Sunday, November 25, 2012

Just an Ordinary Blog . . .

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To participate in James' always excellent Weekend Reflections page, I offer you these subtle reflections of late afternoon sun on an old church in Brittany, in thick leaded glass. This kind of light play off the surface of ancient glass just mesmerizes me. Yet another reason why I love living in France.
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This next is not a reflection, but rather an illumination of stained glass by a ray of light coming through a window on the far side of the church from this window, working a strange spell in each different piece of glass it touched here.
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After perusing that little litany of light this evening, it was time for dinner. On the menu was Dorade fresh from the fish market, with rice and broccoli, all washed down with one of my all-time wine favorites, which we drink rarely, but it was a celebration, so we uncorked a bottle of Chateau Grenouilles, a Chablis Grand Cru, which is about as good as it gets from the fabulous town of Chablis in Burgundy. "Grenouille" as you know, is French for "frog"... so this is frog wine, but a frog with a Chateau, like Mr Toad in the Wind in the Willows, from Toad Hall.
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What were we celebrating you ask ? Why, the acceptance and publication of ten of my photos on the Unesco World Heritage web page for an area in southern France, the Causses and Cevennes, which I love dearly. (oh, and James, if you look closely, there are a reflection or two on the bottle here :-)
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23 comments:

Lorrene said...

A very nice accomplishment to celebrate. You take great pictures.

Lynne with an e said...

Ordinarily extraordinary!

groayla said...

Great photos !!!
I love the color in no 1 !!!

Dianne said...

Much to celebrate ... Congratulations!
I love your top capture of that gorgeous thick leaded glass
SO French.

Le Journal de Chrys said...

Youpi youpi youpi, c'est extra!!!
Et dans toutes ces photos, il y en a une que j'avais beaucoup aimé quand tu l'avais montrée, la 4ème/12.

Félicitations!!!!!!

Je suis très heureuse pour toi.

Bon dimanche et tchin!

Pastelle said...

Félicitations ! Tu le mérites bien. Et tchin tchin. :)

'Tsuki said...

Les fenêtres font de jolis sujet de reflets, en effet et tu as su admirablement exploiter la beauté de celles-ci.

La bouteille de Chateau Grenouilles m'a fait marrer : peut-être suffit-il de la frotter pour faire apparaître un prince à embrasser ?

:)

Steve said...

That first window is amazing... the glass almost looks like oil...

HansHB said...

Great composition, lovely post for Weekend Reflections!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Congratulations Owen... This is WONDERFUL!!! now more people can enjoy and appreciate them.

Love the old leaded glass.

Nefertiti said...

magnifique reflexion,j aime bcp la premiere ;o)

French Girl in Seattle said...

Bravo, bravo, cher Owen. This is quite the accomplishment. I must admit I was equally fascinated by the beautiful reflections you selected for this post AND by the bottle of Château Grenouilles. I bet it did not taste too shabby either :-) What a find! Félicitations, Owen. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

AVY said...

Good, congrats, and a good wine. What else do you need?

/Avy

http://mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com

Alyson | New England Living said...

Congratulations! Wonderful and well-deserved! Love those photos. Those ancient glass window panes are gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations upon this achievement !
Yes, the light is amazing. Please have you all a kind new week ahead.

The Sagittarian said...

I am just packing my big glass to pop over and help with that bottle...Grand Cru photos too!!

James said...

Congratulations Owen! I bet you could get more of your photos accepted.

The top photo mesmerizes me too and I love the mix of light and colors in the next one. Oh and I do see the reflections in the bottom one. :-)

PS My Philly photo is from the archives and I've never been to Versailles. I want to go there someday.

Céline said...

Ta première photo est un vrai tableau de maître !! Quant à tes photos des Causses, elles méritent vraiment d'illustrer le site de l'Unesco... Je vais retourner les voir sur le blog d'ailleurs, pour rêver et m'évader !!
Bonne semaine Owen.

Anonymous said...

Ordinary things are the bricks which give form to extraordinary deeds!!

Catherine said...

Congrats on the publication of the photos and the wine looks a real treat complementing perfectly those gorgeous photos....

Thérèse said...

Great! Congratulatiosns.
Your first image looks more like a painting than the real thing.

Mildred said...

Tchin tchin Owen!
Bravo! Toutes mes félicitations!
J'aime beaucoup ta première photo!
Et il me plairait beaucoup de goûter ce château grenouilles!
Sais-tu que je collectionne des figurines de petites grenouilles?

***
Bonne semaine Owen****

Roxana said...

wow, i am so happy for you!!!!!!!!

i went to look at the photos, some of them i remember (the incredible fence, for example) - and now i have come back for congratulating you - many many hugs to you and your dear ones!!!

(and i am completely taken with that first photo, so lovely!)