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I’ve been wanting to take a city break in summer, rather than in the cold months for a while, so rather than heading for the Lake District for a week of toil on the fells when Jayne could get a week off, we took off from Liverpool for Paris. Flight times were nice and sociable but it meant we were on the M62 car park at a busy time in both directions – it’s a shambles! I’ve stopped over in Paris a dozen times – on my way to cycling in the Etape du Tour in the Alps or Pyrenees – and had a few nights out there. Come to think about it and we’ve spent the day on the Champs Elysees watching the final day of the Tour de France with Mark Cavendish winning. We hadn’t been for a holiday there though and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. Six nights gave us five and a half days to explore Paris on foot. I had a good selection of (heavy) kit with me, not wanting to make the usual mistake of leaving something behind and regretting it. In the end I carried the kit in my backpack – an ordinary rucksack – to keep the weight down, for 103 miles, all recorded on the cycling Garmin – and took 3500 photos. The little Garmin is light and will do about 15 hours, it expired towards the end of a couple of 16 hour days but I had the info I wanted by then. This also keeps the phone battery free for research and route finding – I managed to flatten that once though.
What can I say – Paris was fantastic! The weather varied from OK to fantastic, windy for a few days, the dreaded grey white dullness for a while but I couldn’t complain really. We were out around 8.30 in shorts and tee shirt, which I would swap for a vest when it warmed up, hitting 30 degrees at times, we stayed out until around midnight most nights. It was a pretty full on trip. The security at some destinations could have been a problem as there is a bag size limit to save room in the lifts etc. I found the French to be very pragmatic about it, a bag search was a cursory glance, accepting that I was lugging camera gear, not bombs around, and they weren’t going to stop a paying customer from passing because his bag was a bit over size.
We didn’t have a plan, as usual we made it up as we went along, a loose itinerary for the day would always end up changing owing to discoveries along the way. Many times we would visit something a few times, weighing the crowds and light etc. up and deciding to come back later. I waited patiently to go up the Eiffel Tower, we arrived on Tuesday and finally went up on Friday evening. It was a late decision but the weather was good, the light was good and importantly I reckoned that we would get a sunset. Previous evenings the sun had just slid behind distant westerly clouds without any golden glory. It was a good choice. We went up the steps at 7.30 pm, short queue and cheaper – and just to say that we had. The steps are at an easy angle and were nowhere near as bad as expected, even with the heavy pack. We stayed up there, on a mad and busy Friday night, until 11.30, the light changed a lot and once we had stayed a couple of hours we decided to wait for the lights to come on. This was a downside to travelling at this time of year, to do any night photography we had to stay out late as it was light until 10.30. The Eiffel Tower is incredible and very well run, they are quite efficient at moving people around it from level to level. It was still buzzing at midnight with thousands of people around. The sunset on Saturday was probably better but we spent the evening around the base of the Tower, watching the light change, people watching and soaking the party atmosphere up.
Some days our first destination was five miles away, this is a lot of road junctions in a city, the roads in Paris are wide so you generally have to wait for the green man to cross. This made progress steady but when you are on holiday it doesn’t matter too much. Needless to say we walked through some dodgy places, with graffiti on anything that stays still long enough. We were ultra-cautious with our belongings having heard the pickpocket horror stories. At every Café/bar stop the bags were clipped to the table leg out of sight and never left alone. I carried the camera in my hand all day and everywhere I went, I only popped it in my bag to eat. I would guess that there were easier people to rob than us, some people were openly careless with phones and wallets.
We didn’t enter the big attractions, it was too nice to be in a museum or church and quite a few have a photography ban. These bans make me laugh, they are totally ignored by many ( Japanese particularly) people. Having travelled around the world to see something, no one is going to stop them getting their selfies. Selfies? Everywhere people pointed their cameras at their own face, walking around videoing – their self! I do like to have a few photos of us for posterity but these people are self-obsessed.
Paris has obviously got a problem with homeless (mostly) migrants. Walk a distance along the River Seine and you will find tented villages, there is a powerful smell of urine in every corner, with the no alcohol restrictions ignored, empty cans and bottles stacked around the bins as evidence. There are families, woman living on mattresses with as many as four small children, on the main boulevards. They beg by day and at midnight they are all huddled asleep on the pavement. The men in the tents seem to be selling plastic Eiffel Tower models to the tourists or bottled water – even bottles of wine. Love locks and selfy sticks were also top sellers. There must be millions of locks fastened to railings around the city, mostly brass, so removing them will be self-funding as brass is £2.20 a kilo.
As for the sights we saw, well if it was on the map we tried to walk to it. We crossed the Periphique ring road to get to the outer reaches of Paris. La Defense – the financial area with dozens of modern office blocks – was impressive, and still expanding. The Bois de Boulogne park, with the horse racing track and the Louis Vuitton Centre was part of a 20 mile loop that day. Another day saw us in the north east. We had the dome of the Sacre Couer to ourselves, with thousands of tourists wandering below us oblivious of the entrance and ticket office under the church. Again the light was fantastic for us. We read that Pere Lachaise Cemetery or Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise was one of the most visited destinations, a five mile walk but we went. It is massive, you need a map, but for me one massive tomb is much the same as another, it does have highlights but we didn’t stay long. Fortunately we were now closer to the Canal St Martin which would lead us to Parc de la Villette. This was a Sunday and everywhere was both buzzing and chilled at the same time. Where ever we went people were sat watching the world go by, socializing and picnicking, soaking the sun up. As ever I wanted to go up on the roof of anything I could as I love taking cityscapes. Most of these were expensive compared with many places we’ve been to before but up we went. The Tour Montparnasse, a single tower block with 59 floors, 690 foot high and extremely fast lifts has incredible views although it was a touch hazy on our ascent. The Arc de Triomphe was just up the road from our hotel, we went up it within hours of arriving, well worth the visit.
