Le Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France 

The Sainte-Chapelle, also known as the Holy Chapel, is a gothic Chapel on Ile de la Cite in Paris. The Chapel, built during the reign of King Louis IX in the courtyard of the royal palace , was consecrated on the 26th of April 1248. It was built to house Christ's crown of thorns, the image of Edessa and 30 other relics of Christ. King Louis purchased the relics from a Latin Emperor named Baldwin II in Constantinople.

Read on for more images and info

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The chapel is famous for it's stained glass and rose windows which were added to the chapel in the 15th century. Two-thirds of the windows in the church today are authentic. The church suffered during the French revolution as the steeple and "the canopy of state"were removed, the relics dispersed and other melted down. The few relics which remain are in the treasury at Notre-Dame. The chapel was then requisitioned in 1803 and used as an archival depository. In order to allow more light into the building, two meters of glass were removed. This glass was either destroyed or sold.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The stonework has been kept to a bare minimum and the walls are covered by 6458 square feet of stained glass which is considered the best in the world. The windows are dominated by Reds and Blues and illustrate 1130 figures form the bible. Sainte-Chapelle stands directly above the lower chapel which serves asa parish church for the inhabitants of the palace. A souvenir shop can now be found in the lower church.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

Photographing the chapel was not easy due to the varying light conditions. It was almost impossible to capture an image where the stained glass and the interior were both exposed correctly. The first shot on this post was actually produced using two separate exposure of the same image. I ended up exposing the images based on exposure readings off the stained glass windows as the windows were main feature of the Chapel.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

All images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and 24-105mm lens.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

Basilique du Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The Basilique du Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) is a Roman Catholic church and one of the more famous landmarks of Paris. It's located in Montmartre, the highest point of the city. The church was built in 1875 on a site which has been associated with the beheading of Saint Denis, the patron of the city, in the 3rd century.  It is believed that the Basilica was dedicated to the 58,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the Franco-Prussian war. 

Read on for more images and info.

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The project was declared a "National Vow" by the church and was funded by Parishes throughout France.  An architect named Paul Abadie designed the basilica after winning a competition in which 77 other architects took part. The foundation stone is said to have been laid on the 16th of June 1875. Several attempts were made to stop the construction of the Basilica and it was once described as an "incessant provocation to civil war". One of these attempts led to the law passed in 1873 to acquire land for the site, being rescinded in 1882. Fortunately the church was saved by a technicality and the law was not reintroduced. 

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

Abadie died soon after the foundation stone was laid and the work on the Basilica was carried out by 5 other architects. It was completed in 1914 but was not formally dedicated until 1919, after World War I. 

The Basilica is built out of Travertine stone quarried in Chateau-Landon in France. The stone constantly exudes calcite which ensures the Basilica remains white despite pollution and weathering. The two bronze statues at the entrance are of Joan of Arc and King Saint Louis IX.

A view of Paris from Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The views of Paris from the forecourt and the tower are stunning. The view alone makes the climb to the top of the tower (around 300 steps) worthwhile. As with most of these monuments, it is not advisable to attempt the climb if you are claustrophobic.   

A panoramic view of Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The first, third and fifth images on this post were on my shot list for Paris. I had to do a fair bit of research to identify a suitable and accessible location to photograph the Basilica from. It wasn't the easiest thing to do from Australia but with the help of a couple of photographers I was able to find a place. In order to get these shots, I carried the 100-400mm lens around Europe for a month! This was the only location I used it in.

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

These images were captured with a Canon 7D and a combination of the 100-400mm and 24-105mm lenses.

The Chimera of Notre Dame

One of the Chimera of Notre Dame - Paris, France 

Chimera are grotesque mythical figures which have been made from the body parts of a mixture of animals.  Most often they were a mix of Monkeys, Goats, Wolves and Eagles. A number of churches built in the Medieval period feature Chimeras and out of these, Notre Dame is probably the most famous. They were added to the Galerie des Chimères during the restoration of the cathedral in 1845.

