Paris Travelog #2 – Photo Essay

This being my first post of the year, wishing you all a spectacular and swashbuckling new year 2010. As Priya Raju said, Paris is a charming and beautiful city.  My amateur photography skills can hardly do any justice to its beauty.  Here is my bold attempt at a photo essay of Paris – my first such attempt on this blog.  All the pics lead to a bigger sized version, when you click on them.

After considering several possibilities, i decided to begin the photo essay at the Rue Moufftard (Rue is French for Road) – the old road that has been around from the Roman period, that led to Italy. Wikipedia says, the road has been around from the Neolithic times!

Rue Mouffetard Signboard

It is now a charming street lined with eateries and shops and looks like this.

Rue Moufftard

Everyones knows Paris inspired/inspires so many artists and designers. But little did we expect to see a master’s work right on the street. On the way to Rue Moufftard we were taken in by a Pierre Alechinsky on a building on Rue Descartes. Wow!

Pierre Alechinsky

We were a bit dismayed by the amount of graffiti on the streets till our guide pointed out that even graffiti is taken very seriously by the Parisians. It is such serious stuff, that a few of the graffiti artists are invited to display their work by people. Here is one of the more famous graffiti artists Miss Tic adorning a restaurant front.

Misstic

You know, when a street looks something like the one below, you can’t help walking back and forth on it. Here is the inimitable Champs Elysees with the majestic Arc de Triomphe on the other side.

Champs Elysees

Priya Raju insisted that we view the famed Eiffel Tower from Place du Trocadero – you get the best views of the Eiffel Tower here.  I am glad, we managed to do it on the last day, just before we caught our flight back. Unfortunately, it was a bit foggy that day. Even then, the Eiffel Tower manages to capture your imagination.

Eiffel Tower from Trocadero

A trip to Paris is incomplete without going atop the Eiffel Tower. The views from the top are seen to be believed. Here are a few samples.

View from Eiffel

The city managers have managed to preserve the skyline extremely well. However to the far end of Paris, you can see some high rise buildings, Tour Montparnasse, one of the tallest is an example. Our guide said, many Parisians hate the skyscraper. Wish, India had a fraction of the design sense. Hmm.

Montparnasse from Eiffel

Here is a view of the Trocadero which is where i took the first picture above from.

Trocadero from Eiffel

We stayed in a hotel on Quai de Grenelle and the view of that road from atop of Eiffel was spectacular.

Quai de Grenelle from Eiffel

The Montmartre village, which is home to the picturesque Sacre Couer basilica, set atop a hill, was the home of several of the great masters including Vincent Van Gogh.

montmartre

I will end the photo essay with the famous Moulin de la Galette, the windmill at the end of the street in which Vincent Van Gogh lived.

moulin de la galette

Hope you all liked the photo essay? I plan to do one or two more photo essays, as Priya Raju unravels more of Paris in her next post.


Comments

  1. Quote

    Sukumar – A photo essay! Glad you’re trying something new in the blog. The Tour Montparnasse did look rather ugly, don’t you think?

  2. Quote
    Jaskirat said January 3, 2010, 6:51 pm:

    One or two more photo essays should be cool! Bring it on! 🙂

  3. Quote

    That was a beautiful photo essay Sukumar. Looking forward to more. Your comment on the skyline is so true. Paris is beautiful, isn’t it?

  4. Quote

    Thanks Priya. I guess by Parisian standards, yes. Otherwise, it is a regular skyscraper that could be seen in many downtown areas in the USA.

    Thanks Jassi.

    Thanks for your kind words Sudhakar. Paris is truly beautiful. like i said it is unlikely to get captured by an amateur lensman like me.

  5. Quote

    Interesting one.. Do keep writing. The Eiffel Tower view and Moulin de la Galette are good. 🙂

  6. Quote

    Hi Sukumar,
    Crisp blog with good snaps. Looking forward to next part of your photo essay

  7. Quote

    Kewl Shots Sukumar. Happy new year.

  8. Quote

    Thanks Ananth, Prakash and Ganesh.

    Ganesh, happy new year to you as well.

  9. Quote
    Meenaks said January 4, 2010, 9:05 am:

    Nice photos Sukumar! Nice views from the top of the Eiffel tower!

  10. Quote

    Nice to see a comment from you Meenaks. Thanks for the kind words. Happy new year.

  11. Quote

    Sukumar – looks like a fabulous trip. Hope you and yours are well and that you have a prosperous 2010.

    Let’s trade a call in January some time!

    Sam

  12. Quote

    Brilliant photos, Sukumar. The photos in actual size look pretty good 🙂
    Looking forward to more photo essays.

    PS: My fav is the ‘Moulin de la Galette’. Great ones from the top of the Eiffel Tower too!

  13. Quote

    Thanks for the kind words Arvind. I am glad you liked my photos.

  14. Quote

    Sam,
    What a surprise to hear from you. Happy new year to you and your family as well. Please reach out to me when you find time. My cell number remains the same.

  15. Quote

    Hi Sukumar,
    I very happy new year to you. I loved the pictures of Paris Street and Sacre Couer basilica. I have always dreamt of visiting the Louvre.

    Its great reading your blog after a long gap.

  16. Quote

    What a surprise to hear from you Archana. Thanks a lot for your wishes and kind words. Happy new year to you and your family as well.

  17. Quote

    All the pictures are eye candy…Thanks a lot for sharing it…
    Happy new year to you and Priya 🙂

  18. Quote
    Tonmoy Goswami said January 5, 2010, 12:08 am:

    Looking forward for more!!!!
    Wonderful post Sukumar!!

  19. Quote
    Balajee Sethuraman said January 5, 2010, 11:56 am:

    Hey Sukumar and Priya,

    Wish I had known you were in Paris.. we would have loved to meet you all.. you know I am based in Paris right? Wish we could have met..

  20. Quote

    Great clicks Sukumar, i liked the Eiffel tower snap, the fog really added some color to it.

  21. Quote

    Thanks Annapoorani for the kind words. Happy new year to you as well.

    Tonmoy, thanks. yes some more will be coming soon.

  22. Quote

    Balajee,
    Oops. Sorry it slipped my mind that you are in Paris now. It would have been great to meet with you and Anu. Really sorry about that.

    Subba,
    thanks for your kind words. I too like the Eiffel Tower one immensely.

  23. Quote

    Pictures are great Sukumar. Which camera did you use?

  24. Quote
    Kumaran said January 7, 2010, 1:18 pm:

    I think it is “Sony Cybershot DSC-F828”. You can actually get it by looking at the properties of photo. You can get stuf like aperture and other settings. It is like a good way to learn photography. Find a good picture make a note of the settings with which that picture was taken. This is available in all digital cameras.

    Sukumar > Please confirm the model number.

  25. Quote

    Thanks for the kind words Vamsi. As Kumaran deduced it is a Sony Cybershot F828.

    Kumaran,
    Good work finding it from the properties of the file. Cool. I didn’t know that.

  26. Quote
    pk.karthik said January 8, 2010, 8:28 pm:

    Nice photos Sukumar…Paris is now in my bucket list thanks to u.Is there any Asterix -Obelix Musuem there 🙂

  27. Quote

    Thanks Karthik. There is an Asterix Theme Park which was started soon after Eurodisney started to counter American cultural invasion 🙂

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