Weekly Header Challenge - Street Performers

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Street Performers

Chosen by Mac.

Short of finding a circus or possibly visiting downtown Chicago, I didn't think I'd find any street performers here in the typical suburbs of America.  Once again, I found myself traveling back to Paris, where street performers abound, and where I actually took pictures of them.

Here's the full image that produced my header:

Okay, really, this guy was just creepy.  We were waiting in a very, very, very long line to go up the Eiffel Tower, and this guy was apparently there to entertain us.  People didn't really notice him at first; he'd sneak up next to someone, maybe put his arm around her as she walked by.  Then she'd realize it was this creepy dude, and freak out.  The crowd would predictably laugh, and so it went.  I told Fernando he'd better keep this guy away from me.  After awhile, Fernando commented that if the guy got close, Fernando would just "jump" him and give him a huge hug.  And it happened!  The guy was startled, and the crowd loved it.  He hugged Fernando back so I could take his picture.

Here's a much more quintessential street performer we discovered just outside the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens).

And the most French street performer of all was this gentleman on Ile St. Louis, where we stopped five nights in a row to get ice cream from Berthillon.  It was magical!

This interesting character was on the Metro car in front of us, doing back flips and other acrobatics (Fernando saw him and thought we'd be in for a treat when he and his fellow musicians hopped on our car at the next stop).  One gentleman (off to my right) put on some rap-type music, the gentleman with the accordion played (yes--along with rap music!), and the pink-shirted guy started dancing away!  The crazy part was, he practically gave me a lap dance; I leaned around him and half-teasingly hollered at Fernando (seated across from me; you can see his striped shirt and part of his face on the right):  "Help!"

When their performance ended, they passed the hat for donations.  Fernando told him in English (we doubt he understood), "Hey, that was my wife!  I'm not giving you anything!!"  It was definitely good for a laugh later on.

Hope you have some interesting and fun performances to share!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge ~ Forced Perspective

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Forced Perspective

Chosen by Craver.

All the example images that Craver sent to us were so creative!  I had to dig back in my archives, because I just didn't have the mental energy to come up with something new.  Here is my full-size header image.  I had to really crop it since it's vertical!  Plus I hope you'll appreciate the fact that I had to sweet-talk Fernando into doing it.  He loves me.  :)

One of the Forced Perspective classics!  The funny thing is--see the guy on the left side of the image?  His girl got him to do it, too!  I thought that was a nice added bonus.  :)

Can't wait to see the creativity by my other blogger friends!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Le jardin du Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower | Paris Travel

Fountains of le jardin du Trocadéro, with le Tour Eiffel in the background.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Our last day.  Our last afternoon.  We pretty much did all that we wanted to do, and saw what we wanted to see.  A friend told us to do what we wanted, and leave with no regrets.  At this point, we could say that we had done that.  Since this was our anniversary trip, we wanted to share a peaceful, unhurried afternoon together, not much walking, no waiting in lines, just enjoying each others' company in Paris.

We had a beautiful morning in place des Vosges and Victor Hugo's home.  This afternoon, Fernando wanted to see the Eiffel Tower--the one structure that most symbolizes Paris--one last time.  I agreed that this would be the ideal afternoon, so off we went on the Métro.  For this trip, however, we would start at le jardin du Trocadéro.

The word Trocadéro is taken from a fort near Cadiz, successfully captured by the French in 1823.    It is here at le Trocadéro that you will find le palais de Chaillot, a large building with two long, curved wings.  Le palais, built in 1937, houses le musée de l'Homme (Museum of Mankind) and le musée de la Marine (Naval Museum).  You'll see le palais in some of the pictures further below, once we walked around the fountains.

The palais is to our backs in the above photo, and its curved wings are to our right and left.  We are standing in the central terrace, which opens onto a panoramic viewing stage.  I know you don't need me to tell you what you'll be viewing!

In front of the panoramic viewing stage is a large pool of water with various fountains that shoot out water at various times.  We spent a long time on this main viewing stage, taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower--by itself, tilted angle, with the fountains...  You get my drift.  :)

The main pool below is the Fountain of Warsaw.  It is a long basin, or water mirror, and in the below image, the side fountains are spouting out their water.  So pretty!

