Postcard from Paris
Posted under Paris, Photography
La Tour Eiffel
I’m certain blogging would be a quicker process if I didn’t have the urge to cram every post with as many photos as possible, but since a picture speaks a thousand words and I’ve already got more than enough words for a lifetime I guess the photos are here to stay. Best buy another couple of hard drives then…
So I snuck off to French France this week sans children, sans husband…and not for work…but for PLAY! A good friend of mine moved there recently, and I took a twirl on the Eurostar to visit.
Rue du Faubourg St Honore
On which note, when did Eurostar stop announcing when you’re about to enter ‘the tunnel’? I guess it’s nothing special anymore, but it was so thrilling the very first time I went on the Eurostar back in 1995 and a bloke with a comedy French accent came over the tannoy ‘Ladies & Gentlemen…we are about to enter the Channel Tunnel’. Who can remember the day in 1990 when the French and English tunnelers finally ‘met’ in the middle – such excitement at the time. And now no one cares. Likewise, it used to be so exciting to feel the train massively pick up speed once on French soil (well tracks, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it)…such a contrast to the snail’s pace on the Brit side. But now it’s high speed all the way.
These little changes seem so small, but then it’s the little differences about being abroad which make the memories. The elegance of the underground station signs:
Trocadero metro station
The casual elegance of a simple breakfast presentation:
Le Petit Dejeuner
And then there was the depressingly familiar…Starbucks everywhere, complete with the regulation Starbucks furniture to be seen in every corner of the globe. I will admit I went in, in search of a clean loo. It was empty, the French clearly eschewing over-priced, under flavoured ‘coffee’ in favour of the real deal. Vive la France!
I didn’t ‘do’ a lot in my 24 hour visit, I doubt I covered more than a square mile if that. But how different life is now that I have photography as a hobby…no shopping, no tourist ‘must dos’, no galleries for me. I just went where my feet took me (slowly, I got blisters ouch) and snapped away. Looking through my 250 photos it’s so interesting to see that they easily fall in to a couple of categories; shapes, body parts and patterns!
First up ‘shapes’:
The Louvre Pyramid designed by I.M. Pei, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background
Louvre Pyramid
The Grand Louvre, reflected in the Louvre pyramid:
Grand Louvre, reflected
Hearts and triangles…I love this! I would never have noticed this had I not been hunting around for a good place for a shot; someone has stuck a sticker ON THE PYRAMID!!! Bet it was a teenager who will dine out on that story for years…
Hearts 'n' triangles
More triangles, toy sailboats ready for hire in the Jardin du Carrousel:
And circles of course…the Big Wheel in the Tuileries:
The Big Wheel - Tuileries
Rectangles too, and semi circles…
Palais de la Decouverte
And rectangles (with trumpets and hoofs hanging over)
Pont Alexandre III
Then there were bodyparts by the bucket. Let’s start with feet…
Dreamboat Gallic lovegod feet:
PINK men’s brogues..bonus self-portrait of me reflected:
Chanel bag toting label freak…wearing wellies in the rain:
Then hands
Statue - Jardin du Carrousel
…and again..
Statue - Jardin du Carousel
Ooooh CHEEKY hands here…
Statue - Jardin du Carousel
and a bit of everything here…a chap asked me to take a snap of him and his wife on this bridge. I obliged but immediately fell in love with his D700 (a very fancy camera) and wanted to toss my own in to the Seine…
Pont Alexandre III
And finally patterns…public electric bikes, stashed and used all over the city!
Ornate wall in the Jardin du Caurosel
Jardin du Carousel
Japanese tourists on the viewing platform for the Eiffel Tower – Le Palais du Chaillot:
Path through Le Jardin du Palais Royal:
Le Jardin du Palais Royal
Of course these are just a handful of the photos that I took and, as you can see, I didn’t do much while I was there…I walked, I snapped, I ate, I drank, I dehydrated, I got blisters on my feet, I spoke French so badly I was given a can of coke when I asked for a bottle of water, I walked miles to a toyshop to buy gifts for my children only to find it was shut…and then I came home. And spent hours sorting and processing photos to make this…a little postcard of my Paris trip to keep with me forever.
Pont du Alexandre III
Oh I love it! The opening photo of the Eiffel Tower is fantastic. And I adore Le Jardin du Palais Royal – beautiful. I cannot wait to one day take J to Paris as he has never been.
the bike photo (the first one) is spectacular. as is the reflection of the louvre.
as for me, paris is one of the major world’s cities i’ve never been to (CDG doesn’t count), can’t decide if that’s cool or i’m missing out. you make me feel i’m missing out..
xox,
/j
Fabulous photos! You are amazing, really. I love them all, and they are all things I’d never think of to shoot.
I love all of them. wow! you’re so good at this! I bow at your feet, oh great photographer :-)
Gosh…you are really a superb photographer!
Looking at these pictures you make me wanna hop on a train and visit Paris myself. Hmmm….I really would do that if it wasn´t for little Miss Kitty.
Have a great Sunday, Jeannette
ohh. yummy, yummy, yummy! and i see a couple of perfect photos for postcards here – the ferris wheel, and the 2nd photo of the bikes. the are all spectacular. worth the blisters i’m sure!
Well well well look at you all pro shots and stuff…. are you sure you didn’t scan some postcards in there???? You make me so mad that all I got when I was there was a bad hangover and a husband!!! hahahaa.
I think I may save this in my fave’s I love it!! good for you little miss goodie blisters. muoawwww. that’s supposed to be a big air kiss!!!!!
These. Pictures. Make. Me. Sweaty.
(In a very good way.)
Wow.
Please, don’t stop taking and posting photos! These are great!
I’ve always thought Paris was overrated! I’m pretentious like that… maybe I’m due for another visit, specially because I’ve never been on the Eurostar!
Really lovely photos. I must look at them more closely later (during the Top Gear snooze-fest probably!) but gorgeous.
Amazing photos, loving the perspective you have. I must return to Paris just for the reason of taking photos!
Tres bon! Such incredible photos, wish I was there right now. Love the dude with the orange brogues, and the bike pics are pretty special, too!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have tears in my eyes. I have seen beauty and experienced a bit of Paris’ spirit through you. I am exhausted as I just got home from a road trip of my own. But will visit again tomorrow and try to find words for my joy.
Kim..I keep reading your ‘sweaty’ comment and giggling.
Glad everyone enjoyed the photos. It was a bit of a labour of love putting this post together!
Perhaps we should have a blogger photography daytrip to Paris?
Oh these photos are to die for!! I LOVE Paris and have just booked another trip in October – even more excited now I’ve seen these :-) And I just love the chanel bag toting wellie wearer = a woman after my own heart! x
PS. Def up for the blogger photography day trip to Paris!
That sweaty comment has me all giggly and silly. These pictures are fantastic. If I had to choose a favorite – oh my, I couldn’t. The cheeky hands was pretty great, though. Of course, that’s because of your words and not because I have a thing for cheeky women.
Your first image belongs on the cover of a book. Remember that when you create your first Blurb book, won’t you? And the Louvre reflection? No words – just a big sigh.
By the way, which is your favorite??
Ahh, I loved your photos. You should be a travel photographer. :)
What a great colection of images. i’m so jealous. I wanna go to Paris
[...] I went to Paris [...]
This is almost better than actually GOING to Paris . . . although I would have definitely come away with a picture of patisserie.
These pictures are absolutely gorgeous and bring back all my beloved memories of my annual trip to Paris – my favorite city in the whole world!