The joys of Photoshop for a photographer!

Ok. It's been far too long between blogs. I'm sorry. But, I've discovered a version of Photoshop that's rocking my world...Here are a few photos that I have doctored & edited from the last couple weeks. I spent a few afternoons at one of the 3 cemeteries here and also spent last Saturday at Versailles with Brandon, Liz (the Mexican from Las Vegas) and Liz's friend from Costa Rica.

Here's a few edited photos of Versailles (which is truly a stunning building!) All the gold (which I've toned down) is gold leaf. It's insane that it's literally all over in this palace.

The two photos above are of Marie-Antoinette's bedroom where there was a railing splitting the bed part of the room and the "viewing" part of the room. There were a few short padded benches (for kneeling, maybe?) and a sofa. This is where she gave birth, with an audience. Very odd.

This is the very very beautiful hall of mirrors. Windows to the courtyard on the left, mirrors on the right. I will post more later.

One of the many very beautifully painted ceilings...

The King's bed. Kinda foofy, I think. But hey, this was the era that liked foof.

A huge and very intense room, not exactly sure what it was for, but the ceiling was absolutely breathtaking. More photos will follow.

Again, not sure what this room was for, but there was green textured fabric on the walls, the curtains were the same material, or slightly different, there was faux marble on the woodwork, gold leaf and murals all over, with portraits of random people. Kinda intense.

Moi. Right after the Hall of Mirrors.

Brandon, right after the Hall of Mirrors, such a happy place apparently.

The following photos are of a cemetery called Passy, and is very close to the Eiffel Tower. Growing up, being used to "American" cemeteries where they're tucked neatly in the ground and a small(ish) headstone, it was really fascinating to wander through a cemetery like this. I began looking at the little things, where people would build shrines to be able to pray to a saint or Mary for their deceased loved one, but these shrines (or narrow buildings with an alter, kneeling chairs and a statue) have become forgotten, neglected and run down. Dead flowers in vases and dusty, dirty and broken crucifixes. Everyone seems to be eventually forgotten and life moves on. In a very weird way, it kinda feels like I've gotten closer to God by walking through this cemetery, seeing how people "do" death. There's just such sadness and though it's sad when someone whom we love dies, in and through Christ we live and there's joy in that: I have a hard time understanding that sadness. Here's some photos, not nearly as many as I have in my stash, and I might post more, but I hope you can kind of see where my mind was when I was photographing this unusual and oddly beautiful place.

It's official...

...Notre Dame is my all time favorite church. I want to show you the Notre Dame that most people don't see, since most photos of the beautiful church are from straight on. I found this beautiful sketch from the typical way it is viewed. As I was "studying" Paris, I read up on this church. Here's some facts for you along with some photos. My hope for you is that you will really see the beauty in the ornate detailing of this stunning building. Just think: It was ALL done by hand! Here are some fun facts!

*The Notre Dame was started in 1163. It is fully completed in 1345.

* The Notre Dame is located on the Ile de la Cite, which is the earliest inhabited part of Paris and one of two natural islands in Paris on the River Seine. The island was settled c. 52 BC by the Romans, after the Celts. For many centuries, it was the royal, legal and religious center of Paris, with 14 parishes in the Middle Ages. It continues to be those three today.

* The spire (the tallest one in the photo above) is 295ft high and added by Viollet-le-Duc (French architect famous for his restoration of medieval buildings.) Next to the Apostles statues on the roof, is another statue of the Viollet-le-Duc admiring his work. He started work on the building in 1845 and took 25 years to complete, including building of the Spire.

*The front three sets of double doors are called portals. One is called the Portal of the Virgin, another is called the Portal of the Last Judgement and the third is called Portal of St. Anne. They are actually each differently shaped. Here's a photo I found online.

*Each elaborately carved portals show Biblical scenes which were painted in the middle ages and represent what they are named (Virgin, Last Judgement and St. Anne) Above the three doors is the Gallery of Kings of Judea and Israel.

*The Towers (to the far left of the photo, the South Tower shown here) are 226ft high and there are 387 steps up to the top. The South Tower houses the famous bell "Emmanuel", weighs over 28,000 pounds, the claper alone weighs over 1000 pounds. The bell is Notre dame's oldest which was recast in 1631.

*There are gargoyles all over the church. 5,000 to be exact. There are many reasons for them, some say it's to ward off evil spirits, others are used as spouts to get rain water away from the walls and foundations, being that there are many flying buttresses (will show you later what these are) there had to be many gargoyles.

*There are three huge rose windows which adorn the north, west and south sides of the church. Only the north window retains it's 13th century stained glass. It is of the Virgin Mary surrounded by figures from the Old Testament. The south window shows Christ surrounded by the Apostles.

(South window and detail, found online)

(North window with detail, found online)

*The Notre Dame holds France's largest pipe organ. Here's another photo I found online.

*The interior of the church is about 455 ft long, about 98 ft wide, and about 125 ft high in the center.

So, enjoy the rest of the various photos I took of the most magnificent church I have ever been to.

Scratch 'n sniff blog?

I wish I had the ability to have smell-o-vision or scratch 'n sniff blog.

Last night, Brandon and I went to dinner with a friend who was stopping in Paris for a few hours (he's a pilot.) As we were walking to the hotel, I commented on how smelly Paris is. He agreed. Unfortunately, it's not usually the sweet smell of flowers in outside booths...

But more closely resembling an indescribably foul smell like this...

Smell-o-vision or scratch 'n sniff would have been quiet cruel.

(photos courtesy of google images)

All the world's a sign...

One of the things that's enjoyable here are the different signs that I see because it reminds me I'm in a foreign country living with a people group who are really quite like me; who aren't supposed to park there, drive here, enter there, who may pick up a taxi here, find the right street and may access that here. There's also a frustrating bit because it reminds me constantly that I don't know French.... But, I still love seeing these signs because I'm experiencing a new culture and it's flat out more fun than frustrating, trying to figure out what these signs mean, and laughing at the silliness of some of the signs! It's kinda like the sign I found when living in London. It had a black silhouette of a dog with "stuff" behind it and "smelly smoke" wafting up from the dog "stuff". There was a big red X over the dog and it's "stuff". The sign said "Do not let your dog foul the grass." It's funny things like this that keep me looking at signs - to see if I can find a funnier one than the last, or a quirkier one, or a more confusing one for foreigners (since signs are supposed to be rather universal!) As modernity has crept in, it's enjoyable to see the old with the new right next to it. The older the building, the more interesting the new seems to be. Here are a few signs I've found thus far.