France 2014      

This selection of photos is from our June 2014 trip to Paris, Bordeaux and southwest France.   As usual, it was hard for me to narrow down the candidates to just 12 shots.  What is different about this ART@CHC gallery is that it includes more traditional compositions vs. my usual odd takes.  I wanted each image to convey some characteristic flavor of France.  It’s as close to a travelogue as I get.

I have hundreds of photos of France from the 1990s and early 2000s, but these are all on film and will take some effort to process.  I plan to go through those images sometime soon and may create a second gallery if there are enough good ones.

Photo titles and notes:

• Lettres — A front-door in Sarlat-la-Canéda (or simply, Sarlat), a town in southwestern France.

• Un Café — This tableaux greeted us each morning in the breakfast room of La Lanterne in Sarlat.

• Passageway in Sarlat — Sarlat is a well-preserved and restored 14th-century town.  I woke up around sunrise one Sunday morning and strolled around the nearly-empty town center, taking photos like this one.

• The Grounds of Cathédrale Saint-Sacerdos — Saint Sacerdos was born in Sarlat in 670 AD and became the 32nd Bishop of Limoges, which must have been a pretty big deal at the time.

• Public Market in Martel — Martel is a medieval-era village about 45 minutes east of Sarlat.  We were fortunate to visit there on market day and bought a number of cheeses to enjoy later for lunch.

• Skies over Rocamadour — The pilgrimage site Rocamadour, 30 minutes south of Martel, was built into the side of a limestone canyon over the Alzou River.

• Five Flamingos (Jardin des Plantes) — Le Jardin des Plantes is a little gem of a botanical/zoological garden in the 5th Arrondissement of Paris.  Unfortunately, the galleries were closed the day of our visit but I enjoyed walking the grounds.

• Staircase in Palais Garnier — Palais Garnier is the heavily-gilded, heavily-visited opera house in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris.  I originally included this photo in my Steps gallery, but it really belongs here.

• Lunch at Musée d’Orsay — How often in life does one get the chance to have lunch in such an elegant setting?

• Dessert in Jardin du Luxembourg — We took time to relax a little and enjoy the scene in Jardin du Luxembourg.  This woman enjoying her ice cream was kind enough to let me take her photo.

• Interior Courtyard at The Louvre — Sometimes when you take the back stairs, you see things that you wouldn’t see otherwise.  My only regret with this image is having to shrink it down to fit on this screen.  Same goes for the next one…

• Eiffel Tower at Dusk — We followed a wonderful dinner at Villa Verdi with a romantic stroll over to the Eiffel Tower.  It made one’s 60’s feel like one’s 20’s.