Wednesday, June 18, 2008

'Twas a Full Moon - or Another Night in Paris

'Twas a full moon tonight... only it was nowhere to be seen. Damn! Now what? I need another theme. Okay, how about...

The following takes place between 9:55 and 10:19 pm.
There was a full moon tonight. I went in search of this lunar spectacle, only to find clouds on the horizon. But, the first day of summer is almost upon us, and in Paris the sun sets much later than in California.

9:58 pm
The Centre Pompidou is closing. It's late, but it doesn't look like night time.

[Remember, you can click on the photos to see a larger image.]

10:04 pm
Rue Rivoli - a major shopping street. Is it really after 10pm? Maybe that is why all of the stores are closed.

10:07 pm
Yacht de Paris cruise heading west on the Seine. Perfect weather for a boat ride in a suit and tie. My little Cannon camera takes decent photos at dusk.


10:09 pm
Sun setting over Pont Neuf and the Conciergerie. At least I think that is Pont Neuf. Nope, it's Pont au Change - Pont Neuf is the bridge just behind. [Click to enlarge if you really want to see Pont Neuf - barely.]


10:11 pm
First photo where the flash went off automatically. Not a good shot. Deleted.

10:17 pm
Notre Dame at "night."

10:22 pm The lights in the Parvis de Notre Dame come on.

Bonus Material
10:24 pm
Impromptu football game (that would be soccer for y'all who live in America) in the plaza in front of Notre Dame.

The orange shirts would indicate they are from Pays-Bas. Where the heck is Pay-Bas? Well, it took a little bit to figure this out last week when Pay-Bas kicked France's butt in a World Cup playoff. Pays (country) and Bas (over there) translates loosely into English as "land" and "nether," hence it is the Netherlands a.k.a Holland. But wait, their flag is also red, white and blue - so why are they wearing orange? It is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, descendants of William of Orange. How about that? A little lesson in geography, history and a sports update all rolled into one paragraph!


10:37 pm
Here's a nice little night time photo of a small street just a couple streets away from Notre Dame. Now, it's looking like night time!
10:39 pm
Another shot of the Seine, with a lovely blue sky. I think the photo has a bit more blue than was actually there, but it looks nice.

11:00
Return home.
Download pictures.
Select photos for Blog.
Write Blog posting.

00:38
Finish writing Blog

00:40
Upload photos.
Adjust layout.

01:15
Publish Blog.

1:39
Review blog layout.
Correct formatting.
Re-load photos.
Publish again.

Ahhhh.... another day - and night - in Paris. Good Night. Bonne Nuit.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous. I feel like I were there, ...wish I was. Isn't Paris farther north, like Seattle, so it's summer sunset is later?

-Ralph

RICK said...

Yes, the sun definitely sets later in Paris in the summer. But winter days are a bit short.

Anonymous said...

Well said.