Tag: France

Iconic Etretat cliff walk

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

The French coastline has an abundance of breathtaking views. The Iconic Etretat cliff walk along the cliffs in winter gives a breathtaking view of some unbelievable natural rock formations. It is no wonder that impressionist painters came here to capture the view in 19th century. The Iconic Etretat cliff walk runs both sides of the beach and both sides are worth the effort. This is one photo of many I took. There many more just below.

Getting to Etretat

Public transport would be my normal choice but there’s no train from Paris to Etretat. The trains goes part of the way and then you have to finish by bus. Far from ideal. If you are motivated enough this link has the information about the L504 bus. This link also has details of the various other bus and coach services from nearby towns like Le Havre and Fécamp.

So in the end car is the easiest way to get here. And many people do this. And this leads to a town with paid car parking every day of the year from 9h00 to 19h00. Parking prices are provided by the town here. The further out of town you park the cheaper it will be.

My photos

In no particular order some of the photos I took on my walk. When it was possible I got people in the image to give you some idea of the scale. You will also see the same image taken as the sun moves around the sky. Finally a few cliff shots to try and give you an idea of the height, the sheer drop and the fact that there are no fences. That’s right, you can walk to edge and put your life in danger for a selfie, something I strongly recommend you don’t do. On the subject of unnecessary risk. You are also not allowed within 50m of the foot of the cliffs. You will probably see evidence of recent collapses during your visit. Stay away and follow the advice of the plentiful signs. The cliffs are made mainly of chalk which doesn’t last forever. Take care and enjoy an Iconic Etretat cliff walk.

My walk

If you want to follow the same route then here are the details.

First of all I decided to focus on the north side of the beach for my walk. That is not to say ignoring the south side. So in fact you have to climb both sides to get the best of the Etretat cliff walk. That will be over 500 steps up and 500 down. Better make sure your knees are up to it

The 4 sections of my walk

  1. No matter where you park, or how you arrive you will end up on the sea front and you can walk along it to the cliffs. There is a path that takes you to the top of the Falaise d’Aval, the Aval Cliff, and the nearby Aiguille, the needle of Etretat. There are fantastic views here, not least of the beach, Plage El Karivis, the other side of the headland.
  2. I then returned to town and on the other end of the seafront are the steps up to the museum, the Gardens of Etretat and the cliff, La Falaise d’Amont. Aval and Amont are simply the French words for downstream and upstream. The gardens are open Wednesday to Sunday, and I have heard great things about them and you should find time to visit (by ticket). There is also a monument to the first aviators who tried to cross the Atlantic by plane.
  3. I recommend that you continue along the coastal path, passing the path that heads perpendicular in land, and at least up to the second bench. The first bench is by the town by the chapel. The second is on the cliff edge. Approximately 3km along the path. Along this path, the GR21, you can see the Aiguille de Belval, Belval needle, and the Roc Vaudieu, Vaudieu rock.
  4. That’s the end for me and I headed back to town along the same route. You could take the chemin du milieu, the central path, which is perpendicular to the coast around the Roc Vaudieu. It is signposted and easy to spot. My preference would to walk back along the coast, more interesting to see the sites from another angle in a different light.

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Some of these photos are available for purchase on my store. Or from the menu above, or even buy your art directly below.


Other posts you may like

  • I went for a Spring walk with a macro lens around my home town, the images can be seen in this post.
  • I went for a walk along the river in Pitlochry, Scotland

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Roman Aqueduct de Barbegal

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

The highlight of my recent trip to the region of Provence in France was the Roman Aqueduct de Barbegal. Such an incredible feature of architecture, ingenuity and engineering it really must be seen. The Roman Aqueduct de Barbegal are well known in the local area so I suggest you do as I did and try to avoid the busy parts of the day. I went early evening which also meant the sun was setting and sun was shining through the arches.

The site is free to access. It is near Arles and Fontvieille. It is worth walking along the route which is not too difficult. At the end of the arches there is the steep hillside which was once covered by 8 mills. They use the water that cascaded down the hillside from the aqueduct in sequence. Each mill had 2 millstones. They produced a variety of produce including wheat flour for the estimated nearby population of 12000 people.

The site has been listed by UNESCO since 1981.

