There’s no reason that everyday tasks can’t be special, is there? How about getting clean? In Nice there were many soap vendors with handmade soaps like these. Such pretty colors, such wonderful scents. A wonderful way to add something a little special into the everyday! I couldn’t resist, I bought a sampler pack of little soaps as much for the color as for the scent and the usefulness. Well, maybe more for the color. 😉
Reflections are Everywhere
Reflection of our family and buildings in the water bottle at a fantastic restaurant in Nice, France. I see reflections all of the time, they are a fun, creative way to capture an image of something.
I’ll post additional favorites from this trip here over time but it’s time to move on to other places. So many places to visit, so many photos to share!
Walking through Time
Brandon walking on a Roman road in Nice, France. Two thousand years ago, other kids walked on this same road. People came and went on their daily lives. So many people, so many stories, so much time.
There is such a different concept of time and history here in Italy and Europe. When we see and experience things like this road first hand, it makes me feel like we are such babies in the US in a historical sense. Makes me wonder what will last of our country and culture that we have today. The Romans were such a mighty empire, and now all that is left is the remnants and rocks. When you think about it, we wouldn’t even have that much left of our everyday lives. Our building materials are much less permanent. The knowledge that has been gained through generations of human history could easily be lost completely, if some gigantic natural or human disaster occurred across the globe.
We are but a blink in the eye of time. Isn’t it interesting, what a different perspective just walking on an ancient rode can give?
Colors of Nice
Apartment windows in the old city of Nice, France.
As I sort through my photos from Nice, I’m seeing a trend. My photos of our short time in Nice are all about color… the blue of the sea, the warm pinks and yellows of the buildings, the green of the palm trees and the plants, the bright colors of the flower market, the shades of the special soaps, the deep blues and bright yellows of Chagall paintings. So many brilliant colors, all in one place! Not gaudy overwhelming color, but natural, like the plumage of a parrot. All tropical and sunny. Maybe it was the sun and the spring feel of the weather that drew me to the colors, but I think maybe it’s just the personality of Nice.
Illumination
If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know this is a photo of Nice. But it is.
It’s a photo of the flower market. The “famous” Cours Saleya Flower Market, so the guidebooks say.
It’s a photo of the light in Nice. Light so wonderful that Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse spent much time here painting and creating.
It’s a photo of the flowers, so beautiful and just waiting for someone to take them home. I wish we had gone on Sunday, so we could have brought some back home with us.
It’s a photo of me. What caught my eye in that moment, on a short visit to the French Riviera. Me, enjoying the light on the flowers and capturing a certain look and feel in my photo.
Evening Window
Evening comes slowly on, the light fading to a beautiful glow over the palm trees. The city, the sea, the trees.
We were back in our room at the hostel in Nice early on Saturday because Brandon wasn’t feeling well and wanted to nap. I was trying to capture the view and evening light from our window but couldn’t quite get the angle I wanted with the palm tree and cityscape and sea all in there. Until I noticed the reflection in the window, just perfect. With a window to frame it all and give it a sense of place.
Sometimes it takes a problem to come up with a creative solution. You don’t think you want the problem to begin with, until you see the solution and realize that you would never have gotten to that place any other way. That’s what I see in this image, a much more interesting story than if I could have lined up the palm tree just right with the city and sea. Lucky me!
