Paris
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| Not as tall as I imagined ..... |
This post was sitting in my "Draft" folder and I had forgotten about it till I was doing some housekeeping. Well, better late than never :)
My family had a holiday in Paris in July 2014. We were privileged to be hosted by a family friend. Our hosts were very hospitable and we had an opportunity to see Paris and France from a local perspective. It was a very different perspective from the impression I had as a typical tourist - tour of the River Sein, visit to cathedrals, dine alfresco and who can resist the shopping lure of Galaries Lafayette and fashion boutiques. Unless you are a hard core shopaholic with a bottomless wallet, you get tired after a while.
Our gracious hosts brought us to Versailles. It had not changed very much from my last trip there in 1984, some 30 years ago. The chandeliers, fresco paintings and bedrooms were more than impressive. The French have this knack of keeping the gold gilded ornaments nice and shiny.
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| Check out the golden gate |
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| The Courtyard |
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| The King's Bedroom |
Oh, I saw the largest fireplace. It was the height of a man. Imagine the amount of wood that would be needed to feed the fire. Probably a couple of trees died every night to keep the folks around the fire place warm and toasty every night! I wonder if they toasted marshmallows in those days.
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| There are fireplaces and there are fireplaces |
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| Check out the fresco painting |
The highlight of the visit was the music and fireworks display from 8:30 pm to 11:00 pm. The music was no big deal really but the fireworks at 10:40 pm was not bad. The 2 hour wait was bearable because of the beautiful sunset. These photographs were special because we endured an evening drizzle to watch the fireworks. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold.
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| Sunset like a laser show |
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| The colour palette appears |
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| What a dramatic sunset |
This is my first attempt at capturing fireworks. It was purely trial and error. I took many shots and I am glad some shots turned out decent. I now appreciate what I my Physics teacher taught me in school about light travelling faster than sound. By the time you hear the "bang", it is too late. Therefore, just shoot away and hope for the best. Contrary to the information I read on the web about how to shoot fireworks, these were shot with shutter speed of 1/80 sec at f5.6. I did not have a tripod with me. It was not a fancy DSLR but a trusty Sony NEX5. It is a very decent camera :)
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| Hmmm.....interesting red spots |
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| Like pretty flowers |
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| Hibiscus comes to mind |
We visited Montmartre and saw many street artists. Could not resist the river cruise on the Seine. These were some of the images.
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| Montmartre |
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| That's not a statue |
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| Eiffel Tower |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| Spotted this "Tuk Tuk"..... it is a long way from home |
We took a short trip to Reims, which was about 130 km north east of Paris. It is a quaint town with half timber houses and an awesome Notre Dame de Reims.
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| Half timber house .... crooked too |
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| Notre Dame de Reims |
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| In awe of awesomness ! |
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| Check out the stained windows |
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| Look what's holding the walls between the two buildings |
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| Pascal Caffet - World Champion Dessert Chef - Irresistable |
All that sugar in the pastries gave us energy to continue our road journey. No trip to France would be complete without champagne tour. We visited Pommery Champagne in Reims and were greeted by a cheerful looking chateau..
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| Cheerful Chateau |
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| Louise Pommery ran the company after her husband, Alexandre died |
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| Gorgeous looking vat |
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| Staircase leading to the cellars |
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| Part of the process to ensure clear champagne |
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| The finished product |
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| Does champagne make the elephant do that? |
That evening, we witnessed one of the best light shows ever. With the cathedral as the backdrop, it was a feast for the eyes.
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| Love Gothic Architecture |
There is a wonderful light show at 11:00 pm every evening. It was breathaking.
