PARIS

The spire has been placed on the Notre-Dame de Paris, but there's still a lot of work to be done before it is again complete.. I walked up close but it is harder to get a photo there of the work in progress.

There's a stand built at Notre-Dame Cathedral, to see the restoration at ones leisure.

France 2024. First stop Paris brought on a lot of 'walkabout'

The cat..

.. and the (dead) rat

The famous stalls on the banks of the river Seine

One for my series #OnReading

Château de Vincennes
More photos of this castle, at the end of a metro line, on my France 2024 PARIS

Carrousel du Louvre
The Carrousel du Louvre is an underground shopping mall in Paris. We had arrived by the subway and found we had
a long walk to make to go to the Tuileries. That stop had been blocked for the Olympics 2024 here. The name refers to two nearby sites, the Louvre museum and the Place du Carrousel. The mall contains a famous skylight, La Pyramide Inversée. [-Wikipedia] We weren't interested in the mall, shops & restaurants.

We found the Jardin des Tuileries cordoned off a short while from here, also remnants of the Olympics.

We rested our feet at the expensive café des Beaux Arts, on the Quai Malaquais. Still, got a nice photo sitting down!

At various parks (historic) photographs were displayed on sports and the Olympics in particular.

Had a nice walk around in Jardin du Luxembourg, before an Uber brought us back to the hotel.

BLOIS

Historically, the city was the capital of the County of Blois, created on 832 until its integration into the Royal
domain in 1498, when Count Louis II of Orléans became King Louis XII of France.
During the Renaissance, Blois was the official residence of the King of France.

Gargoyles, I love'em! ☺

View over the town, the river Loire is a little further down, behind the houses

ARLES

Magnificent photography on display at many venues, a yearly photo event here in Arles

Definitely the most publicized exhibition, the Retrospective of Mary Ellen Mark's photography. IMPRESSIVE!
Unfortunately there was no catalogue (and if there was one, it probably would have been only in French: NO USE!)

After having bought my multi-day ticket at the tourist office, we made our way to Place de la République,
which is more or less the central point to explore the many photo venues.

A nice one for my #OnReading series. We talked somewhat, explained my
fascination for people reading real books. Had a nice chat!

Carroll, in conversation

The tickets get scanned

Sophie Calle had an exibition ('Neither Give Nor Throw Away') in the catacombs of a church.
It's an expression of decay and while the individual items did not much appeal to me, the display here in the
catacombs got me photographing in high gear! Fantastice set up!

The French do actually eat a lot of these baguettes!

La Librairie du Palais, a fine bookstore for photography. Bought here 2 excellent books.

Not all photography appealed to me...

The door is covered by a photo, but one has to look twice to see it!

The Arles Arena

'FINDS' EN ROUTE

Alas, I have been unable to identify this vintage car.

Wild horses of the Camargue

Seaquarium Institut Marin du Grau-du-Roi

I love these venues esspecially when there is also a lot to learn

'Plastic Attack'

A plane wreck as a prop, it defies identification

The closing times of restaurants, large & small, between 14:00-19:00 was a constant frustration.
The kitchens were very strict, even by 10 minutes one couldn't get a sandwich or a crêpes.
Hence we sometimes resorted to supermarkets like these for lunch or even dinner. Fokking French!

The return trip saw some nice scenic driving but again the frustrations about lack of facilities to eat something

Chateau de Portes, an abandoned ruin. Impressive though! More on my index page FRANCE 2024

En route

Somewhere in St Gilles, a plaque 'Stevenson'
Googling I found it is part of the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, from Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) to Ales (Gard).
www.gr70-stevenson.com/en/trail.htm (GR®70 Sentier de Stevenson). We drove that route (Générac<->Issoire).