I have other posts on places to visit, for example

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City architecture

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A great idea for a photographic experience is to visit a modern business area. They are crammed with buildings, people, and often, art and gardens. They are often cities within a city. The city architecture is ideal for capturing :

  • reflections,
  • symmetry,
  • long straight lines,
  • angles,
  • colour
  • monochrome
  • sunbursts, and
  • shadows

Perhaps not everything in one afternoon. You get the idea. City architecture gives you great scope to practice techniques and be imaginative.

La Défense, Paris, France

My local city architecture is at La Défense, near Paris, France. You may have seen it from the Champs Elysées. It is named after the statue which still stands at street level in the centre of a large square. La Defense is built around its parvis and this means that you are almost always above street level.

Getting there

So you are tempted by the idea. How do you get to La Défense? Firstly you should note that it is often referred to as Paris La Défense, because it is very close to the city. But it is not actually in the city.

Car

Getting there by car is possible with many car parks available. La Defense is, for a large part, enclosed in a boulevard which is sort of pear shaped. If you miss your exit it may be easier to go around.

Public transport

The best way to get to La Défense is public transport. It has :

  • International and local bus stations
  • Express city trains RER A
  • Local trains
  • Metro M1
  • Tram
  • Bicycle
  • Scooters

Many arrive at dedicated stations under street level. Therefore you will have to work your way up to the parvis level. Perhaps the only gotcha I can think of is that the metro station is part of the standard city zone. Because of this M1 is a cheap and easy way of getting there. The RER A is quicker but classed as zone 3 so yoiu need a special ticket to get from the Champs Elyséés to La Défense on the RER.

I will not reinvent the wheel, they have a web site that gives much more information. It will open in a new tab, just click here.

How long to allow

It is a large area, and takes around 30 minutes to walk the 2.5km end to end. And if you’re going to be zigzagging and stopping to take pictures you really should be looking at around an hour minimum. This will give you chance to see a large part of the area. You can download a detailed map available here.

There are some impressive building to see:

  • The twin towers of the Société Générale in the Valmy area, in my dreams a setting sun between the 2 would be spectacular
  • The Grande Arche, at the railway end of the Parvis. It’s a cube with 2 faces missing.
  • The CNIT, built in 1958, it was the first building and has a unique triangular structure.

There are also many pieces of sculpture spread across the whole area.

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Arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower

Underground Paris

and Urban Settings from my visit to La Défense in 2021

Explore underground Paris

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A few weeks ago I went to the Eiffel tower, got there late, but still took some nice photos. You can see the post about this visit here. I decided to go to the same starting point to explore underground Paris. Firstly there are 2 dedicated museums that allow you to explore underground Paris: the sewers and the catacombes. They are almost as far from each other as you can get in Paris. Obviously that doesn’t matter if its a lovely day. Of course if its raining skip all the walking and enjoy an unusual dry visit.

The starting point.

Take public transport to the Eiffel tower or pont Alma. You may recognize this image from the earlier post as its the same church near the Eiffel tower.

Looking in the other direction, eastwards, there is the Quai d’Orsay. It is famous for its large museum. Not for the Sewers museum. Give yourself an hour to visit this inexpensive museum. It’s part of the sewer system and can come with the expected odours.

What is interesting is to see the scale of the system and various tunnels. Being underground the temperature varies less than at street level.

A little over an hour later I am out. I decided to walk along the river Seine to the splendid Pont Alexandre III. Taking in the sights and fresh air. The pont Alexandre III is easy to recognize by it’s golden flame-like statues. On the way you pass the Archipel des Berges de Seine Niki de Saint-Phalle which is a nature reserve built on 5 barges moored on the river. It protects birds and fish from people whilst allowing us to get close by crawling across the netting.

I continued walking along the river, past the Assemblée Nationale. There’s plenty of time to be underground later. I continued a little further so I could get a direct bus, the 68 bus. The 68 runs from near the musée d’Orsay, rue Solferino, which you must visit one day, to the large place de Denfert-Rochereau. This is just a 2 minute walk from the entrance of the Catacombes de Paris.

Visiting the Catacombes de Paris

You must reserve online before you go. They are limited to 200 visitors at a time. There are a lot of steps, and plenty of uneven pathways. It also has a stable temperature year round. It is quite humid. Some people may fine it claustrophobic. But it is unique and is a mixture of the old quarries and the bones of deceased Parisians that have been moved over time. Therefore you should avoid treating it like a museum and more like a church or sacred place. You also should note that the exit is a good 5 minutes walk away from the entrance.

