When planning our trip to France, I quickly realised that the drive from the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais to our hotel in Poissy, just outside Paris, was far longer than I’d expected. I went in search of a charming, photogenic spot for lunch and struck gold with the storybook village of Gerberoy.
Les Noces de Cana, Paolo Caliari
Eugène Delacroix, Le 28 Juliet, La Liberté guidant le peuple
Musée du Louvre
Address: 75001 Paris, France
Open: Daily (except Tuesdays)
Entrance: €12
I wish all of my lovely readers a fantastic New Year and all the best for 2015! Our epic trip to South Africa is drawing to a close soon and I will see you next week in London.
It occurred to me the Sunday before I left for Paris that nothing I could possibly say about my time there would be much of a surprise to anyone. Paris is possibly the most photographed, painted, filmed and written about city on earth and I am but one voice in the chorus.
I set myself a task - I was going to find myself in Paris. It’s not that I was especially lost – I like to think I’ve got quite a keen sense of who I am – but I’m not quite the same person I was when I lived in South Africa.
I decided it was time to reconnect with who I am and what I like. To show you Paris through my own eyes, what I see when I look at the world around me. This is a post of things, of experiences and impressions. It won’t include the actual reasons for our visit – meeting up with precious friends and family, tracing our family history, reconnecting with our loved ones – but I thought it was a good place to start.
Tube, underground, metro or subway. Whatever you name it, I love the underground networks beneath many of the world’s greatest cities. I’m a little sad that I didn’t take more photos of the Paris Metro – I was convinced I had but this turned out to be my only photo.
I love discovering grand old houses, palaces and buildings and learning of their history. This is the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris. My mother's family once lived in a house in the grounds of this estate but today all that remains of the house is overgrown grass covering the foundations.
I love stairwells and tiles, old buildings and classic fittings. My mother and uncle would once have run up and down this stairwell when they were young children.
I love architecture. I like to look at the lines and curves of a building and learn more about its style and design. This house is part of the house where my mother and uncle lived as children. It is next door to the building that the photo above was taken in.
I love gardens and statues and learning more about their meanings and the reason they were built. This photo was taken in the gardens of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After a particularly difficult morning tracing family history, I took a long walk alone in the gardens. I love being alone and often like to be alone when I am feeling emotionally drained.
I love views, especially ones filled with greenery and nature. This is the view from Saint-Germain-en-Laye looking towards Paris in the distance. If you look closely, you can see the Seine winding through the middle of the photo and also some interesting turrets in the right corner of the photo.
I love city scenes and seeing how different cities in the world look. This photo was taken in the 10th Arrondissement, shortly before the shopkeeper closed for Friday prayers.
I have always loved Joan of Arc and consider her a hero. This statue is located just off the Rue de Rivoli in Paris.
I've learned to love sweet foods during my time in London. I was never really a sweet tooth before but that has all changed now! This is a Tarte au Citron from Angelina which is located on Rue de Rivoli.
I love lampposts and am quite certain that this can be traced back to my love of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This photo was taken in The Tuileries Garden where the lovely Yannick took me on a sanity-saving walk.
I love sculptured gardens and extravagant walkways. This was taken in The Tuileries Garden looking towards the Louvre.
I love old Victorian arcades. I think this is only something I discovered after moving to England seven years ago but since then I have discovered arcades in London, Norwich, Paris and Milan.
I love churches in all their details and symbolism. This is the Église Saint-Laurent in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.
I love people-watching and looking at how people interact and relate to each other. This was taken from my seat in the Renouveau Bistro in the 10th arrondissement.
I love Art Nouveau and was thrilled to see all the Art Nouveau touches in Paris, such as this Metro sign. This was taken emerging from the École Militaire Metro station near the Eiffel Tower.
I love handwriting as well as stationery and books. This is the Mur de la Paix or Wall for Peace monument in the Champ de Mars gardens.
I love seeing the things that other people have seen with my own eyes. I try not to think about whether or not they met my expectations but instead I like to really look at them and to see the details that I hadn't noticed before.
I love metal work and filigree and the details that go into massive metal structures. I first realised this love in New York when I visited the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty.
I love rivers and especially rivers that flow through cities. Water is in fact one of my greatest loves of all. I love rain and oceans, waterfalls and rivers, swimming pools and canals.
