Paris (France) --car--> Nice (France) --flight--> Rome (Italy) PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES?

The following is an itinerary for a holiday I will be taking in ~2weeks.

Paris (France) (4days) --car(2days)--> Nice (France)(4days) --flight--> Rome (Italy)(4days)

I would like to get some advice on the location of some great landscape/cityscape shots during the trip. Any advice?

I much appreciate your input. Thank you in advance.

I guess those cities are scenic enough on their own.. at least for the little time you get to spend there...
Just hang out all day, pick a great restaurant at night, and shoot whatever you see in between.
:)

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Originally Posted by lenicolas

I guess those cities are scenic enough on their own.. at least for the little time you get to spend there...
Just hang out all day, pick a great restaurant at night, and shoot whatever you see in between.
:)

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Houw about the car route Paris to Nice? Any great stop along the way?

Which places do you suggest are "must shoot" in

Paris?
Nice?
Rome?

Well you could go SW out of Paris down to Dijon then south thru the Burgundy area to Lyon. The town of Beaune along the way is quite photogenic and you can quench your thirst locally with some nice Beaune wine and food. The Chateau de Beaune is very attractive photographically. Wend your way further south to Grenoble a highly attractive city then on south to Nice at the Italian border. Some splendid roads thru the French Alps between Grenoble and Nice. Decent highways most of the way although not perfectly direct.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

http://bootedcelso.blogspot.com/2007...ainebleau.html

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Originally Posted by l2oBiN

Houw about the car route Paris to Nice? Any great stop along the way?

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So, let me get this straight; you want to take a 1000km trip over only 2 days, with around 11 hours driving, and still have time to take photographs?

Sir, you will be travelling in France! What about the 2 hour lunch break? :D

One possible route goes via Aix-en-Provence but that would take you around a week, just to discover that city alone!

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Originally Posted by l2oBiN

Which places do you suggest are "must shoot" in

Paris?
Nice?
Rome?

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Paris is a big city; do you want architecture, people, countryside? What about "les banlieues" (the suburbs) or the tower block housing complexes or the little old-fashioned back streets that will take you all day to find, let alone photograph?

As to the route from Paris to Nice, Google maps gives at least three recommended routes, including some of the most beautiful, twisty, mountain roads through some of the national forests.

From Nice, you could always take a day trip to Monte Carlo; if you take the autoroute you should be able to avoid the distractions of the rest of the countryside along the way.

My advice would be to re-schedule your life to allow yourself around 6 months to meander your way from one place to the next, taking at least a couple of days in each place just to find the photographs; otherwise you might as well buy some postcards :rolleyes: ;)

I do wonder why people pick cities as their destination points when travelling. I would find some more picturesque quieter areas.

I certainly wouldn't hire a car to drive around Paris.


Steve.

I totally agree that a lot more time is needed, but this is all I have. It's is not a photo trip but rather a travel trip (with a family). Since they have some tolerance to me taking my large format gear, i am trying to get an idea of what would be the absolute essential shots you would try to take if facing the same sittuation?

I like the challenge to indicate an absolute 'must see & photograph in LF' between Paris an Nice within a 2 day travel ;)

The quickest route, at least in theory when there are no traffic jams, is without possible discussion the motorway from Paris to Beaune, Châlon, Lyon, the Rhône Valley and the Provence motorway to Nice through Draguignan.
If we refer to a route planner like the Via Michelin web route planner, we learn that the total distance and number of driving hours is about 940 km / 8h30.
4h30 of driving per day sounds reasonable, but you'll have little freedom to use any other route. along the Rhône Valley if you want to make it in 2 days only; And this motorway itinerary is probably the busiest route in summer of all French motorways.

As an alternative, from Lyon you could follow the so-called Napoléon route through Grenoble, Gap and Digne-les-Bains, rated at 5h14 (Paris->Grenoble) plus 5h03 (Grenoble->Nice).
From Grenoble to Nice you'll experiment magnificent landscapes and experience an abrupt climate change from a green and alpine envirornment near Grenoble to the dry and mediterranean landscape of Haute Provence when you cross either the Col Bayard near Gap or Col de la Croix Haute (according to your choice of itinerary, la Croix Haute is quicker than Col Bayard and Gap, but just before la Croix Haute in a magnificent area named le Trièves you'll see the incredible Mont Aiguille near the Vercors range, really worth a LF shot, wheather permmitting).
Coming from the Alps, you'll discover the Mediterranean sea at the last minute, coming slowly by winding routes down to the Côte d'Azur (the Riviera). So if you are impatient so see the Riviera, you should choose the Rhône valley option.
My personal choice in summer would be in any case to avoid the Rhône Valley.

So eventually if you choose the Rhône Valley motorway, we could find many places of interest for a LF photographer, but you should allow at least 1/2 day only for one selected spot. For example, sacrificing everything between Paris and Lyon; for example selecting a single spot somewhere along the Rhône Valley to set up your tripod quietly whereas you familiy will wait for you enjoying a Rosé de Provence in the comfortable shade at the terrace of a small restaurant during the mandatory 2-hour lunch break ;) Do not forget that Provence can be really hot in summer, and that the air is not as dry as it is in the US West. Saint Ansel when he came to Arles invited by Lartigue, photographically complained about everything; he did not complain however about the lunch he was served in the train ;)

And you should find accommodation at a certain driving distance from the motorway, prices usually follow a 1/f-square law vs the distance to the motorway ;)

Leave the car, Paris is a nightmare for the veterans, you're going to struggle. Make sure you give yourself a few hours to get to Versailles - if not for the palace then the town. We were once in a crash that killed the other driver and injured his wife and child on our way along the western front - be very careful on the roads.