Miss Directions: Captured in Europe #2

42 days, 9 countries, 8730 photographs...countless travel memories. I want to share with you some of my favourite moments from the trip, going beyond the photographs to tell you the stories behind them and give you a little taste of Europe...this could be a long series...

The Louvre at night (click to enlarge and get the full glory of the panorama)

Saturday July 14
Location: Paris, France

Bastille Day in Paris, something I have wanted to experience since studying French in grade 8 and as luck would have it, completely accidental as far as our trip planning goes. This photograph was taken during the fireworks that evening, I took the opportunity to get away from the crowds and photograph a panorama without any people interrupting my shot. Though if you pay close attention you will realise that the car on the left is the same car as the one on the right.

Bastille Day Military Parade

Bastille Day in Paris (or Le quatorze juillet as the locals prefer) starts off with a military parade along the Champs Elysees. We had decided to skip the parade, marching soldiers aren't particularly interesting when they're not your own national army and I had read the crowds ridiculous and you have to be there very early. What we weren't expecting was for our hotel to be under the flight path for the aerial parade that runs in conjunction. So our day started with a mad scramble onto the street to capture photographs of the planes parading overhead. Something I love about the above photograph is that it doesn't just capture the planes between the buildings, but a woman in red on the balcony. A good Parisian photograph, always includes a woman in red...

Notre Dame, Paris

We spend most of Bastille Day on the Batobus, a hop-on hop-off boat along the Seine (saving my grandmother's remaining energy for Italy) and spent some time in the Latin Quarter.

Sainte-Chappelle, Paris

We visited La Saint-Chapelle (near Notre Dame), which contains 600 square metres of stained glass windows...we were there on a bright sunny day and the effect was amazing despite some of the windows being 'closed' for renovation.

La Madeleine, Paris

I took a little time to myself that afternoon and did some solo sightseeing. Another experience I enjoyed was seeing La Madeleine close up, the effect of the flower beds in front of the church are amazing.

Champs Elysees, Bastille Day, Paris

I also wandered along the Champs Elysees, the leftovers from the parade earlier in the day were quite obvious. Place de la Concorde just wasn't the same with the grandstand built around it.

Sunset, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Our evening was then spent enjoying a picnic between the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries and waiting for the fireworks to being (around 11pm). I snapped a photographs of this Parisian woman striding through the picnicing crowds, very chic.

Bastille Day Fireworks

And finally, the actual fireworks. We didn't have the greatest view of the fireworks from where we ate our picnic, but we were definitely comfortable there for hours. MissC and I wandered towards the tower as the evening drew to a close and were amazed at how thick the crowds were and that people had been prepared to stand their ground for hours...we definitely weren't that dedicated.

Paris on Bastille Day was a definite experience to tick off the list, not one I feel I need to repeat or brave the crowds for again though.