Then, a little fun with my camera.  I had already taken some images of the Eiffel Tower with the upper fountains in the foreground.  This time, I wanted a softer, more flowing look for the fountains' water.  So I set the camera for a slower shutter speed (see the settings below) and got this shot to my liking.

You may not notice too much of a difference, but if you have a good eye, you'll be able to tell the difference--in the fountain images above, you can see the individual water droplets.  In this one below, the water is smoother and softer, due to the slow shutter speed.  (Hey, I know this is a "travel guide" for Paris, but it is a photography blog, after all!  All you non-photographers can skip over this part and simply enjoy all the images I took.)

17-85mm lens at 17mm, ISO 100, f/22, 1/40 second

We walked down the steps and around to the ground level walkway for a nice shot of the Eiffel Tower.

Then we walked around to the right to enjoy the carousel.  You may be able to see just the tippy-top of the carousel in the above image, in the lower-right portion of the image.  That's where we walked.

The carousel in le jardin du Trocadéro.

Isn't it the prettiest carousel you've ever seen?  It is for me.

We retraced our steps a bit to enjoy the cannon fountains, which were now shooting out water in the Fountain of Warsaw.  Again, for you photography buffs, camera setting are listed below the images so you can see how I achieved the different looks.

17-85mm lens at 47mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000 second

17-85mm lens at 41 mm, ISO 100, f/29, 1/30 second

These water cannons are able to eject jets of water about 164 feet (50 meters)!

17-85mm lens at 33mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320 second

We walked around so that we were facing le palais de Chaillot (below), and the main pool, the Fountain of Warsaw.  All the fountains were off at this point, and you can see the water cascading over the edges of the upper pool into the lower pool in the foreground of the image.

Then, we crossed the bridge, pont d'Iena, and wandered toward the Eiffel Tower.  For a Saturday, the lines weren't that long.  We cut through the line, took a shot of the tower almost at its base, and continued on into le parc du Champ de Mars.

In le parc, we found a spot to sit.  Too bad we didn't bring a blanket!  But, the ground was dry, and we rested there for a long time, just sitting, chatting, enjoying each others' company and the spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower right there in front of us.

Alas, the minutes ticked on, and we knew we'd better get back to our appartement for dinner and packing and an early bedtime to catch our super-early-morning flight.  On our walk through Champ de Mars, I spotted this tree--it just begged to have its picture taken.  Look how perfectly it fits into my camera's frame!

Of course we stopped at the edge of the parc, to look back and admire le tour Eiffel one last time.  It was a beautifully perfect day for lounging on the lawn, as so many people did.

*sigh*  Then it was time to go.

Hand in hand, we walked down the path.  We had finally gotten our honeymoon, 25 years in the waiting.  What an amazing, special trip we shared together!

If you're dreaming of Paris, keep on dreaming!  If you plan it right, and do it smart, it can be a dream within reach.  We have a glass jug into which we put coins whenever we get change (I use cash for groceries).  That was our Pennies for Paris jug, and started us on our way.  Today, just over a month past our special trip, the bottom of that jug is again covered with coins--because of course we're going back someday soon.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Les Ponts de la Seine -- Bridges of the Seine | Paris Travel

The Seine River, headed west and downstream out of Paris.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Before I write my final Paris Travel post, I wanted to revisit this one subject.  Images of the Seine River are sprinkled throughout several different posts, but I have gathered them all here in one post.  Not all of the bridges are romantic, and I don't have images of every single bridge along the Seine in Paris, but I'm going to post the ones I have, for you and me both to enjoy.

I'll start at la tour Eiffel, and make my way east (generally) along the Seine (which would be upriver).

When you visit Paris, you'll need a good map to help you spot the bridges, and also just to get around--I recommend one from Streetwise Maps. (Mine is a 2012 map; ISBN 978-093503925-2, about $8 US.)

From the top of the Eiffel Tower, you can see many of the bridges along the Seine in Paris!  At the time we were there, however, I didn't think about documenting all those bridges. I was having too much fun just being there with my honey, sipping our champagne and enjoying the incredible view.

Here is an image showing the bridges west, downstream and away from Paris:

From the first bridge toward the bottom of the image: 

Pont de Bir Hakeim,

a Métro bridge (at an angle in the center, crossing the Allée des Cygnes,

and pont de Grenelle.

