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France
September 2001

In September 2000 I spent two weeks with my wife in Paris and the countryside of Northern France.  We had a wonderful time.  As you can imagine there were many great photographs to be taken in spite of having cloudy weather most of the time.  I shot hundreds of pictures.  Even after culling out the bad ones there were way too many to include on this site.  If you want to see them all you'll have to come over and watch my slides some night.

Tetons Reflections

The Arc de Triomphe was only about 300 yards from our hotel.  I took many pictures of it, but this was my favorite.  Driving through the traffic circle around the Arc was a major challenge.


 

MuskThistle

We visited many chateaux in the Loire Valley.  Chambord was the largest and most ornate from the outside.  Unfortunately many of the interior decorations and furnishings were lost or destroyed and are only now starting to be replaced.  If your eye is good you can probably see some scaffolding on the exterior.  Most of the buildings we saw were being repaired in some way.



Three Pelicans

France is well known for its many beautiful churches.  St. Chappelle on the Isle de la Cite in Paris was my favorite.  This is the ground floor.  This church is hard to find since another building, the Palais de Justice, has been constructed completely around it.  You can barely see the spires of the church extending above the walls.



Sunset at Snake River Overlook

Stained glass windows are just one of the magnificent parts of these churches.  I have many pictures of the stained glass in Notre Dame and St. Chappelle, but I liked this panel from the cathedral in Chartres the best.  It's hard to imagine the work that must have gone into producing these beautiful windows.



String Lake Silhouette

Chenonceau was my favorite chateau.  It  extends completely across the river.  If you look closely you can see the high water mark on the walls.  This was the end of the summer and the water was quite low.  This chateau had two gardens.  One for each of the two mistresses of the owner.  The interior is well decorated  and restored.  There are quite a few very fine tapestries and paintings as well as the furniture.


String Lake Reflections

No group of photos of Paris would be complete without the Eiffel Tower.  This was originally built as a temporary structure for an exhibition.  I didn't really appreciate the sign celebrating the new millennium, but it does clear up any doubt about which year the picture was taken.

For all my pictures of France on this trip check the Image Catalog under France 00.