Oh to be in…, Paris!

A year ago I ran a lovely workshop in Paris, with my colleague Noel Baldewijns, photographing the architecture in La Défense. Modernist, curvy, architectural heaven. Can’t wait to get back there…

There is something exquisite about glass, steel and black & white fine art photography. All go very well together. These would make for excellent large prints and look very dramatic in the right location.

La Défense has still got a very French feel to it – even though it’s a financial district dedicated to the pursuit of filthy lucre. Perhaps it’s all the restaurants underneath these steel towers that give it that je ne sais quoi… Macron said the other day that restaurants and lunch were part of ‘the art of being French’. He has a point – dining out for lunch is still sacrosanct in la belle France, and as soon as lockdown is over I’m sure the resto-trade will boom again.

We will be running this tour again, possibly next year – keep an eye out for the Quest brochure when it comes out in a few months… In the meantime, here’s another pic of what Paris is famous for…

A bientôt, tout le monde!

Immy likes to strike a pose…

I have an actress for a daughter, and she loves to strike a pose… Spot the onlooker!

 

Wonderful to see Immy happy again!

Photos from Rousillon, Luberon, France. Aug 2018

Galloping in the Camargue

It’s been years since we went to France on summer holiday. But the wait was worth it. Even in the canicule (41C at its peak) it was lovely. And in spite of the heat we made a trip to the Camargue so that I could photograph the horses. A fantastic evening, knee deep in the marsh, camera set up to 3200th of a second, and galloping horses, coming straight for me, very fast….

I guess photography is as much about the experience of taking the photo, as the photo itself. And this was an experience! Power and grace, and a lot of splashing. I couldn’t stop grinning…

 

 

This is gypsy land, and gypsy horses. It was fantastic to see the gardiens drive the horses through the water. Here’s gypsy Lucie, bareback, no helmet, galloping at 40mph. Definitely a sight to behold…

 

I think my favourite images are those that are slightly desaturated to reflect the ethereal experience (see first and last image). It was a great day in a great place. I can’t wait to return!

 

 

Shredding the gnar…

Well, we’re right in the middle of the Winter Olympics, surrounded by slopestylers pretzeling, corking and double japanning. I can’t do any of this stuff,  barely even understand it! But I can appreciate a good downhill skier, and Charles is certainly that. I can only just keep up with him…

Ah, to be 18 again, and have the cojones to go this fast without fearing the consequences. He’s regularly 90/100+ kph, and has no sense of mortality – he’s just shredding the gnar…

Off the corduroy is where he’s at, but not me – I just catch an edge and face plant. Charles? Hits the apex and runs the white room…

I must admit when Charles finally alley-oops, tastes powder, & loses a ski, I do laugh my head off… It’s only natural, and I can see he’s ok. He’s has to climb back up the hill – steep, through the powder mash,… But then within a nano-second he’s back up to ridic-speed….

 

I want to be 18 again and ride for fun! What am I talking about,… I can still do this! Wait until next year and I’ll show you my switch right lip 270 pretzel out of the top rail, 450 on the down rail, butter pad, then cork 450 out, double cork 12, double japan, switch right, double cork 10 safety and finish with a double cork 10 tail. Believe it! Basta!!!

 

(PS – apologies to any true slopestylers out there, I know I have taken the vocab in vain, and don’t really know what I’m talking about…)

Champagne, in the snow…

How do you keep your spirits up when the weather is grim and grey? Drink bubbles of course! And the best bubbles are from the Côte des Blancs in Champagne, where chardonnay rules and the dosage sugar is kept low. So that’s where we go early December…

And blimey it was blanc, très blanc. We beat the snow by a day, but it caught us up. Not that it stopped us drinking the stuff, copious quantities, all in the name of research (to get our tastiest bargain…)

Épernay has a little festival first week in December – Les Habit de Lumière – well worth a visit if you want to see how the locals consumer their fizz…

Ahem…, several of the drinkers in these shots may well not be from Épernay at all… I shall not give their identities away…

Gimonnet and Bouquin Dupont came out top in our dedicated and fastidious research, so we stocked up (Mrs P cannot go a week without at least one glass of blanc de blanc); the car was loaded up and off we headed home, into the teeth of a storm and a slightly anxious ferry crossing. Didn’t spill a drop or pop a bubble. That’s the way to do it!