And that is where I run out of map and bridge names.  :)

The same bridges during our descent to the third level.

From the base of le tour Eiffel, this bridge, pont d'Iena, leads you to the Trocadéro with its pools, fountains, and museums. 

Pont d'Iena.

Passage Debilly (a pedestrian bridge) on the left and pont de l'Alma on the right. 

Spot passage Debilly (the pedestrian bridge in the extreme lower left corner),
then go east (toward the right) and find
pont de l'Alma,
pont des Invalides,
pont Alexandre III (with the four gold-topped pillars),
and pont de la Concorde.

Here is where my photo tour begins in earnest:  Pont Alexandre III in all its glory.  :)

Here is an aerial view of this spectacular bridge, taken from the top of the Eiffel Tower:

From left to right:  pont des Invalides, pont Alexandre III and pont de la Concorde.

Pont Alexandre III as seen from street level.

Pont Alexandre III as seen from our boat on the Seine.

Detail of pont Alexandre III from boat level.

One of the columns on pont Alexandre III. 

After pont Alexandre III comes pont de la Concorde, then passage Solferino (another pedestrian bridge), neither of which I captured at all.  The next bridge we come to is pont Royal, below.

Pont Royal.

Continuing east, we encounter another pedestrian bridge, pont des Arts.

Pont des Arts.

Next, we come to pont Neuf, the point where the Seine River splits to flow on either side of two islands, Ile de la Cité and Ile St. Louis.

Pont Neuf (northern side).

Now I'll try not to be too confusing here, as the the bridges abound at this point.  :)
After pont Neuf, heading east, the next set of bridges that cross the Seine are:

• From the Rive Droite (Right Bank, or north side on our left) to Ile de la Cité -- pont au Change
• From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche (Left Bank, on our right)-- pont St. Michel (I don't have a picture, boo)

Pont au Change is noted for its "N," which stands for Napoleon.

Pont au Change

Still heading east, the next set of bridges are:

• From the Rive Droite to Ile de la Cité -- pont Notre Dame
• From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- petit Pont (no image, double boo)

  pont Notre Dame

Pont Notre Dame, as seen on our boat tour with a sunstar.

The next set of bridges are:

• From the Rive Droite to Ile de la Cité -- pont d'Arcole
• From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- pont au Double

 

The bridge with the railing is pont d'Arcole (then pont Notre Dame and pont au Change beyond).

Detail of pont au Double.

Where the two islands meet in the river, a series of three bridges cross:

• From the Rive Droite to Ile St. Louis -- pont Louis Philippe
• From Ile St. Louis to Ile de la Cité -- pont St. Louis
• From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- pont Archèveché

First, pont Louis Philippe, in shadow.  Not the best way to capture the bridge, but that wasn't the focus of this image.  :)

Pont Louis Philippe.

I did take a picture of pont St. Louis, but it won't show too much detail.  We were sampling our first taste of Berthillon ice cream (read about that here), and pont St. Louis was behind us, with Notre Dame peeking out way in the back.

I have several images for pont Archèveché, so please enjoy this interesting bridge!  A legend began not too long ago, that lovers write their names on a padlock, then attach that padlock to the fenced railing along this bridge.  By doing this, the lovers would seal their love and be together forever.

Standing on pont Archèveché, looking at la cathédrale de Notre Dame.

The next set of bridges cross over Ile St. Louis:

• From the Rive Droite to Ile St. Louis -- pont Marie
• From Ile St. Louis to the Rive Gauche -- pont de la Tournelle

Pont Marie has a special place in my heart, for it is the first Seine bridge that we saw on our first evening walk from our appartement to the Seine River.  I will never forget the wonder when we crossed the last street and stood there above the Seine, looking out on a beautifully illuminated bridge, and all the bridges and lights beyond.

Pont Marie, and my first view of the Seine River.

Detail of pont Marie.

Now, here is pont de la Tournelle on the other side.

Pont de la Tournelle.

Pont de la Tournelle.

 

You can barely see pont de la Tournelle; my own focus falls on the illuminated tour Eiffel shining above it, just about in the center of the image.

The last bridge of my photo tour crosses Ile St. Louis on both sides of the river; This is pont de Sully.

Underside of pont de Sully.  

Thanks for taking this long tour with me!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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