Dec 26, Bend: Splashes of color in a black and white world

We drove into Bend last night in the dark, and weren't able to see the fairy kingdom made by frozen fog on trees and bushes until this morning. I took all of the photos in this post in color, and I didn't change the color in Photoshop. A few of the photos came out really well. Others are included to help me remember the day.

There was only a dusting of frost on the ground - no snow - but every branch and needle were covered in lacy white, making the green of the trees look more black than green by contrast. After this week, I won't be back to Bend for a number of months, so I've included a lot of photos in today's post. It was magical being out in these conditions.

First stop, Starbucks, where the papers were full of the news of the fizzled "device on Flight 253. This is when I realized what an entirely different feel the day would have had if the thing had gone off - not only for family and friends of the passengers, but for everyone. Of course, the news continued to be filled with bits about airport security failures, failures to make use of information in databases, etc. The consequences will not be over at the end of the day, even though (thankfully), the passengers touched down safely.

We stopped in a parking lot, because we wanted to take photos of various plants we'd seen along the roadside. There were a few colorful leaves on this dark green bush.

This one came out really well. It may help to enlarge it.

I took this because I liked the shape of the small trees. When I saw it, I liked the color in the otherwise-monochromatic scheme.

Heh. Iced mocha today? Actually, I've been getting cold coffee drinks lately, but not at McDonald's.

Aesthetically, I could have left this one out, but I like the variety of trees covered in frost.

Approaching the traffic circle.

This is one of the things I wanted to photograph. I like the deer in the wreath and the feathery white background. Bend has sculptures of one sort or another in every traffic circle in town, or nearly all of them. Some are realistic and some are not. I think the city has done a nice job trying to beautify the sterile new streets.

The exposure isn't quite right here, but I liked the sun glow on the trees that were painted on the door to Pine Mountain Sports. It looked very nice as we entered.

We stopped at Strictly Organic for some breakfast burritos, and this was the view out the window in front of the counter where you can sit down to eat. I've had their coffee before, and I think it's the worst I've ever had anywhere. In fact, after much consideration, I threw it out. But their burritos were fantastic.

The bell-shaped lights are reflections from inside Strictly Organic.

The "numbers" they give you that correspond with your order aren't numbers at all, but countries. Funny that we got Tanzania, because Lee will be there on his upcoming trip, so he was able to show me his route and where he'd be staying. I'm certainly looking forward to the photos.

More reflections, more frost. I like the shape of the arch in the bricks, too.

I took this out the other window. I like a number of the elments here, but the first thing that caught my eye was the unusual coloring of the trim.

Again from the cafe window: red, red, nice shapes of the bike rack, and a square within a square.

In the corner of the room behind us as we were eating, was this nice tree painted on the wall.

The counter where we ate was cool. I think it must be palm wood in laminated rectangles. The next photo shows what nature can do in Creative Design class.

Isn't that wonderful? The smaller dots look like a jaguar's coat.

I'm not sure why I included this one. It was just part of the moment.

Strictly Organic supplies water for dogs. But today a dog would need an ice pick.

Frosty bike. Cool bike rack design.

I've taken pictures of these grates before and liked the color better without the frost, but this time I noticed the type: It says, "Bend, Oregon - Est. 1905."

Oak leaves. I love the pale brown.

This is one of my favorite pix of the day. I took it through the windshield of the car, looking at the lacy white-on-white trees on the right, but it turned into a nice composition, and and love the colored sign, too. We were almost home.

Oct 16, Part 9 - Paris: Approach to the Louvre

From St-Germain l'Auxerrois, we crossed the street to this magnificently spacious square at the east end of the Louvre. It was once used as a military parade ground. It takes my breath away to be in a place that feels so big and so empty.

We then went down a side street to eat something before tackling such a huge museum. I hadn't been impressed with the food offerings at the Louvre in the past, so we thought we'd avoid that scene and get a bite elsewhere. It wasn't great, either, but maybe it was better. At least we were able to watch the streets of Paris, which is always fun. I believe this is the corner of Rue de Rivoli and Rue Perrault.

