Buisness Trip to Paris - Day 1

[Peter S.]

Dear fellow camera collectors,

I have been on a buisness trip to Paris the week before Easter.
The most important issue to consider (next to do the preparations
for my talk) was the selection of my camera kit - as I hoped to find
a bit of time for a photosafari, too.

I took my Minolta XD-7 with me, as it is small reliable and, I got plenty
of exercise with it. The selection of lenses tried to avoid the rarest
pieces, as Paris got quite a reputation for pickpockets and the like.
So I got a 2.8/24 (indispensable), a 2.8/35, a 1.4/50, a 2..5/100,
a tiny 3.5/135 and a Tamron SP 3.5/70-210 (I got this by accident -
but man, it is a capable lens!). I also took my smallest tripod and
a cable release with me - and a lot of film...

I went there by train. It takes a considerable bit more time then
taking the plane (8.5 vs. 4 hours, taking the time to get to the
airport into consideration), but I got no troubles with my 25kg
baggage (only my shoulder got a bit ...).


This is a 181 series, a locomotive that is used by German Bundesbahn
only for the destination Paris, as it is able to operate on both the
15kV @ 16 2/3 Hz in Germany and on 25kV @ 50 Hz in France.
To the best of my knowledge there are only 18 of these. It must
have been an expensive unit. In the 80ies they were painted in a
dark blue hue, which I found pretty nice.

After getting there I immediately started out to explore the city.
The hotel was near the St. Lazare train station. There are very
much impressive buildings in Paris - the first I saw standing out
was the church of St. Madelaine...



I walked on towards the Place Concorde, where I had a peek on the
obelisque...



A spectacular look back to the Madelaine needed to be photographed...



I walked on to the Seine, to have a first look on the Tour Eiffel...



and on the Assemblee Nationale...



I walked back to the hotel, as it was 0:30 by then, and I had to get
up early the next day.

Hope You like it - if You do, I can continue to post a small series.

Best regards
Peter

PS: all exposures were guestimated... I had to tweak the curves
a bit, but I am very pleased with the result. I got a ca 50% loss
since my tripod was too shaky. :-(
On the other hand: 50% success rate it OK.

[nikonbob]

Peter

As far as I am concerned you can keep up the postings. I always find it enjoyable to see someone else's view of a city that I like very much. Hope you enjoy your stay and don't work too hard. BTW I personally like train travel over planes when I am in Europe.

Bob

[doubs43]

Peter, I second Bob..... keep posting. Those are excellent night time shots of a beautiful city. I hope you have an enjoyable visit to the "City of Light".

Walker

[herron]

I will make it unanimous. Please keep posting. Those are interesting, nice images!

[kiev4a]

Peter:

You must have been arriving about the time we were leaving. We were in Paris on March 30 and 31.

Got really wet wandering the various sites, including Place Concorde on the 31st.

[doubs43]

Wayne, that's a great shot. I almost expect Batman to appear between the creatures.

Walker

[Peter S.]

Dear Wayne,

Yes, I arrived late on the 1st april. I had more luck with the weather than You had - You picture
looks like taken from Notre Dame towards Montparnasse (maybe the only inappropriate
building near the centre of the city...).

Thank You for the picture!

And best regards
Peter

[kiev4a]

Peter:

Our guide said Montparnasse was controversial. Apparently somebody paid off somebode to get the structure approved and by the time anyone realized hos tall it was going to be, it was too late to stop the project. I does stick out like "a sore thumb" in the middle of the city.

BTW, it is 400 steps to the top of the Notre Dame belltower (my picture was shot at the lower level). I didn't think my legs were going to hold up!

[Peter S.]

Dear Wayne,

I am not surprised to hear this story about the Montparnasse skyscraper - a sore thumb is a
good pictorial word to name it.

I would have loved to bet up Notre Dame - but I lacked the time, as I were busy on the opening
hours. My legs wouldn't have stopped me either - but I will get a second chance someday... :-)

Best regards
Peter

PS: I did visit the spire of the Cathedral of Ulm, which is known to have the highes spire in
the world (a bit more than 160m). The funny thing is, that the banisters are extremely low
as people in the medival age weren't taller than 1.50m (and I am 1.93!). So if You are
susceptible to dizziness You may prefer not to get up there - on the other hand the highest
peek around was allways the place I most wished to be.

Best regards
Peter

[kiev4a]

Peter:

One thing we noticed in Europe was they allow visitors to go places (up old stairs and through ruins) where you would never be allowed to go in the States. Every one over here is afraid they will be sued if someone falls down.

[Peter S.]

Dear Wayne,

yes, I noticed how silly peoples are assumed to be by US lawyers - I prefer to decide where
to go by myself - and don't do any whining, when I wasn't able to master it.

Best regards
Peter

[PeterW]

Very nice picture from high up on Notre Dame, Wayne. Rather your legs than mine, mate!

The carvings in the left foreground and the slight background haze really give the picture depth. It makes you realise what a warren the old small streets in that area are, something you don't always realise from the ground.

Until you mentioned it I didn't realise the amount of freedom we have in Europe to wander round old buildings, up narrow spiral stone stairs and out on to high areas with low protective railings or walls.

I don't think the courts here would look very kindly on a claim for damages due to negligence on the part of the owner for not pointing out the dangers, though you do sometimes see notices to that effect. It's a bit like unfenced cliff tops, or the edge of a road overlooking a valley. These are not everyday pedestrian thoroughfares, and very different from something like a broken and protruding paving slab on a pavement. I think the view would be that anyone (other than a young child who ought to be supervised) with anything approaching normal common sense ought to know that such places can be dangerous if you neglect to take care.

Warning notices about something you might not expect, like that a floor has just been mopped, and might be slippery because it's wet are sensible, but I see some cafes have now put up notices warning people that the cups of tea they serve are hot. Dammit, I expect my tea to be hot. I'd complain if it wasn't.

The next things will be warnings that the prongs of a table fork can be sharp enough to injure you if you're silly enough to stab yourself with them, and big notices in the street warning people that the pavement gets slippery when it's covered with snow or ice!

How much mollycoddling do people need?

PeterW