France again, but this time at La Gacilly, in Bretagne (Brittany)

post #299
      Before getting to Paris this summer, I made sure to visit as well a close friend, Mariko, who lives in Rennes, in western France. I met her years ago in Japan, but she has been married to a frenchman and living in France for a long time.  A couple of springs ago on this blog I showed photos of her and her husband, Christian, in Rennes and in St. Malo. 
       This time I only had a single day to visit, due to one of my airplanes having been canceled.  Anyway, with two of her friends, we drove to La Gacilly, about an hour away.  That is where a famous annual outdoor photo exhibit takes place: several hundred large photos set up all over town, grouped by photographer or by topic. It was impressive!  Actually, this year one of the major topics was photos from Japan.  
     One of Mariko's friends, Joelle, is also a photographer, and last week she sent us some of her photos from that day.  That gave me the idea of showing some of her photos and some of mine of the same places.  I will try to pull off my idea today, both to show the town with its renowned event being well attended on a Sunday, and, mainly, to enjoy the way each photographer's own eyes have the final say about how a photo looks. Merci, Joelle, pour tes photos fantastiques!

Ann - first views of the village of La Gacilly, to be followed by Joelle's first views

Joelle!  This has more water, and of course the willow tree!

another perspective, by Joelle

I love this photo -- Mariko made it!  And it shows three of the four of us. Next are two other versions of this same main area at the entrance to the town.

(Ann)  I assume this red structure is there year round.

(Joelle) looking back from the big buildings -- I didn't notice while there how the shaped tree reflects the red structure.  So glad to see it here.

As we walked around the town, which had so many photos on display, I noticed this stairway off to one side; we all had a long discussion about how to compose a photo of it. So here, one is mine, one is Joelle's -- a beautiful use of a staircase that's probably unsafe to use...

(Joelle) the ancient town well

(Joelle) I missed this as well!

(Joelle) I assume this was a favorite photo of hers.

three friends, after our true French lunch

This mother and daughter are acquaintances of my gang. They just happened to be having lunch at the same restaurant!

(Ann) the "square"

(Joelle) the same "square," in La Gacilly

 

I will now add some photos, some by me, some by Joelle, with hopes they give the flavor of how there was something interesting to see around every corner.

(Joelle)

(Ann)

(Ann) -- first of three photos from one place

I never found out the story behind choosing this photo for a posed moment....

Joelle making a photo.

(Ann) I put the head in the photo on purpose, partly to gauge the size of the photo on the wall, but also to acknowledge that the whole place was a celebration of photography, with tourists looking at the several hundred photos on display and taking photos in return..

(Joelle, of course)

We figured someone had left this bike out as a prop.  So we obliged....  After all, the day was also about having fun! It was the first time any of us had been to this village and so also the first time to see one of the annual exhibits.

Thanks, Joelle, for this fine photo of Mariko and myself.

a favorite photo there, though my photo of it doesn't do it justice