With three of us bent on capturing every meaningful moment of the trip, things started to get a bit competitive, especially when Rob started to outdo us in the daily review of images captured.
What makes a shot of the day? It's more than just technical - a shot of the day has to capture something special and unique.
We visited the beautiful Mosquee de Paris in our first week in Paris. I was determined to visit it after seeing the memorable 5 minute film in Paris Je T'aime about the Arab girl with her head scarf. We found it a haven of filigree adorned mediative pavillions, ornate tile work, plays of light and shade, exotic wood panelling, beautiful symmetrical gardens with glossy green tiled walkways and tinkling water features.
We'd heard the best views of Paris were from the dome of the Pantheon, on the Left Bank. We weren't expecting it to be such a beautiful building-originally dedicated to the pious Genevieve, saviour of Paris back in 512. And the views were amazing..
We'd had a huge walking day, but still decided to visit Notre Dame this evening for a multi media presentation on the history of the church. It was so atmospheric in the darkened church listening, in French, to the very amateurish presentation. We stayed awake and learnt a lot. Even though it was after 10.00pm when we left, the streets outside were still full of buskers and people milling about.
This shot was taken soon after Maxie and Rod arrived in Paris. They had just endured the 23 hour flight, taken a shower, and like us were incredibly excited about being in Paris. Here we were sitting in one of the courtyards of the beautiful Palais Royal in central Paris.
I think this shot captures the atmosphere of our morning in Pere Lachaise Cimitiere, with a lot of aimless wandering in this beautiful, gothic place, looking for all the big name graves: Jim Morrison, Eloise & Ebelard, Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf, Moliere and la Fontaine, and of course Oscar Wilde.
Oscar Wilde's tomb is covered in kisses and messages from people who still adore him.
The huge antique market (Marche aux Puces) at Porte de Clignacourt in the north of Paris was a visual delight. I was wishing I had a project in mind when I found this incredible stall selling antique beads, buttons and other trims.
My beautiful sister, well matched by the beautiful Monet Waterlillies. It was so thrilling to see the Musee L'Orangerie at last after its three year restoration. This gallery in particular made us feel like we were actually underwater, in Monet's lake in the garden at Giverny.
This shot shows us quite worn out at this stage of the afternoon after a day of walking and sightseeing and lots of art viewing. The waterpond at the Musee Rodin in Rue Varenne was a wonderful place to chill out and regain our energy.
The streets and parks of Paris are lined with mature chestnut trees. They were starting to ripen during our stay. The smell of chestnuts cooking over open braziers on the streets is an enduring memory of our first vist to Paris in November 1975.
I've got lot of shots of La Tour Eiffel. I liked this one because on this particular day the sky was doing amazing things, like a Magritte painting..it was quite tonal, not like the flat blue skies we have in Australia.
We're in the country now, NE of Toulouse near Najac. Maxie became quite close to Gorgon the friendly but ugly NZ pig. He loved her too and the little delicacies she brought him.
We visited picturesque, medieval villages and markets each day with the help of our hair raising TOMTOM Jane: Caussade, Montricoux, St Antonin-Noble-Val, Cordes sur Ciel, Sauveterre de Rouergue, Belcastel, Villefranche de Rouergue, Monteil, Laguepie, Carmaux, Monesties. I have a weakness for cats and was pleased to see this one sitting in a medieval window in Cordes sur Ciel.
This shot, taken at the Villefranche de Rouergue markets verges on being too cheesy for a shot of the day, but they just do the whole medieval thing so well!
On our last afternoon at La Singlarie we walked to a little hamlet south of our farm, Mazerolles, and enjoyed wandering around its picturesque chateau, leafy gardens and laneways. This little old Citroen looked absolutely right!
This shot Rob took of the old town of Albi made us realise how competitive he'd become in the shot of the day stakes (that fractured reflection in the water was a winner that day!)
We spent a few days exploring the Luberon valley in Provence. The hilltop village of Lacoste, dominated by the ruins of the chateau du Marquis de Sade, has been largely taken over by Pierre Cardin and the Savannah School of Art & Design. the village was full of building renovations and rich young American design students. This sculpture was placed quite incongruously on the hilltop beside the ruins of the chateau.
This is an arty shot by Rob of a building in the village of Bonnieux. He loved the patina of the colour and the way the shutters look to be drawn on.
I took this shot of these extraordinary trees from the top of the hill overlooking Bonnieux from where we could see all of the famous Luberon Valley.
The village of Roussillon is comprised of a remnant outcrop of red oxide pigmented kaolin soil and quartz rock. The gorgeous ochre tones are evident in the village houses, churches and old public buildings making the village appear to glow in the afternoon light. However it is the "sentier (fields) des ocres de Roussillon" which are truly remarkable.
Rob in the "sentier des ocres de Roussillon".
We found Nice to be an exuberant, lively, wealthy holiday makers' city and really enjoyed our four days there. This shot of the beach at Nice includes a lot of English tourists, as you can tell by the quantity of pale flesh on show.
This stolen shot of a wedding party on the Parc de la Colline du Chateau high above the old town of Nice expresses some of the liveliness and diversity of the city.
and on the other side of the Parc de la Colline du Chateau we saw the wealth on display, in the port of Nice.
Just like in Paris the young Arab boys perform in the central plaza (Place Massena). In Nice a stylish young woman managed the music for them while they entertained us with their very acrobatic dancing.
Strolling along the promenade at Nice it wasn't long before we found the historic old Hotel Negresco. Made me think of poor Isadora Duncan who lost her life all those years ago outside this hotel when her scarf got caught in the wheel of her sports car!
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