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Late evening sunlight

The Roman Aqueduct de Barbegal

Low light needs a tripod and patience

Visiting the Arc de Triomphe

End of the day – the Eiffel Tower

The business area of La Défense

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Visit Rouen

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’ve lived a short journey away from Rouen for many years and never been. Time to put that right and visit Rouen! It’s Spring and the season of April showers. Not a problem in Rouen. As you visit Rouen you can pop in to the numerous museums, churches and shops when it rains and wander around the large pedestrian only area when the sun shines. Here are some tips and photos to help you plan your visit Rouen.

The Churches

There are 4 significant and well known churches in Rouen:

  1. Saint Jeanne d’Arc church
  2. Saint-Ouen Abbey
  3. Notre-Dame Cathedral
  4. Saint-Maclou church

All have there merits, and are worth visiting.

  1. Saint Jeanne d’Arc church: located at the historical location where Jeanne d’Arc was burnt at the stake, it’s also by the market. I can’t resist fresh oysters so enjoyed a selection and glass of wine at the Comptoir des halles (opens in a new tab)
  2. Saint-Ouen Abbey: founded in 563, and currently being renovated. It’s just the time to take the huge volumes
  3. Notre-Dame Cathedral: 12th century gothic cathedral, and the subject of many paintings by the impressionist painter, Monet.
  4. Saint-Maclou church: Another gothic church, started in 1437, this time Catholic.

Architecture

The streets

A large part of the town centre is pedestrianised so you can walk safely around the historic centre. Soak up the atmosphere created by narrow cobbles streets, old shops and museums.

The town

There are also many impressive sights around the town

The town hall, the station and the Normandy Parliament. Keep your eyes open for the lego repairs.

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Weekend in Normandy

The Roman Aqueduct de Barbegal

Arc de Triomphe

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

There can be very few sites around the world that are as well known as the Arc de Triomphe. It is a must visit spot in Paris, France. Along with the Avenue des Champs Elysées and Place Charles de Gaulle. I found myself in Paris with an hour free, and I had never visited the Arc de Triomphe. It’s been waiting for my visit since 1836. Here is how the visit went.

Access

As the Arc de Triomphe is located at the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and Avenue de la Grande-Armée it is easy to get to. Well served by bus routes and, most importantly, the station Charles de Gaulle Etolie, on the RER A and several metro lines, 1, 2 and 6. Access to the Arc de Triomphe monument is via a tunnel which is located at the very top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Do not even think about crossing the road!

Entrance is by ticket only. These can be purchased in advance, or at the ticket booth in the tunnel. Do not queue if you have a ticket already. On the other hand don’t purchase a ticket if you meet the free entry criteria. Free entry was available when I went, for example, for under 18s, and EU students up to 25. For free entry you have to queue at the ticket booth. Information and tickets can be found here (opens in a new tab). It’s also worth noting that if you do not want to visit the interior and rooftop you do not need a ticket nor do you queue. You can just follow the stairs up to the surface and visit the tomb of the unknown soldier, the exterior of the monument and the place. I have been very happy doing this many times.

Outside the Monument

There is plenty to see just around the monument if you choose not to visit inside, for example you find it too busy.

Getting to the roof

Fortunately for the less able access to the roof top is available by elevator. There are many ramps too to help avoid steps. It’s also worth noting there are toilets in the roof area.

However most visitors are expected to climb up and down the spiral staircases. There are 284 steps. Your thighs will burn at the top. Finally there is a security check before you can enter and bags cannot exceed: 40x40x20cm.

The view from the top

Enough words, this is the view I had.

Whilst you are in the area

There are many things to visit in the area.

  • The Avenue de Champs-Elysées and its shopping
  • The Avneue George V which leads you to the fashion houses of Paris 8eme
  • Down Avenue Kléber there is the Trocadero, with its gardens, fountains, museums and most iconic view of the Eiffel tower.

Other posts that may interest you:

There are 2 blog posts which relate to this area

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Walking with a macro lens

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

The bright sunny days in Spring are ideal to go walking with a macro lens. The sun is relatively low, the air clear, the plants all nice a new. I took all the following buds, flowers and seeds in a radius of a few kilometers. The fact that I was walking with a macro lens meant that I saw more. I was looking for original seeds and new growth. Unfortunately it meant that my walk took a little longer than expected.

