Notre-Dame, Paris, August, 2016

post #428
       Next week: flowers. This week: Notre-Dame photos, since I happen to have some from a week's visit to Paris 2 1/2 years ago, thanks to my son and his family. We stayed in an Airbnb very nearby, and we also took a boat that goes around the island where Notre-Dame has stood since 1163.  In light of the tragedy of the terrible fire last week, I wanted to honor this Parisian landmark for those who have not ever had a chance to visit there. Like many other people, I was close to tears when I saw what was happening, even though it is not my country and not my religion. 
      Notre-Dame has instead some kind of universal stature, some significance for having stood there for so many centuries, through so many wars, as a reminder of beauty and human persistence. Today it is true that the money to preserve the church as it was may now be better spent helping us in other ways. A fire reminds us that things can change very quickly. Like our climate that is changing faster than we are willing to admit. Keeping things the way they were is no longer a good enough solution to anything. 
      Anyway, some photos:

The tall tourist is my son.

an inside chapel

incense from a church service that was ending

        I may add a few more photos tonight, including one of us in Paris. But the time has come to spend time with my family here today. I do hope these photos give a personal feel to what can be a lot to take in.

France, part 3, some twice visited places

post #298
       Maybe Paris, France is not your favorite place in the world, but I hope the photos I've made there, with iPhone and with my Canon SLR, are still worthy of a perusal.  I thought today I would show some places I went to more than once, where I used both my cameras, and see if that makes any difference at all in how they come across!

To start, here is an over/under photo, two different times, two very different views of the same bridge. (There are 5 pedestrian bridges that cross the Seine River in Paris.)

our family, crossing over to the Louvre Museum, early in the day

crossing under that same bridge, the next day, while on the Seine River

looking at "my" side of the street from across the Seine, with the backs of the book stalls shown along the Quai wall

I took many photos of this woman as she opened up her book stall for the day. This was the first one -- it took me a bit to realize what she was up to and that I had time to follow her. I have two photos of her in the previous post. The river is in the background.

       I found the following photo in a book stall near "my woman". There was no way I was going to be able to arrange to be where that photo was made, so I tried to make an art photo from what I did have to work with.

a photo of a photo, showing the model of the Statue of Liberty

and now the reverse view, from the Eiffel Tower, and the statue is located at the far end of the strip in the middle of the river

 Next, here are first three views made with my iPhone from within the quiet cathedral nearby, St.--Severin, that I visited on my last day. I learned that it is one of the oldest cathedrals still in operation on the left bank of the Seine.

 and now three photos I made inside this church with my Canon. I don't like to use the bigger camera when there are folks nearby who are in church.  I also stayed awhile in the meditation chapel, but there was someone else in there the whole time, so I didn't take any photos at all. No problem:

This shows how the organ does hide some of the beauty of the window.

  One last photo, a snapshot, really, from the front of Notre-Dame, which we we could see from the apartment. This was amazing to me, since I have only ever stayed a night or two in Paris before.  Thanks for sharing some of this journey with me.

 

More Paris bits, part 2 of 3

post #297
        This week's post is more Paris! Today's photos are ones made with my Canon 5D companion. I didn't carry my camera everywhere -- too heavy, even when it was in my son's backpack, and we had some rain -- plus once we left in the morning, we'd be gone most of the day.  Anyway, I love my Canon, so I did enjoy it when I had a chance to use it. (Next week: times when I used both the iPhone and the Canon at the same place.)

       So here's from early in our week, exploring the Seine and some of the 37 bridges that go over it in Paris:

moving forward

 

and then looking backwards - the roof window opened despite the drizzle, and E's head liberated.

getting closer by water to the Eiffel Tower

   The next day we got even closer to the Tower. In fact, we went up to the top!

I love trying to get a photo of something I wasn't expecting to see.

But I found that even the expected had charm.

This was as close as I got to the Bois de Bologne, by the way, which is the wonderful wooded area seen in the background.... My sisters and I remember playing there years and years and years ago.

