Friday, October 17, 2008

Oct 17, Part 9 - Paris: Quai Montebello - art along the Seine

From Quai St-Michel, we continued to stroll along the Seine. You stay on the same riverbank, only the name changes. I love this view of Notre Dame!

We found a vendor with animal stamps. We both love animals and Lee is a stamp collector, so we enjoyed looking, but didn't buy. I found a vendor who had a Paris touristy pocket knife with lots of blades and tools on it. I knew Sue would like it for opening things at work. For the longest time, she was using an "art" knife I have for pulling big staples and I didn't realize it! Now she'll have a handy tool for almost any purpose - with an Eiffel Tower on it, too :)

We liked these prints, espeically the one in the center with the dancers on the beach, because this artist's work from the same series was hanging in our hotel room on the last trip, when we stayed at the Hotel Les Argonautes.

Moving along, here's another view of the quai as we approach the Pont au Double. That's Lee in the white sweatshirt.

OK, so this is the kind of hack print I don't like, but the scene is . . . scenic.

Notre Dame is beautiful from any angle. The clouds are adding some drama today.

I thought this artist was pretty good. He's working in semi-caricature; I'd rather see a real portrait, but he seems to be one of the more talented. I wondered if he was a student, but we didn't disturb him. I like how he was emphasizing the kid's spiky hair.

Another shot of the magnificent cathedral and the clouds.

There is more. I really cannot get enough photos of this building. I think I keep hoping I'll get the perfect shot. I've taken so many where the light areas are burned out. There's so much contrast with the interesting shapes.

Flying buttresses - Notre Dame was the guinea pig for so much in Gothic architecture.

More Notre Dame.

Finally I tried setting my camera on wide angle, which I used also in the next post. I don't use it much and usually forget that I have that option. I like the result!


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