Strasbourg, France: In Photos
Grindelwald, Switzerland: In Photos
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Baby Boy
Right now the side of his face rests against my belly, skin to skin, his warmth magnified by mine. It is a wonder, an absolute awe-filled thing, that just days ago he was on the other side of me, tucked away and unseeable, a secret. Elliot. Elliot with the head full of hair. Elliot with the fifty-eight eyelashes. Elliot with the rounded nose that dips into rounded cheeks that slope to the tiny chin that quivers when he cries, lifts when he smiles in his sleep. A landscape. Elliot. Tiny boy so like and unlike all the other boys who have been born before. So like and unlike whatever small person I imagined my own son to be. Perfection is a rare if not impossible thing, but how could he not be, right now, so young, so soft, exactly as he is here, breathing in and out, making the sounds that all mothers and fathers know as first-speak. Secrets. He is revealing them to me, unspooling them by the minute, by the number of his sighs, and they tangle around my legs and body until I am war
Looks like a lovely place!
ReplyDeleteTruly was. Not Paris. Feels much smaller even though it still is a large city. But, in my opinion, that makes it all the more quaint and day-trip perfect.
DeleteBeautiful pictures, Emily. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Em. Glad you had some travels of your own this summer!
DeleteThey are lovely photos. The old buildings and the flowers are wonderful. Nice couple photo, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy. The old buildings are always one of my favorite aspects of traveling to Europe; we just don't have anything comparable in the US. And I so rarely post any personal photos, but I couldn't help sneaking this one in. Le Petite France is for lovers!
DeleteSo beautiful...the lines of postcards especially captured my imagination!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin. I like that one, too. It was a shot taken literally from the level of my hip...just point and shoot!
Deletehi emily! thanks for your nice comment on my blog, good to find yours! i just love this post! it reminds me of when i went to strasbourg. what a wonderful city to be in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping over, Jenna. So fun that you were in Strasbourg, as well. Do you recognize these scenes? We were definitely in the touristy area, but thankfully it wasn't too busy, and it was obviousobvious why visitors flock there.
DeleteYour photos take me there! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteMe, too! One of the reasons I love taking photos is the revisiting.
DeleteGreat photos as always Emily. You have the gift.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, at the very moment I opened your email and saw your photos were from Strasbourg France, a story came on NPR about, yep, Strasbourg France.
Really!? Pray, what about? I best be finding my way to their website then. (And I have no idea where that accent came from... :)
DeleteHappy to have you here, Phil. Hope you're well!
I have never been to France. These photos really made me feel like I had been there. You have some wonderful memories here, absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFrance was my first European foothold, so it holds so many memories and emotion for me that I honestly long for it some times. It was wonderful to go back, even those few miles into the country. I'm sure you'd like it, Bill. A landscape full of music.
DeleteBeautiful photographs, city looks sensational. I am greeting
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zielona! We were there on a beautiful day.
DeleteI agree with Phil - you have a gift as a photographer. I love that these are not the usual tourist photos. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you, OMW. Although, I have to say, having a good camera really does make a difference in taking a good photo. I often feel that my handy zoom-lens friend makes me seem like a better photographer than I actually am... :)
Deletemy goodness your photos are so great. i especially like the one of the couple looking out the window. it's so fun to look at these and feel like i'm in france.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them, Kelton. One of my favorite things about the countries I've visited in Europe is that very few of the homes I've experienced have screens. You just throw open the glass panes, and you're outside. Loved that! And that's one of the reasons I like the photo your mentioned, too.
DeleteI ditto the comments of others who praise your photography. You DO have the gift, Emily, the ability to see the details within the whole. Beautiful, beautiful images and I'm especially loving the one of the people leaning out the window.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Audrey. I try to make sure I'm not always behind my camera so that I can experience what's happening around me just as I am, but... those scenes! those images! those moments! So thankful I have the photos to help me remember.
DeleteI understand exactly about that not always being behind the camera. It's seldom that I'm not behind my camera.
DeleteEmily:
ReplyDeleteThanks for this intimate look at Strasbourg, France. I liked the colorful buidings in 1, the interesting architecture in 3, the ornate church in 5, the nice shot of you and your husband(?) in 11. My favorite is the couple looking out their upper window with the roses climbing up the wall so tall.
That one of the couple seems to be a favorite! I didn't include a full shot of the church that you mentioned in number 5, but perhaps I will in a future post. It's the Strasbourg Notre Dame Cathedral, and it's stunning. Of course, so old. But also moving. It's the city's center, and I liked seeing so many people milling in and outside of it, just like they've done for centuries. And yes, that's my husband! Happy he could be there with me.