More images and info after the jump.

One of the Chimera of Notre Dame - Paris, France

The Chimera, unlike the more famous Gargoyles, serve no purpose and are only used for decoration. The Gargoyles on the other hand, are actually used to disguise gutters which drain rain water off the cathedral. They stick out of the facade of the building in order to ensure that the water is moved far away from the walls with the aim of minimising damage.

One of the Chimera of Notre Dame - Paris, France

The climb to the top of the tower isn't tough as you are forced to take a break half way up. Due to the confined space at the top and along the Galerie des Chimères, climbers have to wait until the previous group has moved on before they can continue. The last stage of the climb is along a spiral stairway which leads you to the top of the south tower. The steps are stone and worn in the middle from the thousands of people who have climbed it over the centuries. Not a good place for claustrophobic people!

These shots were taken with a Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens.

Stohrer - A 300 year old patisserie

Macaroons at Stohrer - Paris, France 

A few days into the Paris leg of our trip we visited a patisserie named Stohrer. It was conveniently located five minutes away from where we stayed and we ended up visiting it quite frequently! The patisserie was opened by Nicolas Stohr, one of King Louis the XV's pastry chefs, in 1730.  The shop itself has not moved for 300 years.

Read on for more info and images after the jump.

More snacks at Stohrer - Paris, France

We pretty much wanted to try everything in the store and I'm almost certain we came close. Most evenings we would stop by the patisserie on the way back to the apartment and pick up a selection of pastries. The eclairs and macaroons (pictured above), in particular, were amazing.

Ham on the bone at Stohrer - Paris, France

The facade and the interiors make the store a historical monument in itself as it is decorated with murals. These designs were created in 1860 by a painter named Paul Baudry who also painted the decorations in the grand foyer of Opera de Paris.

Window display at Stohrer - Paris, France

Some of the items on the menu are still made using moulds from the 19th Century.

Stohrer - Paris, France

These images were taken with the canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens.

Notre Dame de Paris - Exterirors

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France 

Notre Dame de Paris, French for Our Lady of Paris, is one of the "must see" cathedrals of Paris and, conveniently for us, was located a few hundred meters from our apartment in Le Marais. It is the cathedral of the catholic archdiocese of Paris and is located on the eastern part of Ile de la Cite on  the Seine.

More info and images after the jump.

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France

The Notre Dame is famous for its French Gothic architecture and was one of the first buildings to feature flying buttresses, although interestingly, the original design for the building didn't include these. However, once construction began and the walls started growing higher, stress fractures appeared and as a result, the walls pushed outwards. The flying buttresses were then introduced to provide additional support.

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France

The Cathedral was commissioned by Bishop Maurice de Sully and construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII. It took nearly 200 years to build and was completed in 1345. Over the construction period, work was overseen by numerous architects and this is evidenced by differing styles which can be seen at various heights.

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France

During the reigns of King Louis XIV and Louis XV at the end of the 17th century, major alterations were made to the cathedral in an attempt to modernise it. Stained glass windows and tombs were destroyed but fortunately, the magnificent north and south facing Rose windows remained intact.  The cathedral was once scheduled for demolition but was saved because of the popularity of Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame and a revival of interest in the Gothic period.

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France

The exterior stone walls of the cathedral were not always the creamy white they are now. Over time, dirt and grime had built up on the stone walls and they were black until very recently. A new technique for cleaning stone, employing lasers, was used to clean the entire cathedral except for the spire. It was decided to leave the spire as it is in order to show visitors what the cathedral looked like before it was cleaned.

Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France

As with most photographs on this trip, these were captured with the Canon 7D and 24-105mm combo. I also used a tripod for all the night shots.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

It's hard to get to Paris and not catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower while walking around the city and since Paris is the city of lights, you have to see it lit up. We caught the metro to Trocadero one evening and wondered around the Eiffel tower for about an hour and a half before walking back towards Notre Dame along the Seine.

