I love visiting France. I've been fascinated by the country for years, and love the French people and their culture. Coming from the states, the first thing that really caught my eye in Paris was the architecture.
In the US, we don't have a lot of old buildings. Especially where I grew up on the west coast. At times, Paris was like stepping back in time. The photo above was taken at the Musée de l'Armée. The museum was a favorite of mine on the trip. We spent the day looking at thousands of artifacts including rifles and uniforms from the Napoleonic era.
Versailles was incredible. This will be my first stop on my next trip to France. Everything about the palace is over the top. Nothing is understated. The gardens were a photographers dream. Pro tip: book your tickets in advance. We bought them online on the train out to Versailles and were super glad we did...the general entrance line was over a three hour queue!
The gardens were a maze, loaded with marble statues and fountains. We spent most of the day outside and didn't cover the entire area.
About a month before our trip, Notre Dame caught fire. When we arrived we couldn't go in the cathedral. However, we were able to witness the cathedral at an important point in its long, and storied history. Notre Dame was in the starting phases of another massive repair and remodel. The Cathedral as we knew it was changing. These photographs are special to me because the cathedral still shows its scars. In a few years, those scars will be healed. Capturing this moment in time is something that I know I'll look back on when I'm older.
We capped off the trip by heading out to Normandy to witness the 75th anniversary of D-Day celebrations. Normandy was loaded with jeeps, reenactors, and cows. The local roads were quite narrow. The smaller towns were beyond capacity with cars and trucks coming out to be a part of the event.
This was taken on Omaha beach, looking up to where the bunkers, trenches, and thousands of germans were positioned on June 6th.
This hunting lodge in Ravenoville-Plage was built one year after the French Revolution.
Thanks for taking the time to look through the photographs from this trip. I loved France and will be back soon. Hopefully with a stronger mastery of the language.