DeleteSo beautiful, and so poignant. One of the difficult realities of aging is coming to terms with everything that never will be - travel, new experiences, and so on. There's a world of difference between "I'd love to do that one day" and "I know I'll never be able to do that"!
ReplyDeleteLearning how to cope what that shift in perspective is a huge challenge for many of my friends and acquaintances, most in their late 60s or 70s. One of the tricks, we've decided, is to continue immersing ourselves in things like this post, figuring out what attract us, and then discovering new ways to experience those things in our own lives. For example: can't see those wonderful open windows and flower boxes in Strasbourg? Create some of that beauty on a patio or balcony!
Your photos are wonderful. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think I''d have to say the cathedral and houses. Well, and the couple at the window! I can't what to see what else you have to share!
Linda, you bring up such interesting, poignant points. The closest I can get to these feelings now at thirty is thinking about this growing baby inside of me, and considering what will and what will not be possible after he or she arrives. I love your point about creating the beauty you find in other accessible ways. I'm sure it will be harder for my husband and I to travel when we're new parents, but that doesn't mean we can't order in some French food, drink some French wine (which I totally missed tasting when I was abroad, of course), and watch a foreign film. A good life lesson, indeed. And yes, photos: they help, don't they! They can bring you just about anywhere. One of the biggest reasons why I love them.
DeleteGrowing baby? Somewhere along the line I missed this! My most heartfelt congratulations to you and your husband. You will be excellent parents. And some advice from me? Appreciate every single moment. Your parenting experience will go by in a flash. Love every single minute and you will be gratified. I'm sooooo happy for you!
DeleteThank you, Bill! I made a little announcement at the end of my previous post. :) These first three and a half months of pregnancy have already gone by so fast, that I can only imagine how quickly five, ten, fifteen, even twenty years will go. My husband and I keep looking at each other, amazed that we are thirty, and commenting on the quickness of life. So much to experience and contemplate and love.
DeleteLovely feeling to your work . . . your photographs bring us along in an intimate way and real way. I can almost smell the oranges. I am so happy to have found you too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. It really does mean a lot to hear that these photos have brought many of you into these moments and places. They are 100% worth sharing.
DeleteEmily, your photos are wonderful. You make me feel like I am there!
ReplyDeleteSo glad, Sandy!
DeleteLovely captures of Strasbourg. I really like the photo of the two people leaning out of the window and the gorgeous climbing rose and geraniums!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting me at my place!
Wishing you a beautiful day. Sandra
One of the things I loved about both Strasbourg and the smaller towns in France (and Germany, too, and Switzerland...) were the flowers. They were everywhere! Our German friends told us that many of the villages have contests, formal or informal, regarding which has the best flower displays. I certainly appreciate those aesthetic details.
DeleteBeautiful photos . I'd love to visit there, hard to pick a favorite photo, Laura
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura. I'd love to go back!
Deleteoh my gosh only in Europe will one find such charm
ReplyDeleteHa! Maybe it comes with being aged slowly? :)
Deletewonderful glimpses, thank you~
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting!
Deletebeautiful images!!! i especially like the third from the last...looking down the canal, surrounded by the 'gingerbread-like' houses!!! OH, and the candles!!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
DeleteYes, that photo was taken in a special spot. We were standing right over a lock and dam section of Le Petite France. So fascinating watching the boats rise and sink with the water levels. And aren't the timber-frames lovely? A staple of the area that I couldn't get enough of.
I'm enjoying your photos. Idyllic comes to mind. I had one wild, crazy girlfriend weekend in Paris in 2003...it was stunning to see in real life all that architecture that I had only seen in pictures, but honestly, meandering in small cities, towns and villages is more my style. I really like the photo of the couple in the window, with the rosebush climbing the wall. Amazing, that rose bush.
ReplyDeleteDeborah, I think I'd like to hear more about that weekend! :) I went to Spain and Germany with two different sets of girlfriends in my twenties, and SO FULL OF MEMORIES those trips are. Glad you had that in Paris. I know what you mean about meandering, though. Often when I have trips planned well in advance, I do a lot of reading and having pretty good images in my mind of what I'm about to see. Discovering things without any preview, though: that's a whole different kind of special.
DeleteGorgeous series of images. This looks like a beautiful place to visit. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Robin! It was. Would have loved for it to have been a longer stop!
DeleteYou capture the character of a place. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteA very nice compliment. Thank you, Barb.
Deletegorgeous photos! i'm aching to vacation in europe - hopefully someday sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteIt can be expensive, sure, but in my opinion, travel is always worth it. Hope your get there soon!
Deletebeautiful shots and a stunning location!! Must have been an amazing trip!
ReplyDeleteT'was! Thanks, Jaymi.
Delete