In January 2001 I went to Paris for the weekend. I had a walk along the Seine and around the Ile de la Cité on Saturday morning with my Contax SLR system to take pictures (shooting four rolls in five hours), which pretty much killed my feet. The rest of the time I did Paris, and took a few pictures with my point and shoot.
|
|
Well, you've gotta start the page somewhere. |
|
|
The Pont des Arts, and a fine public building with a domed roof which I can't identify. |
|
|
The Conciergerie, where they put their concierges if they get too nosy. |
|
|
The incredibly famous Sainte Chapelle, which is basically a long room full of stained glass with an almost complete lack of walls to hold it up. |
|
|
It seemed to be partially closed for about a decade, but now it's open again. It looks like it's had a six week paint job. Why does it always take so long? This is one seriously cool building, with a fantastic modern art collection inside. |
|
|
I think Yves Klein was just about ruler of the roost, on balance. |
|
|
But my favorite pictures were Joan Miro's Blue, Blue II and Blue III. |
|
|
They also have some architecture and design stuff, which can be quite fun. |
|
|
The balconies looked great, but they weren't letting anybody out. |
|
|
On Saturday morning I went for a wander along the Seine. These barges appeared to be going somewhere... |
|
|
... so I followed one, peering stealthily through the trees.. |
|
|
It was trying to hide behind the Pont Des Arts. |
|
|
At this point, I lost it. So I left the bridge behind. |
|
|
The Louvre is a very big building. |
|
|
Very big. And that's just part of the western end of it. |
|
|
I got a better view of the other end from the garden at the tip of the Ile de la Cité. |
|
|
It's amazing what stepping back a yard can do to a photo. |
|
|
And as for moving five yards to the left... |
|
|
Heading north up the side of the Ile, I found a cathedral. Well fancy that. |
|
|
They demolished about a zillion medieval hovels to make this square. Worth it, I think. |
|
|
It's at this point that you start wanting the scarily expensive Zeiss 21mm, to get the side view in without tilting like you have to with the 28. Or there's always the surreally expensive perspective correction lens... |
|
|
Phew. I got it. |
|
|
This is where we find out whether your monitor is calibrated the same as mine. |
|
|
I deliberately exposed this one to make it a bit lighter. |
|
|
But not this one. If you take enough handheld shots, you might get one steady to put on the web. |
|
|
I think the word is "sumptuous". |
|
|
'...The sight of its triangular formation with slightly curved lines, and of the slit which bisects its two wooded spaces. It is, without doubt, the sex of Paris.' - Malraux |
|
|
Whenever I come to Paris this garden only has about half a dozen people in it. I can't believe it. |
|
|
The walk along the side to the tip is fantastic, with the water just a couple of feet below you. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you get to the end, it's like the world stops. |
|
|
Some trace of the medieval alleys remain, despite Baron Haussman's attentions. |
|
|
Cool building, huh? |
|
|
Finally, a glimmer of sunshine. |
|
|
Oh no, it's over the other side of the square. |
|
|
Does anybody own that dog? |
|
|
Ah, apparently so. |
|
|
These guys were obviously having a great time at their day job. |
|
|
I got a hotel right by the Eurostar terminus, which was most convenient (you can check out on Sunday morning and leave your bags in left luggage at the station for the day), and it got me a tolerable sunset shot on the bridge over the railyard. |
|
|
I usually manage to photograph a Virgin Megastore on my travels, but this will have to do for now. Looks like I'll have to go back. |
