Julliet 14th 2014 - Bastille Day - July 14th - Paris Fireworks (Feu d'Artifice) Part 1

Here are a few more photographs of Paris' spectacular fireworks display dedicated to the 100th anniversary of "The Great War", known to us Americans as World War I.

This year, they used the Eiffel Tower itself as a launch pad for fireworks.  Fireworks were shot off the Tour Eiffel in every way imaginable - from top to bottom, with an amazing variety of colors and designs.  It was clear they really went all out on the fireworks, and had incredibly talented people who must have worked for months to create these fantastic results.  The "feux d'artifice" ( the French words for fireworks - literally translated - "art fires") kept you guessing what was to come next the whole night.  Though you can't hear them in the photos, the National Orchestra of France was playing classic fireworks hits - clearly audible via concert speakers placed throughout the Champ de Mars and the Trocadero.

Getting kind of smoky out here.

This was a deeply satisfying show- a show that delivered more than could ever have been expected, a show with so much I'd never seen before.  That's such a rare experience these days!

[To see the previous 2014 Eiffel Tower fireworks post, click here.]
[For Eiffel Tower fireworks photos from July 14th, 2013, click here.]

Still more to come in a future post.

Julliet 14th 2014 - Bastille Day - Paris Fireworks (Feu d'Artifice) Preview

Just got back from the incredible fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower, or Tour Eiffel, as it's called here.  Unbelievable!  Those of you who know me know that I rarely rave about anything, but this was a truly beautiful, spectacular, and truly satisfying show!  Last year was great, but this was even better. ( Click to see photos from last year.)  It's past midnight over here, so I'm too tired to go through them all now - but here's a quick preview.

(This post is the preview post.  The full set of photos is here. )

One more, then time for bed!

To see the second post on the 2014 Julliet 14th Paris Fireworks (Feux d'Artifice), click here.

Normandy Again - Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo

[This is the second post in recent times for Normandy.  Click here to see the earlier post, with great photos of white cliffs painted by Monet.]

For Jennifer's mother's visit, we spent two nights at a cottage in northern Normandy, so we could visit Saint Malo, Omaha Beach American Cemetery, and Mont Saint Michel.  Saint Malo has a nice Old Town, with cobblestone streets and fortified stone walls with paths on top looking out over the water.  I'm not sure about the name of that body of water - probably the English Channel.  By the way, "old" Jersey, i.e., Jersey, is a British island off the coast there.  I had no idea New Jersey was named after an island just off the coast of France!  Anyway, here are a few photos taken from the top of the fortified wall.

I love how there are several layers of dark and light in this scene.  The reflection of the sun in the sea and the lighthouse on a distant island are also interesting.

Hello seagull!  I was annoyed at the two women in the lower part of the photo for ruining my perfect reflection by walking in that pool.  How inconsiderate!

The photos above were taken after 10 PM.  It was near summer solstice, so the sun stays up incredibly late here.

The next day, we visited Mont Saint Michel, which is sort of an island city.  For about two weeks every month, the mud flats surrounding the little hill become a shallow sea during high tide.  The photograph below shows how the area looks from the walls of Mont Saint Michel at other times.  Notice the people in the lower right corner.  You can supposedly get sucked into quicksand out there, but there were a lot of people wandering around in the mud when we visited.  None of them sucked down to hell as far as I know.  Maybe it's more dangerous when it's really wet, soon after the tide recedes.

Later, after finishing dinner around 9:30 PM, I dragged Jennifer and her mom out of the house to watch the sunset.  I drove us to a spot I had scouted out earlier in the day, with a good view of the "island city."  Sitting in the car on a dirt road between two muddy fields, we watched the sky for a whole hour.  We weren't disappointed.

Before I shrank this to fit on your PC screen, it was more than 22000 pixels wide; enough to fill 11 high-definition televisions placed side-by-side.  Wish I could see it displayed like that!

A crescent sun ...

Good night sweet city.