This local park is typical of the scenery this time of year in the Yvelines in France. It is the only photograph that wasn’t taken with my 100mm macro lens.

There are new flowers and buds in the garden in Spring alongside the leaves and seeds from last year’s growth. There are more photographs of flowers and plants in my gallery.

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Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store or Pixels store.

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End of the day – the Eiffel Tower

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

I was not very quick getting out of the house today. However a short trip into Paris and I realised I could take some photographs of the most iconic tower at end of the day – the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was late in the day and I thought as I walked around the site I could capture the tower in different lighting.

In the evening bring a tripod

I had brought my full kit bag with me fortunately. It contains spare cards, batteries, objectives and 2 tripods. A classic tripod that attaches to the outside and a small one with bendy legs inside. It was the latter that proved most useful. The Eiffel tower is well known and very busy. The small tripod allowed me to easily use walls, statues and the ground for my shots. With the advantage of not bothering too many people.

The light

The glorious light of a winter’s day gives way to various stages of light as the sun sets and the light has to pass through more of our planet’s atmosphere. I discuss this further in another blog post. The phases for these photos are:

  • Golden hour
  • Blue hour
  • Twilight
  • Night

The route

I started at the Alma-Marceau metro station. This is on the right bank of the River Seine and allows me to approach the tower via the pont de l’Alma. I then crossed the river Seine and walked towards the tower along the Quai Jacques Chirac. Once at the foot of the tower I walked away from the river towards the Champs de Mars. Then across the gardens to walk back to the river and back to the foot of the Eiffel tower. Then back across the river Seine via the Pont d’Iena. Up the pathways via the Trocadero gardens and finally back into the metro system and home. This short walk took me to the end of the day – the Eiffel Tower was definitely the star of the show.

Also along the route

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Explore underground Paris

Late evening sunlight

Low light needs a tripod and patience

Visiting the Arc de Triomphe and the business district La Défense

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Get started with long exposure 

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Long exposure photos can be some of the most remarkable images. But how do you get started with long exposure photography? Let me tell about a recent trip I did to Brittany, France, and give you some simple tips to get started.

I was lucky to be able to visit Tregastel, France during the 49th 24 hour sailing regatta (see the town’s French website – opens in a new tab).  This event hadn’t been held since 2019 due to the COVID pandemic. 

As the event takes place over 24 hours there was an ideal opportunity to experiment taking pictures of sailing yachts at night.  Additionally, there was a firework display scheduled that evening. A real treat.   Also a chance to try some other techniques.

What Is Long Exposure Photography? 

Exposure defines the duration that the camera’s sensor is exposed to light.  Originally it was the film, now it is the image sensor.  A short exposure lets in a little light, useful when in bright sunlight, and has the advantage of freezing movement as the subject is only seen for a fraction of a second by the sensor.  Long exposure photography does the opposite and uses a slow shutter speed keeping the sensor exposed to light for a longer period.  A long exposure will be defined when we keep the shutter open for a second or longer.  

Cameras will calculate the exposure time for you in automatic mode and you will see the time increase as light fades.  Many camaeras have a maximum of 30 seconds. In manual, or semi-automatic, mode you can set the time yourself.  Finally you can use Bulb mode, where you control the shutter, and it remains open as long as you are pressing the shutter release button.  

What does a long exposure create? 

As mentioned above long exposures will capture motion as the camera’s sensor is exposed to light for a longer period and  therefore a moving object will be seen by several parts of the sensor.  A common subject of long exposure landscape photos are rivers and waterfalls. As each drop of water travels across the sensor the water blurs and creates lines of blurred water, almost like clouds.  (You can see a long exposure waterfall image on the waterfall blog post) Images of waves at sea do the same thing.  Blurring will occur in any part of the scene where there’s motion.  This softens the image. 

In my case, even if I was by the sea, my target was to capture something moving in the dark.  In this case the long exposure lets what little light there is to be captured by the sensor.  This is how you can capture stars.  Of course, anything that is moving will  create the same soft blurred lines that a drop of falling water does. Whether it a boat or a star. So how do you get started with long exposure?

Tips for long exposure photography 

Taking photographs with a long exposure time is perfect for capturing motion blur and light trails. But there are some simple rules that must be followed.  Above I talked about moving subjects, but unfortunately the same is true if the camera moves.  If you shake the camera the tiniest amount when you press the shutter release button everything in the image will have that blurred movement effect and that is rarely the desired effect. 