I love flags. I always loved the Union Flag and the new South African flag but I think it was again in New York that I discovered my love for flags in general. New Yorkers were so proud of their flag whereas we in the UK only really discovered that pride in 2011 / 2012 in the run up to the Royal wedding, Diamond Jubilee and Olympics.
I love cafe culture and sitting in cafes across the world. I also love eating alone and am also known to go to the cinema alone. I know that many people don’t like that at all but I find that these are my best times to think and reconnect with myself.
I love coffee. This wasn't always the case. For many years, coffee gave me headaches and so my love of coffee is a very recent thing. I generally like my coffee and tea the same, strong, sweet and milky but I've also discovered a passion for the French café noisette - espresso with a dash of hot milk. I’ve finally learned to sip it slowly with a glass of water too, instead of downing it in one gulp.
I love France. This is a brand new love and one that surprised me. I never had any desire to visit France at all and often wished that other countries were just across the Channel. But visited Boulogne and Lille in 2012 and Normandy this year and I have certainly fallen in love. This is one of the reasons I try not to hold expectations about destinations.
And finally, I am beginning to love myself, even my tummy which, it seems, will not be tamed. This is me after a mammoth walk through Paris right at the end of our four day stay. I was much more relaxed and at peace with myself than I had been four days earlier but that was soon scuppered by our bus to the station being delayed behind protestors and the two of us almost missing our Eurostar home!
Have you ever lost or found yourself? What do you do when you need to reconnect or are you naturally Zen about the whole thing?
Brace yourself! Tonight is a bumper photo post and as always, it comes with a bit of a story. Very often when I go on a trip, I’ll save one of my photos and add it to my photo folder at work. My PC at work is set up to rotate a selection of photos as my screen saver and it is always a matter of some pride when a colleague will say that they love the photos on my screen saver and I can reply that they are all mine. Of course, they always express surprise that I have any creativity whatsoever because accountants aren’t exactly known for being arty!
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to share these photos with you and so it was pretty fortuitous when I received notice of this month’s travel link up: your favourite travel photo(s).
And so here you go… all fifteen photos that are absolutely my favourite travel photos. I’ve left links all over the post if you’d like to visit the original posts on the blog.
Turkey was the first place I visited when I began this blog in 2008 and this photo was taken of the celsus library at Ephesus.
I’d wanted to visit Italy since I was 20 and finally got to visit last year – twice! This photo was taken in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre.
This was my favourite of the photos I took during this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations in London.
The ceiling of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This is where you can visit the Last Supper.
Given my love of Serbia, it should be no surprise that I would feature a photo from there. This was taken during my most recent visit to Novi Sad.
The good news is that next week I’m finally taking you inside the Duomo in Milan. It is as opulent inside as it is on the outside. I loved this photo because of the inclusion of both the lion statue and the Duomo.
I’d heard about the beautiful turquoise lakes and rivers in Bosnia but nothing quite prepares you for a sight like this. I’m sure I’ve said this before but I would move to this country in a heartbeat. I think I left my heart somewhere here on the road between Mostar and Sarajevo.
People often say that they don’t like Milan but I don’t really understand that. I really enjoyed my time there and spent many long afternoons simply walking around or drinking coffee in sidewalk cafes. This was taken in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen.
I can confirm that you can never take too many photos of the London Eye. It is simply not possible. This photo was part of a post I wrote about London at dusk.
Somehow I’ve always liked this photo of the gondolas in Venice. I like the composition and the contrast of the blue material in the gondolas against the blue sky. I still have so much to tell you about Italy!
Taken during our most recent visit to Mont St Michel in France. I just loved the detail here of the old Gothic abbey and the blue sky.
The most beautiful bridge in the world. This photo was taken from Koski Mehmet Pasha Mosque where they promise you the best views of the bridge in all of Mostar. The view from our hotel Villa Anri was pretty special too.
I love this photo because it was hard to decide which was more impressive in the Museo D'arte Antica in Milan – the exhibits or the frescoes.
I love this photo simply because it was taken on the first day of spring this year. London is beautiful when the sun shines!
And finally, my favourite photo of all time. I took this on my first night in Bosnia on the eve of my 40th birthday. There was nowhere else on earth I wanted to be more than there in Mostar. I’ve printed two enlargements of this photo – one is hanging in our bedroom and the other is in my brother’s lounge.
Do you have a favourite travel photo? Feel welcome to link to it in the comments below!
