Paris to Normandy, Days 1, 2 & 3

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A Viking River Cruise from Paris to Normandy with a 3-day extension in Paris was our 35th Anniversary to ourselves, and, man, did we treat ourselves well. Well, the best treatment really came from the folks on the cruise, both the crew and the fellow passengers.

We usually fly out of the local airport and usually around 6am, so it was quite unusual to drive to Philadelphia and fly out at 4:30pm, which is happy hour when with Ray Listanski. It also seemed rather unusual to fly from there to France via Toronto. We let the flight arrangements up to the folks at Viking, figuring it would be easier to have them include airport transfers on their side. So we flew throughout the night hearing grumblings from the regulars that the flight was so packed because of a holiday in France –a complaint that fell on our deaf ears trained to ignore the potential impact to our trip by a year’s worth of yearning.

Speaking of packing, this was the last trip Barb said she would need two suitcases. The usual joke when someone eyes our excess baggage or comments on the likely length of our stay based on the size of our trunks is, “Yeah, they’re all Barb’s except the bottom of this one.” The plan was to leave all of her hair products in France to make room for souvenirs on the return flight. Although my tripod took up most of my allotted suitcase space and all of the camera gear was in my backpack, this trip wasn’t really about the photography. Barb had been to France twice with our daughter Celeste with the high school French Club in the late 90s, and wanted me to experience the magic with her. April in Paris with m’lady sounded perfect –at least when you forget about the April showers part.

Photos from Day 1, Arrival

We met our first couple of fellow travelers in the Charles De Gaulle Airport, Dan & Fran Egan, a wonderful duo that we stuck with throughout the cruise. This first day was a day of orientation. Our ship was docked a couple blocks from the Eiffel Tower in sight of the French copy of the Statue Of Liberty.While watching the weather for the time leading up to this trip we saw nothing but rain in the forecast, which made it easy to find our group in a crowd since we were all issued large red umbrellas.

As mentioned (or lamented) this was not a photo trip; it was time for Barb & I to hold hands, drink lots of wine, eat baquettes, see the sights and enjoy the thrill in each others eyes. But I also mentioned that I brought a bag full of cameras, lenses and a tripod. This first night was one of the few occasions where I got to use the tripod. Dan & I were up on the deck ready for the light show on the Eiffel Tower. You’ll see I managed to get a few shots, but with only a halfhearted attempt, figuring the best shots were yet to come.

Photos from Day 2, Notre Dame & Le Louvre

The second day shows in another short gallery. It starts with an early bus trip through Paris where I got my first shot of the Arc de Triomphe through the dirty window. You can see Barb resting up –hiding that thrill in her eyes– as we pass the Louvre (photo 3). We got out near Notre Dame, walked across the bridge, stood in a long line, then got to walk around (others with the same idea) inside the ancient structure. Good photos were impossible without a tripod –the 2500 ISO setting wasn’t thrilling me. I wanted to go on top to get some shots of gargoyles overlooking Paris, but didn’t realize that that was a separate line and we’d have to add that to our 3 days at the end of the cruise. We got back on the bus and eventually headed over to the Louvre. You can see Barb resting the thrill in her eyes once again in photo 9 as we pass by Les Invalides.

We parked in the basement lot for the Louvre, which must accommodate over 100 buses in addition to all of the car spots, and I managed a few shots on the way in and was able to keep the ISO at 400. But once inside the museum my camera stopped working. What!? I was using my new Sony A7R, which, I found out in Florida a month earlier, goes through batteries a lot faster than buses go through Paris. I was partially prepared because I brought 3 batteries with me –partially, that is, because I left the extras in our stateroom. Kim, a Canon user in our group, saw me crying and offered her camera for me to get some shots for her, so those you won’t see here. Hopefully Anthony and her will one day be able to retire on one of the great shots of Mona Lisa I was able to shoot for them.

