Photographic Impressions of Paris and Provence

Even overcast Paris can be captured magically by Shannon Brunner of Saskatoon, professional photographer and winner of the 2013 Photographer of the Year Award!  This spring Shannon invited 10 of her friends/students along with her to experience sunny Provence and magnificent Paris through the eye of a lense.  Corinne of VM Travel knows Provence intimately and was able to provide these “keeners” with opportunities to capture the essence of the south of France from gnarly olive trees, to towering plane trees, to rambunctious poppies.  Lavender season is in July, but the smell of lavender was in the air! The provençale sun, which so inspired Van Gogh, also inspired this group of photographers.  Everyone set out to capture the list of shots – a sunflare, feeling blue, a faceless self portrait – ideas that make one look at the world more intimately!  Something clever!  Shannon assigned us letters to look for in nature or construction – this got everyone looking for all the letters – lots of x`s found! It was a real collaboration of `finding the shot`.  Shannon was a real inspiration for us all and we could have spend hours in on location, but as the tour leader I gently pressed on to a new venue – Cézanne`s studio in Aix -en – Provence, the quaint fishing village of Cassis, the market in St Remy de Provence in close proximity to Van Gogh`s capture of his sunflowers and irises and Roman antiquities to boot. 

      

The one thing about staying at the Mas St Antoine in Rognonas (yes, just try to pronounce it!) is that we are just a short drive from all that inspires! A short note – Mike, who got carried away in the Palais de Papes in Avignon missed the pickup and was not too sure of the NAME of the town where he was staying – somehow he made it back just in time to join us on our night photography excursion to the 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct, Pont du Gard on the first night of its summer illumination!  As a tour operator this is the first time I have visited this UNESCO site at night and it was magical! It had just rained so the atmosphere was `douce`- just like the night of a bonfire in the middle of summer in Sask!  (no mosquitos though).  Zac made sure we had `glass`wineglasses for this adventure and yes, Shannon managed not to break hers until the last moment! 

Don`t get me wrong, we were not taking photos ALL the time. Pierre the former owner of the Mas St Antoine shared his provençale culinary skills with us one night – then the K`s (Kerrin and Keryn) guess who is the female and who is K1 and who is K2, entertained us pool side with a gourmet pizza night – nope, nobody fell in the pool! Although we may be missing someone as the frogs were croaking about something all night.  The Mas St. Antoine is a lovely respite in Provence – a self catering gite where you have your own kitchen, BBQ and privacy, but yes you have to take out your own garbage OR recycle!!! www. massaintantoine.com   If you are ever planning a visit to the south of France – this little haven is heaven.

Well I have be rambling on enough – I don`t even have to talk about Paris as Paris is Paris! The magic about  this tour, Photographic Impressions of Paris and Provence was the guests – fun loving, supportive, enormous encouragement by Shannon (merci) and best of all – THEY LOVE TO PICNIC!!!!!

Thanks for a wonderful tour!  Need to repeat!  All the best from your tour leader, Corinne    

                                  NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS ALL ABOUT!!!???!!

                                             WE SAW IT - SOMEONE CAPTURED IT!!!