Land and the People

I have always been a fan of the fine arts, and perhaps that is one of the reasons that I have always loved France so much - what place in the world is better known for its fine arts?  In Paris, I was able to visit many museums, including the Louvre.  My favorite exhibit in all of Paris, and up until now in all of France, was actually the Monet Exhibit at the Grand Palais.  It was a chronological (for the most part) visit of the entire life and career of Claude Monet, who has always been one of my favorite painters.  One thing that I particularly liked about the Monet exhibit was the way they presented the "series" paintings that Claude Monet made so famous.  He would choose one subject and try to paint it in as many different ways as possible.  Many times he took exactly the same angle or viewpoint and painted the subject in the morning, afternoon, evening, night, bright sun, or cloud cover.  I felt inspired by this notion to do a "series" of photographs from Perigueux, the city where I am living.  There is a bridge in Perigueux that is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful parts of the entire region of Dordogne.  I decided it would be a perfect place to do my series.

It wasn't hard to find a nice, semi-cloudy day for an "after-the-storm" picture.  Every day was cloudy and rainy before the fall even came.  Everything was still green, though.

The lights at night made some beautiful colors and reflections.  This picture was taken shortly after nightfall, and the sky was still a magnificent blue.

The colors quickly went from green to orange as the weather got colder.

The fall quickly arrived and everything started changing colors.  Finding a day without rain became the most difficult part of it all.

Despite the cold weather, the spot remained a popular one for people to walk and sit while just enjoying nature.

Some natives of the region.

Winter set in and nearly all the leaves fell to the ground.

It's a beautiful day, and with the blue sky you would never guess how cold it really is.  Notice the dead vines hanging off the bridge.