Read on for more images and info.

The Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

We climbed up the Tower quite early in the evening on an overcast day. The views from the top were amazing and I'll upload them in a future post. The second floor of the tower is occupied by the Michelin starred Jules Verne restaurant. Getting a table here is always tough as it is usually booked out for a couple of months. We made a reservation when we got to Paris and were put on the waiting list. Since our chances were slim, we made plans to go off to Montmartre on the day. As luck would have it we got a call as we were walking out of the apartment, informing us that we had a table. Since we had other plans for the day, we couldn't make it but it's something for us to do next time.

The Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance for the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. The tower was named after it's designer, an engineer named Gustave Eiffel. A three hundred strong workforce used 18,038 pieces of iron and two and a half million rivets to build the tower. Although building the tower was risky, due to the fact that it was an open structure and had not intermediate floors, only one worker lost his life. In order to reduce the chance of an accident Eiffel took precautions such as movable staging, guard rails and screens.

The Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

The tower was criticised by the public and it was labelled an eyesore with several prominent figures, including Guy du Maupassant and Alexandre Dumas, expressing their displeasure. 

Zoning restrictions in Paris limit the height of buildings to 7 stories but Eiffel got a permit for the Tower and it was supposed to stand for 20 years and be dismantled in 1909. However, when the ownership of the tower was handed back to the city of Paris, it was not dismantled as it was valuable for communication purposes. The tower is now the most visited paid monument in the world.

The Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

All the images in this post were taken with the Canon 7D and 24-105mm combination. A tripod was used for all the night shots.

The Louvre - Exteriors

The Louvre - Paris, France

I can't believe a month has already passed since we left on our trip. We got back this morning after nearly 24 hours spent on planes and in transit and needless to say, I feel like I've been hit over the head.

I'm not sure how to start processing and blogging about all the images from our trip. I'm leaning towards randomly picking a location for each post with the aim of keeping the blog a bit more interesting. If anyone has a better idea please let me know. Now I've got around a 110 GB worth of RAW files to go through... At least I'll have something to do in my spare time for the next year or so!

I think the Louvre Museum in Paris is an appropriate place to kick things off. In this post I've decided to only cover the exterior of the Louvre. I'll go through the interior (Yep, photography is allowed inside as long as the flash is not used) in another post at a later date.

The panorama above was created by stitching 10 separate images.  I used the tripod and a remote shutter release to minimise camera shake.

Read on for more images and info.

The forecourt of the Louvre - Paris, France

This image is of the Sully Pavilion with part of the glass pyramid, designed by I.M. Pei, in the foreground. I wanted to capture the exterior of the museum in the night as, like most of the monuments in Paris, it is very well lit. It was a short stroll to the museum from our apartment in Le Marais, which was convenient. The entrance to the Museum, for those who have not pre-purchased their tickets, is through the pyramid.

The Glass Pyramid at the Louvre - Paris, France

The queue for tickets can be quite long, especially at the start on the day. It starts at the pyramid (middle of the panoramic shot above) and extends out to the Denon pavilion (this includes a section of the queue which doubles up on itself about four or five times). It then extends along the Denon pavilion, through the Sully pavilion and into a second enclosed court yard, the Cour Carree. We bought our tickets online and sauntered into the museum from a separate entrance without standing in any queues. Buying tickets online is slightly more expensive but it is worth it as you save a lot of time once there.

The Sully Pavilion at the Louvre - Paris, France

This shot of the Sully pavillion was taken from near the pyramid. The main doors, which are closed in this shot, lead on to the second courtyard mentioned above. The forecourt of the Louvre is accessible at all hours of the day to anyone. We even rode through it on a night bike tour.

The Pyramid at the Louvre - Paris, France

This shot was taken from the steps of the Sully pavilion. Walking straight from this point takes you through the Tuileries gardens to the Champs-Elysees and the Arc du Triomphe. The Denon pavilion is on the left of the image and the Richelieu pavilion is on the right.