Most of these images were taken during a Wednesday-Thursday trip to Paris. On Thursday we were launching a new report on the role of Free Trade Zones in counterfeit trade, a piece of joint work between our office and the OECD. The venue was the OECD headquarters in Paris.
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Early in the week, our communications service recorded a short interview with me in preparation for the launch of the study. Here is Pierre setting up the DSLR he is using for the video:
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Testing the light. The resulting interview was chopped up into small segments for use on Twitter, like this one:
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On Wednesday morning I flew to Paris and made my way from Orly to my hotel on the banks of the Seine, close to the Eiffel tower. I got off at the Bir Hakeim station:
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Bir Hakeim, the view above ground:
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There was an exhibition of photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand all over the Paris metro:
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I walked along the Quai de Grenelle, passing a nice little park called Square Bela Bartok:
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Sculpture, Square Bela Bartok:
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I took in the modern architecture along the Quai de Grenelle:
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And by looking back, one sees this:
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After checking in to the hotel, I had a couple of hours to myself before attending a dinner with OECD, EU and US officials in the evening. I decided to take the metro to the area near Notre Dame and walk around a bit. On the way to the metro station, I came across this sign on the banks of the Seine, near Bir Hakeim. I was moved and surprised, since this commemorates the roundup of French Jews by the Vichy regime in 1942, including my French family:
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I spent some minutes contemplating the mounument to the deportees. The light was not particularly good, but given that I was going to be in Paris for only about 24 hours, I knew that I would not have another opportunity to visit the monument during this trip:
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The Arthus-Bertrand exhibition continued in the Saint-Michel metro station:
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I walked across the Pont Saint-Michel and took in this classic Paris scene:
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Another classic French sight:
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Then it was time to make my way to the restaurant Bon near the OECD for the dinner. One of the distinguishing characteristics of this restaurant is that it was decorated by Philippe Stark:
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Walking back to the hotel after dinner, I stopped to take in this wonderful view. I have seen this many times, but never get tired of it:
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The next day it was time to work. I was at the OECD by 8 a.m. I like the many skylights and the luminosity and colour in the building:
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This is the OECD conference centre. At any given time there are 10-12 different meetings of various task forces and committees taking place. Ours is called the Task Force on Combatting Illicit Trade:
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Now our report has been launched, and we can all relax a bit (although the Task Force meeting will last until 6 p.m.). These are the two OECD economists with whom we work on our studies, Piotr (yes, he is Polish) and Florence:
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The OECD facilities consist of a large modern building and a smaller Chateau de la Muette which houses ceremonial meeting rooms and the offices of the Secretary General of the organisation. Between them there is a nice inner courtyard and park:
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This is the main hall of the Chateau, where many important people have set foot during the past six decades:
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Peeking into an ornate meeting room at the Chateau:
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A whiff of history, and a reminder of the time when the trans-Atlantic ties were forged out of the horrors of the World War. A lesson that current politicians seem to be forgetting:
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After lunch there was a session on illicit trade in wildlife, which is not relevant to my work, so I used the hour to take a walk in the neighbourhood. The OECD is located in the posh 16th Arrondissement, with many ornate buildings like this one:
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La Rotonde is a favourite watering hole for OECD staff members:
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Behind the OECD there is a nice park called Jardin du Ranelagh, a place I had never visited before:
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There are many statues around the park:
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Not sure if this is a fox or a dog. I interpret it as a dog, as it serves as a lead-in to the following photos:
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Back in Alicante, on Friday evening I stopped at the Corte Inglés department store to buy something. This woman was looking at art supplies with her assistant:
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Later that evening, outside our local supermarket:
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And on Saturday, on Plaza Montañeta in the centre:
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Finally, while out cycling at the weekend, I noticed that someone had embellished a boring piece of ruin in a field near Aigües:
If you are curious about what a report launch at the OECD looks like, the video of the event is here.