Summer in Paris
We recently returned from a trip to France. We visited Brittany in Western France, then spent five days in Paris. This is the fourth year in a row we’ve visited France in June. This year, we stayed in the Bastille neighborhood of Paris, which we had visited before, but not stayed in.
My hope for the Paris leg of the trip was for lots of bright light that I could use to photograph some of the many cafes in the City of Light for my ongoing Paris Cafes project. Last year’s trip had a lot of clouds, and I didn’t come home with as many photos that I was pleased with. Like years past, I planned to do the bulk of my photography on film, hoping to capture Paris in a more timeless way using vintage equipment.
Prior to the trip, I build a Google map of places I hope to visit, and there were many new places near our apartment in Bastille. As is typical for me, I returned to a few favorite places as well. Here are five photos.
Les Descartes is a lovely cafe in the Latin Quarter. The red awning and very French name made this an appealing place to photograph. When we arrived, the building was well lit and I like the way this photo turned out:
Les Descartes, Paris
I returned to an old favorite, La Favorite, along the trendy Rue de Rivoli. I think last year’s photo was probably better, but I was glad to have stopped here. It wasn’t far from our place near the Bastille:
La Favorite, Paris
I generally don’t seek out people to photograph, but this scene appealed to me:
La Commanderie is near the Champs de Mars, just a stone’s throw from the École Militaire metro stop. The cafe was well decorated this year, with a beautiful floral motif:
La Commanderie, Paris
We walked near this restaurant, Paris Hanoi, one afternoon as we returned back to our apartment. The facade appealed to me, and I unexpectedly caught a cyclist in the frame:
Paris Hanoi, Paris
I should have a lot more photos to share of France in upcoming posts. I shot 28 rolls of film, plus some digital landscapes from Brittany. Stay tuned!
