Paris is beautiful, but I really love the nights. There are fewer people milling about, and most (excluding the tourists) are busy eating dinner. The Parisians eat a bit late for my tastes, but we kept pushing dinner back further and further to really get into the swing of French life. The cafe’s even at late hours are full of people eating, drinking, talking and having a grand time. This shot was taken just South across the bridge from Île de la Cité on Rue du Petit Pont.
The word gargoyle comes from the French work gargouille which has to do with the throat. Many of these little monsters are there to usher water away from the Gothic cathedrals and their name may have been derived from the gurgle of water flowing from their mouths. Hardly inspiring fear in the learned. Legend also has it they possess the power to ward off evil spirits. This guy is one was of the ornamental (evil spooking) variety.
This gargoyle is also perhaps the most photographed gargoyle in the world. Over the centuries, it appears he has become bored of both the attention and the spectacular view of Paris he enjoys everyday. I don’t know for sure if this has always been the case or a stance that has evolved over time, but I for one was blown away by the view, despite the crisp Autumn air blowing around the first observation level of Notre Dame.
For some reason, French drivers don’t seem a bit phased to find a number of foreign tourists standing in the middle of their Boulevards taking photos of their monuments. Even, it seems, if those same tourists are photographing at night. I took a number of photographs on the streets surrounding the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, namely I camped out in the middle of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Somehow I felt safer with the Parisian drivers than I do with my local Springfield drivers!
This photo is from the side of the Arc where I became fascinated with this leaf that planted itself in my shot. Enjoy!
One of our unintended great finds while visiting Paris was the at 29 Avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement, very close to the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1901, this Art Nouveau masterpiece by Jules Lavirotte is quite striking. The detailed door was designed by sculptor Jean-Baptiste Larrive and sculpted by a variety of others. If you happen to be in Paris, seek this beauty out!
We waited for what seemed like ever for a man on the sidewalk outside to move. He just kept talking on his mobile and didn’t see at all impressed that I wanted to take a photograph of this door. I guess he was used to tourists snapping photos and moving on. I wanted something for my website that didn’t include his funny mustache!
Before we left for Paris I reread The Da Vinci Code
One of many places I spotted the expression was in the spiral staircase that takes visitors to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. What made it stick out to me was the slightly golden color of the stairwell which was bathed in some sort of halogen light. Enjoy!
On our first day in Paris, right after we dropped our things off at our wonderful AirBNB apartment, we headed down to Notre Dame. The cathedral is overwhelming and deserves its own post (probably several) but one of the first pictures I took was on the Seine. Just an average day, with the river flowing along as it always does. The river has a sort of elegance that is hard to describe. There are thousands of tourists milling about, but even with the hustle and bustle and snap of cameras, the river swallows it all up and washes it away.
I took 2000 photos on our recent trip to Paris. Processing those has proven to be daunting to say the least. Even with Lightroom’s wonderfully capable categorization systems and flags, I feel buried under all that I have to process. I thought I would begin (unless you count the photos I did for Pamela’s Blog Trois Canelé and Top of Notre Dame) with a simple photo outside the Louvre on one of the better days. The processing is simple, but I was pleased with the outcome.
I am working on a new website to house all my travel photography. I am hoping to have it online by the first of the year. Having everything on this site makes it hard for me to promote any one thing. So here it to future endeavors, may they be successful!
