Church on a Hill

1920 1200 Wallpapers - Requested Widescreen Images - John Brody Photography

Per request, here are a selection of 1920 1200 Wallpapers for you Widescreen users... Please note, these are Monster files and will take a few seconds, but that's necessary if you want good Hi-Res images. it's the nature of the web - No worries, I don't do SPAM or any other games, just images... Simply click, one of the 1920 1200 wallpapers will appear in a bit, and then Right Click and choose "Set As Background." There are a few samples here, then go to the gallery and help yourself. Click Jimi Hendrix to go to the gallery.








Click on Jimi Hendrix Picture for the full 1920 1200 wallpapers album.


Enjoy the images and write if you have requests from the other galleries - Some can be cropped to 1920 by 1200 wallpapers, but not all - I'll let you know.

---John Brody Photography

Cafe Les Deux Magots - Paris Photos and Info - John Brody Photography

Cafe Les Deux Magots - A Brief History

This is a famous café on the Left Bank of the Seine called Les Deux Magots. It’s popular with both tourists and Parisians, and has a long and colorful history as a meeting place for famous writers and philosophers. Deux Magots (as it is known to Parisians) was once a favorite spot for existentialist writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Bouvoir, and a favorite of Hemmingway and Picasso's (who is said to have created Cubism here - why they say that I have no clue, but I've seen the comment in several writings). It's now a favorite for anyone who can afford the price tag - you're paying for the vibrant location and history. The hot debate over the name of the cafe rages on a hundred years later. The literal translation of the name into English of 'two nest eggs' and the sound of the name has many arguing that it's an age old sly joke in naming a restaurant 'The Two Maggots'. However, the majority opinion is that Deux Magots is named after two wooden statues of Chinese mandarins which still dominate the room (one of the definitions of “magots” in French is “chunky Eastern figurine, made from stone, jade, or porcelain”). Only the original owner will ever know for sure.

The picture above was taken from the northeast corner of the Place du Québec, which is at the intersection of the boulevard Saint-Germain and the rue de Rennes. The boulevard Saint-Germain continues into the heart of the Latin Quarter behind the camera. To the right, and also off-camera, is the rue Bonaparte, which leads a short distance north to the left (southern) bank of the Seine river (that’s where the Left Bank gets its name—the southern bank of the river is on the left in the direction of the river’s flow, which is westward). To the left, and off-camera, the intersection leads into the rue de Rennes, which continues south into the Montparnasse area. All of this is in the sixth district of Paris, best known as the home of the Latin Quarter, the students’ district. This part of Paris, like many others, is filled with people from morning until very late at night.


- John Brody Photography

Pere Lachaise Cemetery - Paris Photos and Info - John Brody Photography

These photos and history profiles of some my favorite highlights from Paris are being added here by request - by demand actually... Some playfully nasty letters from some Paris lovers have been hitting my inbox because they're not too happy that I shut down a web site that used to contain some of this travel info and pictures. So here you go you cranky Francophiles, Enjoy yourselves! ;)


Pere Lachaise Cemetery - A Brief History

In the early days Pere Lachaise was a poor district, with many outlaws, winding streets, shady avenues. It's located on a old hill of Champ l'Eveque where a rich merchant built his house in 1430.

In the 17th century the Jesuits, converted it into a hospice for members of their order. It became a meeting place under influence of Pere Lachaise Louis XIV's confessor. In 1803, under Napoleon, the Prefect of Paris bought it to build a cemetery. It was an incredibly successful piece of land speculation. Nicolas Frochot, the urban planner who bought the land, persuaded the civil authorities to rebury Molière, La Fontaine, Abelard and Heloise in his new cemetery. Pere-Lachaise became the ultimate symbol for the rich and successful.

Ironically, Frochot even sold a plot to the original owner for considerably more money than the price he had paid for the entire site. Even today, the rates are still extremely high. Some of the most celebrated dead have unremarkable tombs while those whose fame died with them or who were nonentities to start with have the most expressive monuments.

A winding stone pathway through the cemetery above and the grave of chopin at left. As with all pictures here click to go to full sized photo album.

- John Brody Photography