Long exposure rules: 

  1. Use a tripod. Helps avoid camera shake. 
  1. Use a remote release button. This could be a wire, and remote control or a phone app. 
  1. Try various camera setting. There are broad rules, but you really need to set the camera up for your specific environment.  

Typical long exposure settings 

  1. The 500 rule. For star photography the 500 rule estimates the maximum exposure time you can shoot before stars become blurry or star trails appear. You divide 500 by the focal length of your lens. To capture the sky you would use a wide angle lens, for example,  a 18mm lens, then the rule says 500 / 18 = 27.78 seconds. This is just under the 30 second maximum that most cameras allow for a long exposure before going to bulb mode. 
  2. For fireworks. Fireworks are generally very bright so easy to see, but moving quickly and appear unpredictably. So start with ISO 200, F/11 and bulb. Press the shutter  release button when you hear the firework launch and keep it open until the firework fades. Check and see if you need to modify anything or everything.
  3. Use manual focus. It’s not easy for a camera to automatically focus on a firework which hasn’t even been lit yet. So set the focus to manual. We know the firework will be in the sky so set focus to infinity. In reality it’s not easy for us to do this either. Pointing the camera into the night sky and trying to focus when you can see nothing. A technique that can help is to set the camera to video mode and focus on some visible object, then switch to manual focus and finally back to camera mode. 

In my photographs you can see various fireworks which, ultimately, I took with F/7 to let a little more light in.  These simple tips should help you get started with long exposure photos.

If you are interested in other long exposure images take a look a the low light blog post.

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The Sentier des Douaniers

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

One of the most predictable routes to get fantastic views of the beautiful French coastline is to walk along The Sentier des Douaniers. The path was created 100s of years ago to allow the coast to be monitored and prevent smuggling. The path runs along the Mediterranean coast by Toulon. Here The Sentier des Douaniers is referred to as the sentier du littoral, a less adventurous name.

Not for everyone

The path is no longer a wild track for the most part and has been made safer and more accessible. Around Toulon work is still in progress and part of The Sentier des Douaniers is currently closed (May 2022) for work. You should also be aware that it runs along the very edge of sea, close to cliffs at some stages. If you take the route you will have to walk along beaches, along the cliffs and may get wet feet.

My walk

I took the bus 6 from the centre of Toulon, direction La Terre Promise. Bus is the best way to get around Toulon and I recommend the 10 trip pass which I installed on my phone. All the information is on the Reseau Mistral website (opens in a new tab). Time was limited so I got off at Magaud to start my walk back to Toulon from the Anse de Magaud. Anse is the French for a small deep bay.

From the bus stop I took the chemin de la mer. It is a single track road down to the east end of the anse. Although I didn’t, there is a restaurant on the beach here should you wish to start with lunch.

Fabulous rock formations

I was surrounded by the sea and rugged rocks along the walk. I keep my eyes open for interesting shots and different perspectives. Here are a couple of the photos and one that I think captures the tranquility of my day.

From the anse I walked around the pebble beach to the fishing village of Cap Brun.

Cap Brun

Walk up through the village and car parks to the promontory. Here you have splendid views of the Anse de Magaud that I have just walked along and to the west the Anse de Méjean, with Toulon in the distance.

At Cap Brun the Sentier des Douaniers offers spectacular views.

Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Cap-Falcon

On Cap Brun there is the Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Cap-Falcon which is not open to the public. There is an impressive statue of the Virgin Mary which was installed in 1975. The statue itself dates from the second world war.

Work in Progress

Unfortunately the work on The Sentier des Douaniers is still in progress from here tio Toulon. So I had to walk up to the road via the chemin de la Batterie Basse. I walked to town but you could take the 23 bus to town (it is only 4 stops). This takes you to Mourillon, and its beaches. There is also the Tour Royale, which is closed at the moment, and its park. There are public toilets here too.

Back to town

Because of the presence in Toulon of the large naval base its not possible to follw the coast to town so head back to the Av. des Tirailleurs Sénégalais and had back to the Mayol Stadium.

As a little treat I used my mistral travel pass to take the boat across the bay to Sablettes. The pass is valid on both the bus and boat services. There was no other reason than I wanted to take é boat trip. I then took the 8 bus back from the other side of the bay to see the town.

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There are many pages with photos of the sea and landscapes for example

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