Trip through France

[andreios]

Hello / Salut
I'm planning a short-ish trip through France in about a month or so and am looking for some tips for interesting places either to photograph (landscape-ish stuff, some architecture (some old monasteries?) etc...) or to see some interesting photography.

I'll be starting from Chartreuse mountains, through/round Lyon, to Burgundy (Vézelay?) and then through Haute-Saone and Alsace back home.
Any tips would be most welcome.

Thank you.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from Besançon, France

If you are interested in mountain landscapes, the Grenoble area and Chartreuse range have a lot to offer. Not far south from Grenoble on the edge of the Vercors plateau, you have the spectacular Mont Aiguille, a typical limestone peak (http://www.cheval-equipage.fr/fr/images/vignettes/vercors_trieves_devoluy_04.jpg). Moving from Grenoble to Lyons and Burgondy you'll leave he mountains and the landscape is less spectacular except if you visit the Jura mountains where I live, but this is another story.

In you are intererested in historical monuments, the Lyons area and Burgondy are one of the richest places in France. Regarding abbeys, difficult not to speak about Citeaux abbey, the homeland of the religious Cistercian order. (http://www.guidedor.net/images/tourisme/citeauxGrand.gif) Otherwise Burgondy is rich in castles, abbeys, churches, the city of Dijon itself has a lot to offer.
In Franche Comté close to Burgondy you'll find Abbaye d'Acey, I do not know is the place is photogenic or not, but the monastery is hosting an active community. Crossing from Burgundy to Alsace north of Besançon you'll probably go close to Ronchamp and its famous chapel by le Corbusier, Notre Dame du Haut. (http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/e7/d6/53/caption.jpg) The problem is that you can no longer enter close to the Ronchamp chapel freely, and I suspect that photography is either restricted or submitted to fees like Villa Savoye by le Corbusier in Paris ...
Now regarding Alsace, the place is where you'll find some of the most beautiful villages in France like Riquewihr (http://www.salutlacteur.jexiste.fr/BEAUTES%20DE%20FRANCE/IMAGES/HAUTS%20LIEUX/RIQUEWIHR.jpg), so it is guaranteed, wheather permitting of course, that Alsace will offer you many architectural marvels for your camera.

Now, speaking about my hometown you may have a look at other places in Franche Comté between Burgondy and Alsace, for example my old city of Besançon (http://www.impots-locaux.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Impots-locaux-Besan%C3%A7on-2012.jpg) is very rich in various monuments (this is an old postcard, the monuments are still there but the problem is that many cars make the picture really hard to take nowadays) (http://idata.over-blog.com/3/97/37/68/france/nouveau/besancon.jpg), and south of Besançon in the Jura you may have a look at Baume les Messieurs, (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/0_Baume-les-Messieurs_-_village.JPG/1280px-0_Baume-les-Messieurs_-_village.JPG) a place well-suited for waterfalls and long exposure times with a large format camera !! (http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&safe=active&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1500&bih=969&q=cascades+%22baume+les+messieurs%22&oq=cascades+%22baume+les+messieurs%22&gs_l=img.3...118.6940.0.7779.30.11.0.0.0.0.815.5131.2-3j3j1j2j2.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.Xh-xChiskHU)

Have a nice trip, if you have any question, I'll be happy to answer.

[andreios]

Thank you, very much for your answer! If only I could stay on the road for longer time than only a week... I have only two fixed points - I'll be spending a couple of days in an old Carthusian monastery now in hands of Bethlehem brothers near the Grande Chartreuse and then I plan on making a short visit to photographically rather uninteresting Abbaye de Sept Fons, where hang some of my prints of their daughter Abbaye here in Czech Republic.. And I am still considering turning not towards Burgundy but indeed back into Jura..
I will look into the links and places you have mentioned and most likely come back to you via PM with some questions..
Thanks a lot!

[Robert Langham]

We were at Mont St Michele last week. Pretty terrific place. I have to say that if I only had a week I wouldn't travel much, just pick a couple of places and work.

91769

[andreios]

Thank you Robert - I do agree with you - it is my plan, but first I have to choose those places (and to help me do it I started this thread):)

And I almost envy you he Mont St. Michel - but I hope very much indeed that I'll be able to go to those parts of France next year.

[andreios]

Thanks, Christopher!

To sum up - we've had really a bad luck as far as weather goes - snow in Chartreuse, heavy rains in Jura... Everytime I went out I came back very wet - I almost didn't dare to pull out the LF gear, just did a couple of rolls of MF.. But I already know that I'll have to return in the autumn.. (The yearly swiss motorway toll-sticker is a good excuse - needs to be used more than once when it's valid for a year! :) )

[Richard Raymond]

Following up on Andreios's trip we plan to be in the west coast of France this summer. The plan is to drive from Brittany down through Bordeaux to the Parc National des Pyrennees. We will also spend a week on the Spanish side before returning through Arles and then north to Paris for a few days before flying back. Six week trip. Any points of interest for the Bordeaux region or things not to miss in the Parc?
Thanks
Ric

[nede]

When you're close to Arles, let me know!
I live about 50km away from Arles in a little but nice town called " L'isle sur la sorgue".
In Arles, there is a photo dedicated festival called "les rencontres d'Arles" http://www.rencontres-arles.com/A11/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_782_VForm&SrvRsp=1&LANGSWI=1&LANG=English
you can see some of my night landscapes from this area: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.389875644377081.94927.187328497965131&type=3
I'll be very glad to meet some US Large format user!
A bientôt !