I went across the Seine to get a view of the building we were in -- I hung my red sweat shirt over the railing of our apartment before leaving the apartment to take some photos. Hint: the building is the third one from the right, and there is a close-up in the next photo. Sightseeing boats passed by all the time, including at night, on their way to nearby Notre-Dame. The street floor of the building had a Pizza place.

       The green structure between the trees in the photo above is the back of a book stall, a famous feature in Paris since forever. One morning, early, I took a series of photos, from the opened window, of the woman across the street as she opened up that book stall for the day.  Later I went outside to talk to her, which I enjoyed very much.  She said that tourism is definitely down this year in France, and she also gave me permission to take her photo when I asked -- and I made got a good one.  Now I wish I had her address to send her a copy of it. I am not sure that anyone would deliver a letter to "the woman who works across from 47 Quai des Grands Augustins."

all set up, near the bus stop, and ready for some sales

  Since we were located within a few blocks of Notre-Dame, we went back there another day.  A late afternoon church service started up, with incense and song, and roaming tourists on the side. I remember studying that window in a history of art class at my college!

       We returned as well to Saint Chapelle (see last week's post), but this time it was for an evening concert, in the top level of the building. What a beautiful place to hear Vivaldi! Surrounded by those windows!  
       My thanks again, dear family, for my being part of such a lovely week.  Merci beaucoup, beaucoup.

 (True confession - these last two photos were taken with the iPhone, since I didn't bring the Canon with me.  It seemed better to be there for the music and family, and not be tempted to zone out with the Canon.)

Paris, not in Kentucky but in France, part 1

post #296
       Well, I can't help posting a few photos from where I was privileged to be this past week -- in Paris, France.  I have decided to add a photographic dimension by today showing a dozen photos made with my iPhone 6s.  Next week I will show a dozen or so made with my Canon 5D.  There will be differences, but they may be hard to tell in this blog format.  It does mean my readers get to go to France twice, though some of the places shown will overlap....
        First of all, I want to express loving and hearfelt thanks to my son and daughter-in-law who made this trip possible for me.  Yes, I do speak French so I was sometimes handy to have along, but it was also an amazing new way to spend a week together.  However, they like to WALK everywhere, many hours a day, so I am just fortunate that I even had time to make any photos at all!  Some of them, especially these ones with the iPhone, were literally made on the run:

     But then sometimes we were places where we couldn't be walking, like on a small boat!

My favorite Musee d'Orsay, from a boat on the Seine River

passing by Notre-Dame church which happened to be close by to our apartment

our Seine view of the Eiffel Tower, which we visit the next day

Greetings to all from the top of the Eiffel Tower -- my first time to go all the way to the top!!

air-conditioning (....) on the lower level of Sainte Chapelle

soaring spendor on the upper level of that same chapel, a treasure of a place

A special creperie, for lunch.  The crepes come either as salt or sweet. This was L's salmon crepe,

and this is what was left of the grandkids' dessert crepes.....

Then there is the Musee de LOUVRE!  

I couldn't resist joining in for a device photo at the Louvre Museum -- of everyone there taking a photo of the Mona Lisa!!  What are they thinking??!!  I heard she has to be doubly protected because otherwise visitors throw stuff at the painting or try to harm it. Well, even touching it would harm it. Perhaps they even imagine stealing it? If anyone really needs to see the Mona Lisa, click here.

This is what it had looked like when we got there, after an early walk from our apartment:

 

I was impressed to see several people emerge from this bookstore, standing upright!

I was also impressed seeing E and L firming up their plans for a special night out in honor of their tenth anniversary!!  Again, you two, best wishes and congratulations!

While the parents were having that special anniversary dinner, the kids and I went for a riverside stroll in the neighborhood.  I actually love this photo, its clouds, the evening light, and the shadow of the steps we took to get down closer to the river.

This next photo was my last in Paris.  A barge, tied up on our side of the Seine, had these lovely flowers that wanted to be included with Notre-Dame's derriere... I love being a bit quirky.

           Not everyone gets to go to Paris, so I wanted to share some of what I was able to see.  I hope these at least give a flavor of the bits of Paris I saw last week.

         Alors, a bietntot, mes amis.