(Duchies – we missed you this year. Don’t go missing this again!)

Is Marseille really French…?

Is Marseille really French I wonder…? It’s such a brilliant hotchpotch of different styles, cultures and colours. Really it’s a bit of everything. Maybe the old greek Massalia-polis attitude lives on? Origins aren’t important, attitudes are. And Marseille has such a fantastic mixture of old and new. It’s a great city no doubt, and a couple of days work on the south coast of France never hurt anyone…

Here’s the old city, the Vieux Port, still looking good in spite of the stains on the mirror:

The basilica looks Moroccan, or a bit Eastern…., slightly Turkish…

 

The combination of old and new is very French, and in Marseille it’s done with great style. Here’s the single metal strip walkway bridge juxtaposed with the old port watch-tower.

 

The stunning Museum of the Mediterranean, closed on Tuesdays, because we are after all in France, so I couldn’t actually visit it…

 

 

 

There’s even a Brit influence in Marseille. Every French town has a covered market, but Marseille has a Norman Foster glossy mirrored-ceiling version.. Take a look, this is the right way up…

And so, back to the hotel for a very French breakfast with my traductrice, Jo Hair: animal artist extraordinary If you like a penguin, you’ll love this, check the link

(And finally, why did the Brits stick an “-s” on the end of Marseille…, Marseilles? Typical Brit sort of thing to do of course…)

Half term chaos on the slopes

Skiing should be a dream: Vast expanses of empty white nothing; no-one to interrupt the perfect carve; elegance and rhythm, speed and style. With a bit of luck the sun is shining, to take the edge off the crisp cold. That’s the dream… on a slope a bit like the ones below…

Le rêve

Le soleil

Then crash bang WALLUP! Reality kicks in and you realise it’s half term, the French Alps have become franglified with holidaying Brits, a Coke up the mountain costs ridiculous Euros, and queuing etiquette has been replaced by the shove of the masses…

La foule

La piste

(Nice style Sophie!)

The collective madness infects everyone. Here’s a brother crashing in slo-mo into a sister and them heaping up on the floor. Hilarious! Usually, I admit, it’s me that does the crashing. But not this time! I leave the honours to Mrs P and my bro-in-law. Young cousin is being gentlemanly and returning lost ski…

Le crash

Next week I shall blog my way back to the serenity again and return to the dream. Leave all this chaos behind!

 

Champagne baby, Yeah!

Now personally I am rather partial to Côtes du Rhône, love a Gigondas, and delect over a delicious German Riesling. And I go crazy for a 2005 Ciaccipicolomini, the best red ever! But occasionally Mrs P needs bubbles, and there’s only one thing to do – a road trip to Champagne!

And it really is like a road trip. Frankly the driving is a joy. Three and half hours on empty roads from coast to vineyard – I drive fast – a dream compared to the M25, where are all the people? (in the south of France is the answer – I mean, if you can why wouldn’t you!). I should be in a sports car with the top down, but hey, I need the space in the boot for the bottles, and I respect Mrs P’s barnet, so we’re in the people carrier.

 

 

Épernay is the destination, and it’s the Fête du Champagne this weekend. We are meeting friends, so the party is on. We shall do some private tastings at micro-Champagne houses, and then go for the big boys at the Fête. It’s party time!

 

 

Did you know that there are 100 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne (count them if you don’t believe me). Le Champagne is the drink, La Champagne is the region. And the Côtes des Blancs is so because of the Chardonnay grape, not the chalky soil.

 

See that little straw in the barrel above. They take that out to let some air in when they bottle from the barrel so that the wine doesn’t disturb the sediment at the bottom of the barrel. Amazing how easy it is to learn stuff when you’re having a little drink…

 

Bouquin-Dupont Blanc de blancs. Creamy and dry at the same time, like a crème brulée zapped with an electric current. Awesome, and a steal if you buy direct from Dominique, the grower, at 15€ a bottle. And we did, buy that is… Lucky I had the space in the boot of the car for all 50 odd bottles. Should keep Mrs P happy for a week or two.