The big treat of this night was having Laurian Cicilio asking the 4 of us if she and her husband Charlie could join us at our dinner table. Charlie stood a little behind her and seemed to carry a Walter-Mitty-like expression as he awaited our response –as I remember it, he was looking down at his shoe tops, rubbing one over the other. As it turned out, it was just a ruse. They may have anticipated a flimsy excuse about the empty seats if we really knew this looney character, but as it turned out we were thrilled they joined us and consider it one of the best parts of the trip. What a great couple. Lauri is the saint in charge of curbing Charlie’s antics, but we insisted she take a break on this vacation so Charlie would keep the amusement level on overdrive.

Now there was 6 of us, and we stayed together the whole trip, and I’m sure we’ll stay friends for the rest of our lives.

Photos from Day 3, Giverny & Vernon

The captain woke up to sail us to Vernon while we slept. Ah, Monet’s Garden, jardin de Monet. Couldn’t wait. This was one time I planned on bringing the tripod and my backpack camera bag. Didn’t bring my Viking-issued grand parasoluie rouge, but Barb brought a fold-up alternative for when the meteorologist could say, “Voila! I told you so.”

There were 3 buses to transport the roughly 150 Viking travelers from the Seine to Giverny. After debussing, we gathered in 3 groups, each with a guide-piper holding a lollipop showing the specific group letter white on red (blending in nicely with the red umbrellas everyone carried). Each guide was assigned a separate transmitting signal that those in the group dialed into on their own listening devices, hoping not to be annoyed by the inevitable signal spillover from the wrong guide. I was more annoyed by the hard plastic in and around my ear; it surely distracted the on-the-go urge that overpowers me when I’m ready to shoot.

When I click the camera onto the tripod quick-release mechanism, I take on an enhanced personality –that would be one way to describe it… There’s a mission afoot, and my feet, as well as my other 4 or 5 senses, rush to comply. By the time our piper flipped her lollipop where it would be visible to those gathering about, I was already picking up her letter-C counterpart in my ear. I was heading toward… I wasn’t sure what, but I was moving as if I knew the place. Ok, stay with me, Reader. I’m not going off on one of those metaphysical tangents you might have come to expect from me, but this place, the whole area, seemed to scream Creativity. We all heard it; it was surely that loud. We all could imagine seeing it if not for the heavy downpour, wet and damp plant life, and ungodly umbrellas. Did I mention they were red and LARGE?

Large red umbrellas, overcrowded and bouncing in single file along the outskirts of the natural and tended beauty, along with constant raindrops on the lens and shaky boards dismissing camera stability, made photography as invalid for capturing the essence as it was in Monet’s time. With nowhere to setup a tripod without sorely disturbing many visitors rushing through for a visit inside Monet’s house, I often had little choice but to hold or balance it between my legs while trying to keep the camera dry for the snapshot as I tried to keep pace with the traffic. It wasn’t long until I packed it all in my bag and carried the empty tripod, which, of course, disengages that urge I spoke of earlier. Still, it was a most remarkable place, and even in the gloominess of the day it shone as a gem beckoning for attached adulation from anyone fortunate enough to be within soul shot of its invitation. We closed our umbrellas and walked into the gift shop.

After a short ride back to the ship and a refreshing lunch with our servers, who were quickly becoming our favorite part of the trip, we donned our freshly charged ear pieces and met for a walk around Vernon. At times the Sun was shining, but most of it was one of those meteorologist toldyaso moments. Neither Barb, our guide nor I had umbrellas. Jim walked up to our guide and shared his with her while his wife, Gloria, went over to share with Barb, and I fell deeply in love with them both. I was too far from the crowd to be noticed, though not too far to hear they stopped under a store canopy to wait out the rain. Working my way back to them, I found this in one of the windows and felt right at home.

Since I wasn’t able to capture the magic at Monet’s place, I tried in the digital darkroom to show some respect. Again I failed miserably.

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Photos

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