in front of you at Long Island City. Originally it was further north in front of a bottling plant for the drink of the same name but when it closed in 1999, its fate remained uncertain until it was moved to its present location in 2009. What you don’t see, though, is the boardwalk that runs past it and goes from the Long Island City ferry stop to the one at Hunters Point South. In addition to being superbly developped with several unusual photo opportunities, games for children and a baseball area, it offers unique views of Manhattan. That makes it an interesting outing project. If you are coming from Manhattan, the best way to reach the Coca-Cola sign and walk along the boardwalk is to take a ferry from the stops along the East River, the closest being at East 34th Street. For the price of a metro ride, you will have the pleasure of being in the open air and on the r...

  New fotoprints: walls and salt - Nouveaux fotoprints | 2026 (texte en français ci-dessous) Fotoprints are images created from two photos of the same place, superimposed and processed with filters to give them the appearance of a silkscreen print. It's a technique I invented quite a few years ago now. The idea is to give an abstract impression of the subject rather than its exact representation. Initially, I had selected many photos for these new fotoprints, but when I saw the result obtained with Mur 1 (Wall 1), I went looking for other images of these walls seen in a small village in Mexico and I made Mur 2 and Mur 3 (not presented here but visible on the blog of my main site). I like the geometric side and the colors, and it is already something I had explored a long time ago with linocuts although for the most part, they were in black and white (some are still for sale at my exhibitions in or around Boston). The 4th fotoprint is meant to give an idea of ​​the ...

  New photos (from around the world) - Nouvelles photos | 2026 Out of hundreds of new photos I took in 2024 and 2025, I had to make a choice, and here are two of them, one from Canada and the other from Mexico. On this page , 7 more from France, Costa Rica and the USA. I agree that 5 different countries is not exactly a world tour, but hey, it's a little tour nonetheless, and to see other older photos and continue to travel, you can go to the page 30 unique photos. Parmi les centaines de nouvelles photos que j'ai prises en 2024 et 2025, j'ai dû faire un choix, et en voilà deux, une du Canada et l'autre du Mexique. Sur cette page , 7 autres de France, Costa Rica et des USA.  Je reconnais que 5 pays différents, ce n'est pas exactement le tour du monde mais bon, c'est un petit tour quand même et pour voir d'autres photos plus anciennes et continuer à voyager, vous pouvez aller sur la page 30 uniques photos .

(texte en français ci-dessous) When you take route 1A North from Boston and arrive at Orient Heights in East Boston, you will see at some point on your right a cross on a hill and at its foot a sign inviting you to visit the Madonna Queen of the Universe Shrine. If like me you thought that the sanctuary consisted only of this cross, think again; it’s actually located a bit ahead and you can’t see it from the road. It is an impressively tall monument that overlooks Boston, the airport runways and the coast on that side of the city. In front of the huge statue of the Madonna, a large square intended to receive the faithful. At its end, the panoramic view… What is surprising is that contrary to what one might think, the church is not at this level but two floors below the square, accessible by entering the buildings on the right. Nothing extraordinary in its decoration, particularly because there are no stained glass windows, but just before reaching it, you will find a room where are re...

(texte en français ci-dessous) In this free Upper West Side museum, you’ll find the luminous and spiritualistic paintings of Nicholas Roerich, an early 20th century Russian painter, writer, philosopher, archaeologist and adventurer. In fact, you’ll even find much more because he has had an extraordinary life as evidenced by his astonishing biography: statues from the Middle East brought back after his expeditions to India, Tibet, Mongolia and China, black and white photos showing him in the company of all the great of his time, documents relating to the many associations he created with his wife to promote spirituality and art. Born in St Petersburg in 1874, he died in India in 1947. In between, he lived in Finland, England and the USA. Nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize, he also received the Legion of Honor if you believe one of the documents exhibited in one of the rooms of the museum. He has been recognized as the 5th incarnation of the Dalai Lama. He was also the for...

  The best self‑guided walking tours for newcomers in Chicago If you’re new to Chicago and eager to explore the city beyond the usual tourist snapshots,  CityWalksSpaces  collection of 13 self‑guided walking tours  offers one of the most thoughtful and practical introductions to the city, making it an ideal starting point for anyone wanting to understand Chicago’s character, history, and neighborhoods on foot. Why these walks are perfect for newcomers in Chicago? 1. A friendly introduction to Chicago’s story Before you even start walking, the site provides a rich, accessible overview of Chicago’s origins—from Jean Baptiste Point du Sable’s first settlement to the city’s explosive growth after the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the rebuilding that followed the Great Fire of 1871. This context helps newcomers appreciate the layers of history they’ll encounter on each route. 2. Practical tips for navigating the city Chicago can feel overwhelmin...