Leaving our lunch spot, we again headed toward the Louvre once again. Here is the Temple de l'Oratoire du Louvre, on the posh Rue de Rivoli. The location and the building have an interesting and varied history, as do so many places in Paris. In the 1600s, this was the location of the home of Gabrielle d'Estrees, one of the famous "favorites" of Henri IV. The Baroque building you see here was built by Le Mercier between 1621 and 1630. It was a church used by the Oratorian Congregation, a secular priesthood whose interests were teaching and preaching. They came to rival the Jesuits. The preaching done here was so superior that the royal family and court came to use this church as their chapel under Louis XIII, XIV, and XV. The funerals of Louis XIII and his queen, Anne of Austria, were held here. During the Revolution, when all churches were de-consecrated, the Oratoire was used as an arms depot. Napoleon ceded the building to the Protestants in 1811, and the seminary was re-established in 1852.

I've taken this photo through the fence, since this garden is enclosed and not open to the pubilc. We're headed for the large archway in the center of the photo, which will take us into the Cour Caree, the mammoth courtyard on the east end of the Louvre.

Just before the archway, we enountered something completely unexpected! I still don't know what to make of this. I might have expected sculpture of the Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical periods, but instead here is a very modern-looking sculputre of a car. And, it's broken!

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Oct 16, Part 15 - Paris: Sculpture in the Louvre

The Louvre seems endless, but I love looking back at the photos when I'm not so exhausted from trek, trek, trekking through the halls. You can't take it all with you, but here are a few photos of things I especially liked.

The ceilings are magnificent and ever-changing.

I rarely comment on tourists I happen to catch in my photos, but I believe I have here a rare picture of a vampire in conjunction with a Roman orator or soldier.

Are these a soldier's boots? I'm not sure, but I love the colors - the unexpected black stone with the rest of the sculpture in luscious tones of gold and red. Lee thought he'd check out the pedestal, or maybe stabilize himself for the long look upward.

Here's a detail of the hem of the tunic, all done with stone inlay. Marvelous!

I should have taken notes. I'm not sure who this is or who it's by, but I loved the translucent stone tunic, especially in juxtapositon to the opaque, white body.

And this one! I feel as thought I got a lucky shot with the lightin, and the exposure that captured both the sculpture and sun-drenched background. Wha I also like is the attractive tourist posed here for someone else's photo. Voila! An unexpected perk. No, I have no idea who she is, but thank you for being in my photo!

Feet and snake.

This one is strange. I think I saw a wood engraving of it one time in a old Harper's Weekly or something like that. I'm sure there's a myth or legend behind it, but I have no idea what it is. Maybe someday I'll find the engraving again. It could turn up in my box of images that I save to make collages out of (the collage box).

I'm sorry I didn't get this one straight. I tried to turn it, but it cropped off too much of the arch, so here it is, crooked. I like it's ornateness against the plain arches and walls of the museum.

Another hallways in the Louvre's sculpture wing - a nice place to wander.

The sun had come out, and the dark clouds made a nice contrast with the buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard. At least most of that is the Musee des Arts Decoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts and Design). Sometime I should go in, but I never have. When you have only a few days in Paris, do you see the Louvre, or the other museum? I think sometime I want to see the other museum. It looks interesting.

Further down the wing, another shot under the moody sky. Cool lighting. I like it.

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Oct 16, Part 16 - Paris, Louvre: Wouldn't this make a beautiful Baroque garden?

This nice Baroque wolf lives in a courtyard of the Louvre.

Looking through one of the upstairs windows of the Louvre's Denon wing, here is one of the majestic corners of the wolf's "pen" with a tall pavilion.

Unfortunately, someone has plunked a modern modular office building right into the Baroque courtyard. Look at the wonderful curved staircases. With all the effort that's gone into making the halls of the Louvre a showcase for the art within, why ignore the view from the windows?

Here you can see the lamp, the pool, and the ornate balustrade.

Wouldn't it be great with some landscaping, fountains, paths, grass and flowers? I guess we can dream!

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