So Much for the Opera

December 4, 2013 Timothy Price2 Comments

I had to do major sneaking to get this photograph of the cutaway model of the opera in Paris. It was in a museum that strictly forbid photos, and there were guards everywhere to remind people not to take photos. First I had to wait for a break in the hordes of tourists marveling at the model, then I had to wait for the guard to get up and walk out of earshot of my shutter before I could sneak a pic. It took several tries over three different visits to the museum before I got a successful stealth photo of the model. One reason I wanted a photo of this model is because the box seats on the end of the first row of box seats was the box we sat in when we went to an opera at the end of May. The apartment we rented in Paris was a block from the Opera. The second photo was taken from the middle of the street by the apartment and the third photo is looking the other way toward the Louvre at the bottom of the street.

Route 66 and All That

November 22, 2013 Timothy Price12 Comments

The last time I photographed the Route 66 Diner, I believe three years ago now and the wall at the entrance off Central Ave. (old Route 66) didn’t have all the old signs and Route 66 memorabilia nailed to it. The mess of signs makes for an interesting collage under the distorting eye of my 17mm lens.

Spooky Side of Aix

November 8, 2013 Timothy Price5 Comments

We walked around Aix in the rain all day on May 18th. The wet, gray weather added to the erie starkness of the old Castaño trees lining the edge of a park. Death followed a poor soul through the streets, and the moonlight in the clearing night sky lit an ancient church on our walk home late in the night. Aix-en-Provence, May 18, 2013.

Cat Help

October 23, 2013 Timothy Price5 Comments

Laurie’s annotated bibliography about code switching became a “cat-otated bibliography” with “cat switching” as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern took turns checking out our progress. Guildenstern was very persistent, and insisted that lying on our papers, computers and arms was great help as we worked late into the night. The geese are foraging in one of Wagner’s fields every morning.

The Blog Before The Storm

July 28, 2013 Timothy Price11 Comments

I took this photo just after midnight on Friday morning. It was so windy and so much rain on Friday night, that the lightning was never clear, just bright flashes and loud crashes. Since the clouds are building up again, I thought I better get the blog posted before the storm hits and we lose power again. We got home at 4:30 pm yesterday and by the clocks that keep a memory of the time they went off, the power had been restored just an hour before we got home, which, if correct, means we were without power for 21 hours. The June bugs and roses are happy after the heavy rains, and Rosencrantz was enjoying a patch of catnip in the late afternoon light that was falling between the thunderheads building up in the western skies.

Kitty in the Glass

July 25, 2013 Timothy Price6 Comments

Random images from Tristan’s and David’s.

No Fun 4th

July 5, 2013 Timothy Price6 Comments

Corrales canceled the water fights this year, and since the bosque is closed we couldn’t go out to the river to watch the fireworks. I don’t know why they cancelled the water fights, but if it was to save water, that’s ridiculous as flushing your toilet uses more water than a squirt gun fight — so it must have something to do with guns and violence and all that — you know all those studies that show how squirt guns and water fights turn kids into violent criminals. Whatever the reason, no one can have fun in Corrales on the 4th. Despite Corrales, we had a great time with Jerri, Bob and Tristan and the lightning gave us a wonderful light show.

France Day 26 Paris vaut bien une messe

June 7, 2013 Timothy Price7 Comments

In chapter 33 of their book “1066 and All That” W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman conclude their section on the St. Bartholomew Day Massacre with “After the massacre the French King, Henry of Navarre, turned Roman Catholic and made his memorable confession – ‘Paris is rather a Mess’…” Their humorous interpretation of “Paris vaut bien une messe” describes the time as well as the original saying. After Henry of Navarre took the throne to become King Henry IV he paid off his enemies instead of waging endless, costly wars against them; he also ended the “religious wars” that he had fought in when he issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598. With the help of the minister Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, they regularized the state finances, and then they set about cleaning up Paris and restoring it as a great city. They also undertook public works and promoted education throughout France to improve the life of all people so there would be “a chicken in every pot”, which made Henry IV one of the most popular French kings ever. Although he was popular with the people, he had political and religious enemies. On the third attempt on his life, Henry IV was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic fanatic, François Ravaillac, when Henry IV’s coach was stopped by traffic congestion in the Rue de la Ferronnerie. You can see that Henry IV was a man of good humor from the painting of him as Hercules vanquishing the Lernaean Hydra painted around 1600 by Toussaint Dubreuil. And I think he would have enjoyed “1066 and All That” as well.

We were in the Louvre and Orsay multiple times yesterday and the photos show the changing light as we walked back and forth between the apartment, the Louvre and the Orsay from mid-morning until 10:30 pm when we got home for the night.

France Day 3 Paris & a walk at night

May 15, 2013May 14, 2013 Timothy Price14 Comments

Today we went by the outdoor market on our way to the Rodin Sculpture Garden, Napoleon’s tomb, the Military Museum and Map Museum as part of the class. Then Laurie and I walked to the Cimetière du Montparnasse, found Serge Gainsbourg’s grave, then walked back to the hotel. We walked to a restaurant that specialized in crepes for dinner, which was a mile and a half from the Hotel. The crepes were delicious, and a couple of women sitting at the end of our table gave us a sample of their apple cider, which was really good — it reminded us of Spain. After dinner we walk back to the hotel, which was mostly along Rue Mouffetard. A light rain was falling making the air slightly hazy and the stone streets glisten. One of the stores we walked by had Moulin Rouge Goth style dresses and an ad for a Goth-style model. There were several bars and food places along the walk, and the dog in the second photo was part of the crepe restaurant. I measured our walk on Google Map Pedometer and got 6.5 miles for the day.