I just got back from a mildly whirlwind tour of the UK, so I am still getting my feet under me and letting things settle back down. It was a great trip. I got to discover Edinburgh, a city I never expected to find as enchanting as I did, and got a brief but exhausting introduction to London. Met some great people, cheers to Dylan, Bel, David and Chris, you all helped add spice to my adventures. I had a few misadventures too, or rather was party to a few. But those stories in good time, along with photos. I need to finish up Paris first!
And so back to the City of Light, this time up the hill of Montmartre to Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart).
Someone had conveniently painted hearts leading up the steps to the basilica. I conveniently had my 6x12 pinhole with me.
Tags: Paris France pinhole pano panoramic hearts Europe film Holga vertical color Holga 120 WPC steps Blue Moon Camera
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Ok, maybe the title is a bit cliche, but then again, most of you probably cannot read French. ;-p
Another take on the sacred hearts of Sacre-Coeur. No, I don't know why they are upside down by the way. I cannot always explain what I photograph (heck, I cannot always explain why I photograph). All I can say is that I found them this way.
Additionally I will say that if you are planning a trip to Paris, put Montmartre on the list. It really is a neat district of the city to see. Really. Go there.
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The view from the steps of Sacre-Coeur looking back out over Paris. It was quite a climb to get up to this spot. Not really too steep per se, but one has to run a gauntlet of bracelet-tying Africans who want to stop you and trick you into letting them tie bracelets onto your wrist so you will be forced to give them money for their "efforts". And really, it is quite a run through them, thick as fleas in this area. In fact, if you look close at this image I think you can see several of them in the mid and backgrounds, tying their bracelets.
Montmartre is quite the interesting district. It is home to Sacre-Coeur, an amazing and beautiful cathedral built of travertine. It is also home to the Moulin Rouge and a fairly active red light district that stretches between the two landmarks.
Even Montmartre's history is colorful. The name derives from "mountain of the martyr". Paris' patron saint, Saint Denis was beheaded on top of this hill for converting pagans. After his beheading, he picked his head up and walked six miles down into Paris, giving a sermon along the way. So much for silencing him. I am willing to bet though that if you are walking around with your head in your arms, it giving a sermon on religion, that you are not bothered by any of the friendship-bracelet-tying folk.
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Having done a bit of traveling lately, I can say that I have yet to find a better place to get lost than on the streets of Paris. This specific setted street running around the hill of Montmartre was particularly inviting. Granted, I almost got ran over by a delivery truck making this image... well ok "almost" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but stories are like meals, they often benefit from a bit of spice. ;-)
A close second to Paris though is Edinburgh, which is a city full of mysterious byways, alleys and passages. Closes they call them. But more on that when I start posting images from there. Which will likely be a while. I printed 22 rolls worth tonight which is only about half of what I brought back.
Ah, the late evening and fatigue cause me to get off on a tangent. I should stick to Paris. But it is difficult, my mind is in different cities. Memories of Paris re-awakened by these images that I post now conflicting with the more fresh memories from Edinburgh and London. But in a way, it doesn't really matter where the streets are, what their names may be, when they wind and turn and bump along like this, I am quite happy to get lost along them.
Tags: Paris France Montmartre Hasselblad film square Europe b&w toned I just learned that this is not technically cobblestone It is sett stone It's less noisy than cobble, but still plenty noisy I like the sounds cars make driving over this Blue Moon Camera
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