 

 

(All photos with the iPhone – who needs a Leica..? Me, I do, I do, I do!) Santé! Prost! Cheers and Happy Christmas to all! Joyeux Noel as we say in French. May all your festivities be filled with bubbles! À la prochaine…

Whistle-stop France

I have to say, I do love France, I do, I do, I DO. I love the life, the style, the lifestyle. I love the people, the countryside and the weather. The love fails me, however, as soon as I get to the traffic (taxi strikes all over the place!). And, although it shocks me slightly to say this, the bistrot/restau food can be a bit indifferent. Blimey, I had to pause and reconsider when I wrote that sentence, but its true!

Lovers on the banks of the Saone

 

Admittedly a whistle-stop business tour isn’t the best way to see everything. But good for snippets. Lyon is just delightful. How a big city should be. Lovers on the banks of the rivers. Marseille has vibrant character – a pastis in the Vieux Port and you can still hear Pagnol in the background.

Vieux Port view

Masts in the water

 

Nantes is my favourite. Especially here at Le Chateau de la Garnison, an idyllic escape from the big city, wonderful service, lovely country-chic rooms, and the best breakfast I’ve had for years. So idyllic we had to have a ping pong tournament (…) Here are the other two battling it out for second place.

Chateau de la Garnison

Second and third place wiff waffers

And then Paris. Where the traffic doesn’t move until about midnight, and I had to lots of iPhone trickery to get some perception of speed… And the food is indifferent and expensive. Rip off wine and cheeky service.

A blur, after midnight.

Go taxi, go…., please go!

 

Ooops, the Opera looks like it’s falling down. Get me back to Nantes, double quick!

 

Wobble photo

 

Like France? Check out wine in the Dordogne or champagne in Champagne and if you’re not bothered by booze, how about scorpions in the Luberon!

Quaffing wine in the Dordogne

France is just such a lovely place for a holiday! There I indulge, deeply, in my two great vices: Photography and Wine, not necessarily in that order.

 

The Dordogne at sunrise

 

It was on holiday in the Dordogne that we Pecks designed the Wine Rating System which I happily recommend as an excellent way to manage one’s wine consumption during the week.

Could only be France…

specifically, the Dordogne

 

The aim of this system is to recognise that some wines are better, i.e. more delicious rather than more expensive, than others. And the most delicious wines are the ones to be savoured and consumed, ideally in liberal quantities, without the problem of a heavy head at work the following morning. Herein lies the key…

Castelnaud, once English, alas no more…

Beynac at dawn

Such a system is important for the photographer. After all s/he must be up at the crack of dawn to get those pictures in the golden glow, and a thick head doesn’t help work out the best exposure times…

Flowers in summer

Mist over our local lake (again at dawn)

 

So how does our System work? Very simple – we rate wines according to days of the week: ‘Monday’, ‘Tuesday’ and ‘Wednesday’ wines are average. Pop the cork, drink the bottle and forget it. A ‘Thursday’ wine is better. Good for quaffing. But still only ok. ‘Friday’ wines are beginning to show a touch of class. These have to be happy making wines. They are the right way to start the weekend. ‘Saturday’ wines are getting serious. Wines to savour. Fine to share, and admire, with friends. But the best, most exquisite, wines are ‘Sunday’ wines. These are the stunners, so good you don’t want to share them. Keep it in the family.

Mrs P opens our holiday fridge – stocked with essentials…

 

2 weeks, 18 corks. Not bad going!

The kids have been pretty adept with this system for some time. It is not unusual for them to taste a wine in a restaurant and exclaim ‘Tuesday’ or ‘Friday!’ much to the confusion of other diners, given that we often eat out on a Saturday.

So there we are. The Peck Wine Rating System. Not quite up to Robert Parker standards, but then I can’t afford his wines. Give it a go, and cheers! Or as they say in France, “tchin tchin”!