Shrines

One of the things that I love about Italy are the small shrines that you find hidden down the back alleys and small streets. 

1- 5. Cinque Terra

6. Sienna

7. Florence

8. Venice

Colours

Cinque Terre

            

Walking through cobbled lanes, bare feet and backpack, sundress and sunglasses. The stones are cool. A lady is watering the pavement and sweeping the water away with a broom. Washing hangs from open windows.
Further along the pavement, the water trickles down the steps, the sea opens out; blue-green and glimmering. Below us there is a tiny rocky beach surrounded and enclosed by high cliffs speckled with aloe vera plants.
Tara and I buy lemon and basil ice creams and eat them on the way down to the sea. We are glad to get off the train and away from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

Giverny

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece”
Claude Monet

Weird Art - Paris

Scurrying through galleries of rich treasures, I seek out things that talk more deeply than of their surface beauty... Both in the Louvre and in the the most unexpected gallery (Musée du quai Branly, beneath the Eiffel tower) wonderful treasures are found that speak many hundreds of stories.... 

These are stories of Ancient cultures, legends and gods, of colonisation and sadly of cultures lost. But it is beautiful to see them, nestled here amongst Europe's finest treasures... and amazing to feel the stories that they carry.

Paris

It seems such a long time ago that I was in Paris...

It is a strange and beautiful city.

Here are some games to play there...

1. Spot the stripy shirt (we got up to 47 in one morning!)

2. Pretend you are Parisian (by paying no attention at all to traffic lights)

3. See how many Nutella crepes you can eat in a day.

Paris I think is a hard city to find the heart of, perhaps because there are so many expectations and clichés associated with it that it is so often intangible. I hoped to see it in a different light but looking through my pictures I fear that I only saw it through many layers... Have a look, see what you think.

Sacré Cœur

Graffiti and shop mandalas in Montmartre 

Montmartre cemetery. Including: a lady with flowers, a beautiful name, some stars and a man with a watering can.

Paris from up high. Including: Tara and I in  reflection and some tourists' legs.

 

Strange adventures. Including, a small bird, and the worlds most beautiful bookshop.