Behind the camera

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Chantilly, but not the crème...

The Château de Chantilly is located 40km to the north of Paris and it represents a nice Sunday visit. Not too much showy, of simple lines in the outside, it is surrounded by spacious gardens of several styles (including mazes), and by one of the few big French forests still standing. In spite of its name, the famous crème wasn't invented here, but its renowned creator (François Vatel) served during many years as grand chef and parties organizer at this place.

(the two first pictures belong to the church Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, near Gare du Nord, from where the train to Chantilly leaves)

"--I SHOULD see the garden far better,-- said Alice to herself, --if I could get to the top of that hill: and here's a path that leads straight to it... at least, no, it doesn't do that...-- (after going a few yards along the path, and turning several sharp corners), --but I suppose it will at last. But how curiously it twists! It's more like a corkscrew than a path! Well, this turn goes to the hill, I suppose... no, it doesn't! This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I'll try it the other way.--"

Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll

From the same trip:

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Visiting the kings

Right in the outskirts of Paris, to the north, rises the Saint-Denis Basilica. The outside view is very nice at sunset, with the Gothic style that fits so well to French cathedrals.

Burial place of Saint Denis (famous for walking 5 kilometers between Montmartre and Saint-Denis, giving a sermon with his recently beheaded head under his arm...), with the passage of the centuries it became the official tomb of the French royalty. More than a thousand years of history literally lie inside it.

"Some laboriously naif spirits insist to highlight the miraculous nature of the most spectacular phenomena of Nature. The dawn, the rain, the flight of the birds, a spider's net, are for these thinkers a reason of perpetual amazement.
I dare to object that the central point of a miracle is its unusual character. That is to say, the miraculous thing would be that it didn't dawn. Nevertheless, the Islam perfects and ennobles that idea: the existence of God is demonstrated through the order and the beauty of the world. The miracle is something rather pernicious that comes to disorder the things."

Hell's Bar, Alejandro Dolina

From the same trip:

(esta entrada en Español)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

From the beginning of time the man has wanted to fly, but only since the end of the XIXth century we have leaved the world of the dreams and we have turned it into a daily reality. To the north of Paris, at the airfield of Le Bourget, it is located the Museum of the Air and the Space. It can be easily visited in one-day, but nevertheless it's surprising the quantity and the kind of machines it has.

In the inside, relics from the first pioneers: Bleriot, Levavasseur, Santos-Dumont. Outside: airliners (like a Boeing 747) and modern fighter planes (MIG-23, Lockheed F104G Starfighter), plus a couple of Ariane rockets (obviously they also have an indoor section devoted to space). But the stars of the visit for me were the planes of the temporal exhibition about the second war, with names that go back to the golden age of dogfight: P-47D Thunderbolt, P-51D Mustang, Spitfire MK XVI,...

"P-51! Cadillac of the sky!"

Empire of the Sun, Steven Spielberg

"Ce pour quoi tu acceptes de mourir, c'est cela seul dont tu peux vivre"

("The reason for which you're ready to die is the only reason to live")

Citadelle, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the same trip:

Monday, March 9, 2009

Montsouris macro

A small preview of the beauties of the macrophotography, from the Parc Montsouris (Paris)

From the same trip:

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Scandola Natural Reserve

As part of the school in Cargèse (Corse) we did a boat excursion to the Réserve de Scandola. It is a natural park that spans huge rocky formations by the sea, full of colors in the earth as in the water.

The excursion includes a stop at the small town of Girolata, which consist of only an old castle, a few houses, and the harbor.

From the same trip:

Saturday, February 28, 2009

French Moon

The Moon is the same everywhere, but even so she doesn't stop of attract me as a photography subject. In the night of Cargèse, from a window, the Moon was falling over the sea...

The last image has labelled the most visible features in the pictures (the assignment is a little dubious in the area of Clavius). The sources I've used in the identification were the amateur site Observatorio ARVAL and the free program Virtual Moon Atlas.

From the same trip:

Saturday, February 14, 2009

In the mountains

Corse is not only the Mediterranean beaches, so that taking advantage of the free Sunday we went to travel around the marvelous valleys and woods of the island's mountainous interior. Near Évisa there are several paths from where to enjoy the spectacular views of the region.

These pictures cover the stops of the route between Évisa and Piana, with views not only of the valleys but also of the town of Ota and Porto's bay.

From the same trip:

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Mediterranean sunset

First weekend in Cargèse (Corse), and first afternoon at which I really had the time to go to take pictures of the sunset. Even if the clouds ruined a little the view, a nightfall over the Mediterranean is always worthwhile...

The tower that appears in some of the pictures is the Tour D'Omigna, one of many scattered throughout the coast of the island since the Genoese domination (XVth century).

From the same trip:

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Walking the Seine

Sandwiched Sunday in Paris, before taking a plane to Cargèse (Corse). And there is nothing better to do in Paris than walk her. From the 15ème to the 4ème arrondissement, at the banks of the Seine, bridges and monuments follow one after the other during the afternoon. Here is a (small) selection...

From the same trip: