These are pictures from my June 2016 trip to Europe. I visited Paris and London. I also took day trips to Le Mans (for the 24 Hours of Le Mans), Bletchley and Salisbury during my stay in Europe. You should be able to click on any picture to enlarge it.
This is a picture from my first day in Europe. We got out for the evening and made our way to the courtyard of the Musee du Louvre. From there you can walk through the minor arc called l’Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and into a beautiful public gardens which extends nearly all the way to la Place de la Concorde. Being the dummy that I am I didn’t bring my camera so this was shot on my iPhone. The lighting was challenging but I managed to get a shot I liked.
The next day we went to Le Mans which turned out not to be a very photogenic place. Tall fences and barbed wire surround the track. It’s not a problem for viewing the race but it ruins the photography at least for me. At Le Mans they have a tradition of letting the fans out onto the track after the race finishes so Christian and I got out on the track. Here’s the obligatory selfie from the track which I promise will be the only selfie.
After we returned from Le Mans we went to Versailles. Having planned this extensively we did not realize that the Chateau was closed on the day we visited. The gardens however were not and despite very poor weather we had a good time exploring the gardens. Below you will see the fence which separates the Chateau from the public. It’s iron plated in gold and quite stunning.
These are just some of the immaculately maintained flowers, shrubs and hedges in the gardens.
The Chateau is covered in ornate decoration and sculptures.
The gardens are also filled with beautiful sculptures.
And if sculptures and hedges alone are not enough there are ornate fountains all around the gardens as well.
When we got back to Paris we went to Trocadero which is a monument across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. It’s just about the perfect distance to take pictures with a normal camera lens.
The next day we tried to go to le Musee du Louvre which it turns out was closed. It wasn’t a total waste though because they had a fantastic art piece on the pyramid which acts as the entrance. An old picture of the building was printed and meticulously assembled on one facet of the pyramid and if you stood in just the right place it lined up almost perfectly.
Since the Louvre was closed we walked over to le Musee d’Orsay which is basically just on the other side of the Seine. This is a fantastic place to visit. Many of the pieces inside were surprising when viewed in person. Pictures really wouldn’t do them justice so I didn’t take many inside the museum. The building itself is magnificent so I did take some pictures of it.
The walls of the museum are covered in ornate tiles.
There is a grand clock because the museum is housed in what used to be Gare d’Orsay (train station).
The view from the observation area on top of the museum isn’t bad either.
That evening we went to see Notre Dame.
In front of the cathedral is a little star which is considered the official center of Paris. We had to wait to take this picture because every tourist in the area wanted to take a picture of their shoes on the star. I imagine you’ve all seen Nikes before so I just took a picture of the star.
Near by is la Fontaine Saint-Michel.
Next up: Photos from the UK!