DAY THREE, PARIS

I swear, people reading this are going to be sorry they asked me to post pictures. I thought the "day one" had a lot....then "day two" had more...and "day three".... Yeah. More.

Anyone who knows me knows that when I have a plan of action in my head, I like to stick to it. Any deviation from the plan moves my cheese. And I dont like that. Day Three moved my cheese... We started out at Ste Chappelle. We got there as soon as it opened, because there tends to be a line as they day goes on. So we hopped the metro....

and were at Ste Chappelle by the time the doors opened. Or were supposed to open. Apparently some dignitary was set to visit, so the public wasnt allowed in. Not to worry, we did get back to it -- but you'll have to wait a few days for it...

Instead, we headed over to the Orangerie. This is a museum tucked in the Tuillerie Gardens, and has been closed for renovations every time I've tried to go to it. Rumor had it there were some beautiful Monet panels there. I'm so glad I didnt know more than that. Not knowing what to expect when we walked in, it took my breath away. The first thing I managed to say to Mom was, "It's so pretty I could cry."

Oval-shaped room, 4 HUGE panels of GORGEOUS Monet Water Lily paintings with doorways in between each panel. I sort of didnt want to leave. But there was a second room. Same layout. Four more panels. If you looked down from overhead, the rooms are shaped like an infinity symbol. Apparently Monet was commissioned to create the panels specifically for this space and they were designed to be hung in such a way that you felt like you were part of the water.

Ok, I'm going to stop trying to describe them...because I cant do it justice. The pictures dont either. Seriously? I've never seen anything so beautiful.




Downstairs, there were several other beautiful paintings, too. Several by Renoir, one Picasso, and others I vaguely remembered from High School French, but this (Renoir) was my favorite.

Just outside of the museum, they had a replica of my favorite Rodin sculpture, The Kiss. The Rodin Museum was on the list of "if we have time we'll try to get there..." but we didnt have time. But at least we got to see this one!
After lunch we headed over to the Opera.
By the end of all the France postings, you'll see a trend of statue faces... These are all out in the front of the Opera -- under the names of composers. I think they're supposed to be muses, but I'm not positive.....

Inside the foyer... There are statues of composers.....
The main staircase leading up to the auditorium. This is the first time I've bothered to take pictures inside -- usually it's too crowded and I've never wanted to waste film in a dark place... The color isnt great on these lobby shots, but you get the idea...
Downstairs there was a neat exhibit with props and costumes and art from ballets that have been performed here....
The Gallerie la Fayette is right around the corner from the Opera, and since we had some time to kill before meeting for dinner, we gave the kids some free time to roam through the mall... Mom and I went up to the observation deck -- and even tho it was dark and gloomy (it actually rained pretty hard about 14 seconds after I took this), I thought this was a neat shot. Everyone knows the Eiffel Tower is big. But you never really get a sense of HOW big until you see it from this vantage point.
Inside the Gallerie La Fayette.....
The Christian Dior makeup counter...
And over in the grocery side of the mall... A huge counter with spices....

We left Paris the next morning for Versailles and Chartres.... Coming soon....

DAY TWO, PARIS

So here we are with Day Two in Paris.

We started the day with a bus tour, probably my least favorite part of the trip -- it's definitely more fun to just wander the streets, but because there's SO much to see in such a short time, the bus trip is the only way to do it. One of the first stops was the Eiffel Tower, but we went back specifically to go up in the tower later that day, so I'll start in the Luxembourg Gardens.... We got off the bus on one side, took a quick walk through and the bus picked us up on the other side...

Aside from beautiful flowers everywhere you turn, there is a replica (a really small one) of the Statue of Liberty. I'm pretty sure there are three of these throughout Paris. Maybe two.
Shot this window on the way back to the bus. Every window in Paris is decked out with beautiful window boxes. Mostly colorful and bright -- tho I thought this was a pretty one as well....
Another stop on the bus tour was to get out to see the Hotel des Invalides -- where Napoleon is buried. But the medics were on strike that day...
So we only got a shot of the dome through the bus window. Sorry about the glare, but figured it was worth sharing anyway.
After the bus tour, it was on to the Louvre... Unfortunately, you cant get far enough away to get a picture of the whole place...and anyone who knows me knows I hate having random people in the way of my picture. So I dont have many exterior shots ...Inside, we hit the "big three" first... The Mona Lisa:
Venus de Milo:
and the Winged Victory:Also a neat display of "objets d'art"
The ceilings are actually as impressive -- if not more so -- than the paintings on the walls...
After the Louvre, we took a boat trip along the Seine...this is one end of the Louvre, taken from the boat.
and the Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette and her son were jailed before they were beheaded...
The boat tour dropped us off at the Eiffel Tower....
The view from the observation deck....
The Arc de Triomphe
Sacre Coeur
And one last parting shot of the Eiffel Tower... I took a zillion pictures of the tower as the lights came on....and the last one I took was the winner. I wish we had stayed long enough for the moon to be higher, but we had to get to the metro before the ticket window closed...
Day Three soon...Stay tuned!

Drumroll, please.....

I'm FINALLY posting about the France trip!!! We’ve been back a few weeks now and I’ve been busy sorting through the 1300+ pictures I took while we were gone. I kept a journal and intended to go back and type it up to post here with pictures, but the more I read over it…it’s just not that entertaining! I ended up writing up the day’s activities just before going to bed and every entry is essentially “We went here. We saw this. I need to get some sleep.”

So instead, I’ll go day by day and throw up some pictures and keep the dialog to the high points.

DAY ONE – PARIS
We landed in Paris about 9ish. Getting out of the airport was interesting… The taxis were on strike. They were all lined in the right lane, and driving slowly in the left – just enough to keep things at almost a standstill. Apparently this is what they do over there…they get in the way for a day, then it’s back to work as normal the next day. Not sure how effective it is, but nice that they don’t drag it out forever.
First stop was Notre Dame. The bus parked in the Latin Quarter so we walked around the neighborhood, across the river and over towards the church. Here's some random scenery from the walk and the neighborhood around Notre Dame...

Before we went into the church, we walked over to the Holocaust Memorial. It’s hard to describe…you walk down a narrow stairway and eventually into this little cave-like stone room. Very dark and claustrophobic. Down the hallway, there are jewels on the wall for every French person who lost their life in the Holocaust. “Appropriate” is the only word I’ve been able to come up with to describe it. When you consider the atrocities that took place during that time, it’s hard to imagine ever being able to sufficiently memorialize it… But they succeeded in making it uncomfortable and beautiful and moving all at the same time.

The entrance:

The crystals representing those who died:
A sculpture outside:
Above the door: Forgive, don't forget...
Then we went into Notre Dame.....






After Notre Dame, we headed back through the Latin Quarter to meet the bus and went back to the hotel for the night.

And there's Day One! Only how many to go? Any bets on how long it'll take to get the whole trip posted?

I shot Rachel

As much as I enjoy taking pictures, I've never really tried to take them of people. Flowers and scenery are easy. They dont blink and you dont have to worry that they're making a weird face... But I have always wondered how I'd do shooting people and I finally got the chance this weekend...

A few months ago, my friend Rachel was looking at some vacation shots I had taken and asked if I'd come over and photograph her family so she could have some updated pictures to hang. I happily agreed -- but we decided to wait until I had the digital camera - and until things were blooming in her yard.

Yesterday the weather cleared just in time and I spent a couple hours shooting away at Rachel and her fam and we had a blast. Having never worked with living, breathing subjects, I wasnt sure what I'd come away with. Fortunately there were several keepers -- It helped that the three of them are pretty photogenic and not a bit camera-shy... ; )

Here are a few of my favs from the day...

In other news, Mom and I head to France tomorrow with a dozen of her students...back in a week and a half. Will definitely share stories and pictures when I get back... Fingers are crossed that we have an uneventful trip.... A bientot!!

Mother Nature puts me to shame

Here’s the most impressive “before and after” that I’ll ever post and – aside from documenting it – I had nothing to do with it. I went out a few weeks ago with my camera to get some pictures of the poppies (which were gorgeous, but unfortunately they didn’t last long – I should post some of them too…next time…) when I noticed the buds on the two peony bushes around the side of the house.

I’d never seen peony buds before, but I couldn’t get over how…perfect…they are. Perfectly round, kinda shiny. Like little natural marbles. The peonies had pretty much had it by the time I moved in last year, but I remembered them being pretty big flowers and I couldn’t quite believe what that these little round buds were going to turn into.

I also learned from a few of my more botanically-aware friends that the ants I’ve seen all over the buds belong there. Apparently the buds have sugar on them, which the ants eat, allowing the buds to open. Who knew?

If I were a more poetic person, I’d probably mention something about the natural beauty of the world we live in and the need to take care of it and that only in nature would you find that ants and flower buds needed each other…

But instead, after a year of posting Before and After pictures, I’ll give Mother Nature full credit for the most inspiring transformation so far...