Category Archives: Photographs: France

Photographs: France, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Cafe Le Chinon, Night

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Cafe Le Chinon, Night
Evening lights reflect on cobblestone street at the Cafe Le Chinon in Montmartre, Paris

Cafe Le Chinon, Night. Paris, France. August 11, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening lights reflect on cobblestone street at the Cafe Le Chinon in Montmartre, Paris

Readers will have to give me a bit of slack for continuing to remark about things in Paris that are likely more obvious and mundane to people who know the city better than I. However, this was — believe it or not! — our first visit, so many things were new to us. Among the new (and wonderful!) things were the many cafes, with tables spilling out onto the sidewalks.

We stayed in a hotel in Montmartre, at the recommendation of our oldest son and our daughter-in-law, who had stayed in the area when they visited not long ago. Other than that, we didn’t know all that much about the area, besides some vague knowledge that it is sort of “artsy” (by long tradition) and that the famous Moulin Rouge is located nearby on a slightly seedy street. By the time I made this photograph we had been in Paris for some time, and we had learned to love the idea of wandering out late at night to pick a restaurant, and then to sit there slowly enjoying a meal, wine, and then coffee as the world walks by.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: France

The Louvre

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The Louvre
The Louvre, viewed from an upstairs gallery

The Louvre. Paris, France. August 11, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Louvre, viewed from an upstairs gallery

Most of our time in Paris was sunny, but one morning we awoke to fog. We were on an upper floor of a hotel in Montmartre from which we had a view toward the center of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, and the fog was a surprise — it look and felt a lot like a good old San Francisco morning fog. In our by-now-typical “casual” (lazy?) fashion we eventually left the hotel and headed downtown.

There is, obviously, a lot to see and do in Paris — and when you spend about four hours per day (happily) eating and sitting in cafes you cannot do everything. But we did want to get to the Louvre, and this was the day. If you’ve been there, this isn’t news, but the place is absolutely huge — overwhelming, actually. We had no illusions about seeing the whole thing, so we spend most of the day on one floor of one section, with brief forays into a couple other areas. During one break I found this window with its view overlooking the courtyard area.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

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Dawn, Paris Rooftops
Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

Dawn, Paris Rooftops. Paris, France. August 13, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

The photograph of this view was a result of a couple of coincidences. I have to admit that we rarely got up this early on our trip to France (or the UK, or New York, or Germany…), more often sleeping in and finally getting out the door of our room at 10:00 in the morning or so. We kid ourselves about our ability to adapt to time zone changes — we think we didn’t make it quite all the way to Europe but instead locked into a time about one zone west of Ireland! But on this morning we had no choice but to get up very early since we were scheduled to take an early train to Germany and we didn’t want to miss it.

But being up before dawn wouldn’t have quite been enough to give us this view. There is a hotel story involved, too. When we arrived earlier in the week we were given a room several floors lower. We went up to the room, opened the door, walked in… to find a pack of cigarettes on the bed, suitcases on the shelf, and clothes in the closet! The hotel upgraded us as a result, putting us in a room that was near the top of the building and which gave us a view across Paris. So, up at 6:00 in the morning, still fairly dark in Paris, we got dressed and then watched the light show as the sun spread across the city.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

je suis bleu

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Je Suis Bleu
Sidewalk, graffiti covered wall, and women (virtual and real) on a Paris street

Je suis bleu.. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Sidewalk, graffiti covered wall, and women (virtual and real) on a Paris street

Walking some streets somewhere in Paris — sorry, first visit, and I can’t name everything! — we passed through an area of narrow streets, shops (including many that seemed like high fashion stores), and lots of interesting old buildings and graffiti and more. These things, plus light that was changed due to broken clouds, made the area a photographer’s paradise.

Near a corner I saw this example of street art. By itself a photograph of it would not be much more than a record, but I stopped and waited to see who might walk into the frame. A bicycle and a scooter passed by on the street, along with a few solo walkers, but nothing too special. Then I saw the two women and the young girl coming up the street and I thought I might get something interesting. It was my lucky day — they stopped briefly just to the left of the figures on the wall and two of them turned back to my right to look at something. The red dress was a nice touch, too!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.