At the time of writing I have no idea how many images will make the cut but it will be a lot. If I have ten subtly different shots of something, I find it hard to consign nine to the dark depths of my hard drive never to be seen again – and I’m not very good at ruthless selection – so if the photo is OK it will get uploaded. My view is that it’s my photostream, I like to be able to browse my own work at my leisure at a later date, it’s more or less free and stats tell me these images will get looked at. I’m not aiming for single stunning shots, more of a comprehensive overview of an interesting place, presented to the best of my current capabilities. I am my own biggest critic, another reason for looking at my older stuff is to critique it and look to improve on previous mistakes. I do get regular requests from both individuals and organisations to use images and I’m obliging unless someone is taking the piss. I’m not bothered about work being published (with my permission) but it is reassuringly nice to be asked. The manipulation of Flickr favourites and views through adding thousands of contacts doesn’t interest me and I do sometimes question the whole point of the Flickr exercise. I do like having access to my own back catalogue though and it gives family and friends the chance to read about the trip and view the photos at their leisure so for the time being I’m sticking with it. I do have over 15 million views at the moment which is a far cry from showing a few people an album, let’s face it, there’s an oversupply of images, many of them superb but all being devalued by the sheer quantity available.
Don’t think that it was all walking and photography, we had a great break and spent plenty of time in pavement bistros having a glass of wine and people watching. I can certainly understand why Paris is top of the travellers list of destinations.
How do you love those Buzz du Jour Palazzo Pants I received by Shoppiin? It was a hot day so adding a Sombrero was necessary!
Pants: Shoppiin
Clutch: Mnologie
Bracelet: Ambre & Louise
Top: Forever21
Sandals: J.Renee
Hat: Aldo
Just when you think spring has spring, back comes the wind and rain. I took this inbetween showers and hurricanes ;)
Buzz Aldrin on the red carpet at Celebrity Fight Night XXV at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Buzz Aldrin on the red carpet at Celebrity Fight Night XXV at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Buzz Aldrin on the red carpet at Celebrity Fight Night XXV at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Buzz Aldrin on the red carpet at Celebrity Fight Night XXV at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Another one of little Buzz, the Chinese Crested dog my friend Bev was looking after. His mum's home now and I'm sure she's missed him. :)
Buzz Lightyear at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA 2019
Disney Pixar Formation Arts 1 by Square Enix
From Square Enix comes this first series of Disney & Pixar Formation Arts trading figures, an assortment of six of everybody's favorite Pixar animated movies realized in 3D! These trading figures are not only sculpted in gorgeous detail, but also, each piece is painted in vibrant colors as seen in the movies. Each trading figure is marked as a chess piece on the back of the display base, so can also be used in a chess game.
There are 6 trading figures from the Formation Arts - Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story 1, Woody from Toy Story 2, Flik from A Bug's Life, Sulley, Mike and Boo from Monsters Inc, Mr Incredible and family from The Incredibles, and Nemo, Marlin and Dory from Finding Nemo.
Released: June 2007
Size 15cm -19cm
Graffiti Wall Kia: Paint all-new Kia Soul with virtual spray
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In other news, my phone is dead, gonzo, kaput. Email me if you wanna talk for those of you reading this that have my number. Leave it to me to fall/trip into a river. I had the opportunity to save my camera or my phone. Camera it was.
Oh yea. I also got a buzz cut for the first time since I was like 6. I like it. That combined with the sheer laziness produced whiskers I'm sporting this week, makes me look older somehow. Haha.
Camera info:
Canon T1i, Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L, @57mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 100
Strobist Info:
-LumoPro 160 shot bare behind subject and pointed at background 5 feet high & 2 feet from background. 1/32 power and 85mm zoom
-AlienBee B800 shot through a white umbrella camera left and in front of subject. 5 feet high and 3 feet away. 1/2 Power
Flash trigged with Cactus V5 triggers
At the Royal Festival Hall tonight, I was 7 yards from a unique man. Magnificent Desolation here I come.
Buzz Lightyear cake, Buzz is hand modelled from sugarpast. This a take 2 of his head after Carter decided to climb on the bench and take a big bite out of it (before it was on the cake)
Idea from numerous Buzz cakes on here
Creator John Lasseter is on record as saying he wanted to create an action figure in the line of GI Joe for Toy Story and decided upon a spaceman figure. He attributes his design to the influence Apollo astronauts, in particular their clear helmets, skullcaps, communication devices and white suits. The purple and lime green colour scheme were his wife's and his own favourite colours. (Source: Wikipedia)
Buzz from the Pixar Weekend at Epcot.
Do not use without permission!
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If any performers, characters or cast members that would like photos for personal or portfolio reasons, you may have any photo of themselves for a higher resolution or with a smaller watermark. Please either contact me through Twitter.
100th Anniversary Edition
Brussels Motor Show
Autosalon Brussel
Salon de l'Auto Bruxelles
Brussels - Belgium
January 2023