Shutter Sheila

I don't know how many decades or maybe centuries this little lady has been valiantly adorning this old café wall. In fact she's a 'shutter stopper', holding the shutters open when it's not cold or hot or dark enough to close them.

You can find her ilk all over Paris, but especially in the older quarters, as she doesn't favour big modern monsters and privileges little houses and older apartments off the beaten track.

The position you see her in here is actually the 'holding open the shutters' position, but I like to flip them up as I go past as the head-down/bottoms-up position isn't very dignified for a lady of her standing and responsibilities.

Fuzzy in the background is the shutter she is responsible for, which is an important link back to her mission and indeed raison d'être.

Keep your eyes open for these little nods to the past as you wander around your neighbourhood. Sometimes they are worth a photo and a story to boot.

~ December 2007 - Slide Show ~