I find it interesting how digital cameras, and using cell phones to do photos, has changed the way people photograph each other, the attractions they visit, and themselves. I took most of these photos of people photographing each other, or taking a break from photographing each other, at the Musée d’Orsay. I like the photos in B&W because they have a 60’s look with people using modern digital cameras and phones to do their photos and then check out the results.
As we continue our adventures on the Rhône delta, a cyclist was riding down the the beach at the same time we were driving down. With the nice tail wind, we was able to ride the speed limit all the way to the beach. He was from Switzerland and was riding his bike across southern France on his way to Spain.
At the end of the Route de la Mer on the Rhône delta is a nice, sandy beach. However, when we were there close to 9:30 pm on May 22nd, the Mistral winds that blow from the Alps to the sea, accelerating as they pass through the Rhône and Durance valleys, were blowing at almost hurricane force at the end of our road. The wind was so strong it seemed to stretch shadows, and even using a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second, the sand blowing across the beach is a blur. Mistral winds blow day and night for three to four days straight without letting up.
Now that we are seeing more Sandhill Cranes, I’m noticing the similarities between the cranes and the wild Flamingos we saw along the Route de la Mer that runs to the Mediterranean Sea on the Rhône delta in May. After looking at the area on Google Maps, it looks like the areas the Flamingos are wading in and flying over are normally dry. It was an unusually wet spring for Provence this year.
The only umbrellas I own go on my flashes. They work great for dispersing light, but they are not much good for keeping rain off me. I’ve never found a need for a rain repelling umbrella in our arid climate, and, besides, in New Mexico, I believe an umbrella acts more as a lightning rod that a cover to keep you dry. France is another story, you really need to have an umbrella in France, and, fortunately, Sophie lent us umbrellas when we where in Aix, and there was one in the apartment that we rented in Paris.
Blending in on a rainy day. Aix-en-Provence, May 2013
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.
Aix-en-Provence, May 2013.
Streets of Paris, crucifix in Notre Dame, and some interesting architecture. Paris, France, June 2013
The first day we got back to Paris, a couple of guys in the apartment across the street took the opportunity of a break in the rain to make a short film on the balcony. We don’t know what they were doing, but during our two weeks in Paris, they had several of what looked like business lunches and dinners and at least one party on their balcony. Paris, France, May 2013.
Off Center & Not Even 