2020-21 : digital sketches – croquis digitaux (texte en français ci-dessous) The tablet I had last year (see below) stopped working after a few months and yes, it was a cheap and simple one so I should have guessed it but it nevertheless got me hooked on digital drawing. I bought a new one but it’s much more complex and expensive and it took me months to get something from it. Working digitally has nothing to do with using paper and pencil. There’s no grain, no resistance and less subtlety in the lines. Below are some new sketches I don’t find good enough yet but perhaps they are the maximum of what I can do! To be continued… La tablette que j’avais l’année dernière (voir ci-dessous) a cessé de fonctionner après quelques mois et oui, c’était une tablette pas chère et simple donc j’aurais dû m’en douter mais elle m’a néanmoins rendu accro au dessin numérique. J’en ai acheté une nouvelle mais elle est beaucoup plus complexe et chère et il m’a fallu des mois pour en tirer quelque chose. T...

  (texte en français ci-dessous) Philadelphia 16000 alleys Walking around Philadelphia, you'll quickly realize that the city is full of small alleys that, when well-maintained, are incredibly charming. According to a 2025 report, there are 16,000 of them which once served as shortcuts for local residents or provided access to the shops located on the ground floor of the buildings. While those in the city center, often shaded, serve as pedestrian walkways between beautiful houses, most are in a sorry state: filled with trash, overgrown with vegetation, and blocked by illegal barriers. The city wants to revitalize them to improve the appeal of the neighborhoods where they are located, and this will undoubtedly require significant cleaning and renovation work. In the meantime, if you follow the self-guided tours of Walk in Philadelphia, you'll have the opportunity to explore some of the most beautiful ones. The best known is probably Elfreth's Alle...

(texte en français ci-dessous) The 16 intricate floors of The Vessel, Hudson Yards, NYC The Vessel at Hudson Yards in New York City is located at the start of  Walk in NYC # 4, the High Line Hudson River stroll. Open to the public in March 2019, it is made of interconnected stairs on 16 floors; its platforms overlook the skyscrapers that have also emerged in this place at about the same time, and on the Hudson River in the distance, behind the subway depot that gives its name to the place. Its particular shape has also made it compared to a M. C. Escher drawing and it's the creation of British designer Thomas Heatherwick. Its metal pieces have been built in Italy. At the beginning, entry was free as long as you had a reserved time slot, then it was closed following some suicides, and then it reopened with new rules that didn't prevent another suicide. It is now open again with safety barriers and an entry fee with mandatory advanced reservation...

(texte en français ci-dessous) In Boston, 7 colorful sculptures by Okuda San Miguel If you follow the Walk in Boston # 8 (see link below), you will necessarily cross Seaport Boulevard in the neighborhood of the same name, so forget the suggested route for a moment and walk along the street. On the median strip, there will be the 7 sculptures of the public art project Air, Sea, Earth created especially for the place by Okuda San Miguel. Spanish, contemporary, influenced by graffiti and street arts, his style is instantly recognizable when you have seen it once. It often highlights the contradictions of existence and the impossible meeting of the wild and the built, which surely explains the choice of this artist to decorate this area. And built, this district has been over the past 10 years! It was previously mainly open-air parking spaces and abandoned industrial buildings or, if we go back further in time, a large trading center where commercial sailing ships and trains from the west ...

  (texte en français ci-dessous) The H. Washington Public Library, Chicago When you see it from the street, it appears as a huge cube of granite and red bricks, an imposing but somewhat dull building that occupies an entire city block. You will have to look up at its roof to see original metal decorations that may begin to arouse your curiosity. They are owls, symbols of the wisdom that awaits you inside. Once you have pushed open its entrance doors, you can only be amazed by the splendor of the place. The terrazzo floors are superb, the geometric decorations echo the geometric layout of the place, the escalators in wooden structures make you want to take them instead of the elevator. Each floor has its specialty, its worktables, its particular lighting, its art exhibitions and without having to borrow books, you can easily spend an hour there looking at everything. Do not miss the glass roof/winter garden on the 9th floor, a calm and bright place where you can find armchairs to s...