Palermo, Venice, Paris in October

[Jim Andrada]

Looking for suggestions, comments etc.

My wife and I, along with two friends from Tokyo, will be spending 10 days in and around Palermo and the western end of Sicily in the 2nd half of October. We may have a rental car for a couple of days or more, not decided yet. From there we'll fly to Venice for a couple of nights and then take the overnight Orient Express to Paris, where we'll stay 4 or 5 nights before returning home. We plan to make a side trip to Mont St Michel and might stay overnight in the area with a rental car. My wife and I have been to Italy several times and speak Italian reasonably well (but of course in Sicily they speak Sicilian!) but have never been to either Sicily or Paris. We do have a Sicilian friend in Palermo whom we met in the US.

There will be two photographers, and two "anti-photographers" - of course the ladies, who can't understand why we want to waste time fooling with cameras when there's so much shopping to be done! (Sort of kidding, but only sort of...)

My wife has magnanimously allowed me to take one camera (but I'm sure she means one film camera and one digital camera, and of course the Minox is too small to count as a camera, and...) Probably because she remembers our trip to Japan a couple of years back where I took the 4 x 5 Technika, a Mamiya 645, a Canon 5D, a Canon C100 videocam, the Minox, and a Zeiss folder.

I'm tentatively planning to take the Technika. I have the hand grip and the sports finder and will have a couple of lenses cammed - probably the 100mm WF Ektar and the 203mm Ektar. Will probably also take the 5D III, but the Mamiya 7 would be lighter by a lot. One big advantage of course is that the 5D does take quite nice video, which will be good to have during the train trip. Will probably only take a couple of 4 x 5 holders as I mostly shoot 6 x 12 or 6 x 9 with a Sinar Vario adapter.

Any comments, suggestion, recommendations for thing to photograph would be more than welcome.

Ciao!

[tgtaylor]

Jim - If I was going on the same trip I'd bring my Pentax 645NII and (possibly) my series 0 Gitzo. Having access to a car I would consider adding the Toyo 45CF (the tripod would then be required.) For lens, the 45-85 zoom for the Pentax http://https://www.bhphotovideo.com/...mc_fa_645.html and the 150mm apo-sirona-S folded with the CF. Face it: The main order of business is going to see "sightseeing" and touring about. You don't want to be encumbered with a lot of photo gear.

Thomas

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks Thomas. I'd thought of just taking the Mamiya 645 or Mamiya 7 plus a digicam of some type. But I'd really like to have at least 4 x 5 's of some of the Sicilian temples etc. The good news in a way is that we won't be making a move every day - basically staying in an apartment in Palermo for over a week and Paris for 4 - 5 nights. The only "short stay" will be Venezia (The Orient Express ticket includes a pick up by boat from the hotel to Santa Lucia station so not a lot of schlepping gear.) and maybe one night in Normandy. I think I'll just get the Technika cammed for one lens and have a try at using it handheld for a couple of weeks here in Tucson. The "sports" finder seems to work pretty well. I have to admit that one of the best pics from our Japan trip was taken with the 6 x 4.5 folding Zeiss and most of the others with the Mamiya 645. I managed to get all the gear in the camera bag but it was definitely hernia-inducing putting the 40 pound bag in the overhead and I want to avoid that this trip.

[tgtaylor]

Then for the 4x5 I'd add the 90mm F8 Nikkor - very small and compact. I bought it for backpacking to replace the Rodenstock 900mm F4.5 which I still have but don't use it for backpacking because of its size. So for me, the Pentax 645NII with 45-85 AF zoom, Toyo 45CF with 150 and 90mm lens and the series 0 Gitzo.

Thoma

[Jim Andrada]

90mm would be nice but I only have the SA 90 which is a bit bulky - 100mm WF EKTAR is small so I'll go with that. The 203 EKTAR is also small enough and I have a 150 G-claron, but I think I'll take the 180mm Dagor. It would be nice if I had a Dagor in the 135 - 150 range but I usually prefer somewhat longer lenses so I think the 180 will be just fine. Maybe just use the 100 and 180 handheld and carry the 270 Dagor for tripod use. Then the "dreaded" digicam - Canon 5DIII with 16 - 35 zoom and 70 - 200 (which really does weigh as much or more than the Technika. B&W for the Technika and digicam for color and video. I have a CF Gitzo Traveller with an FLM head - could use a smaller head for compactness, but the tripod is pretty small and light. Or just take the 100 mm and 180mm OR 203mm and be done with it. And maybe do what I used to do eons ago and do without a tripod head.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi Jim and congratulations for your European trip including a superb train cruise from Venice to Paris!

So far, I have not been able to find the exact itinerary followed by this very special train, the only thing, for sure, is that you'll have to cross the Alps at some point
Not kidding, I do not know whether the train goes through Austria (Vienna? Innsbruck?) or through the Simplon tunnel, through Switzerland; this determines the actual route followed in France to reach Paris. Nevertheless, weather permitting, you'll enjoy magnificent scenery.

I won't comment about the choice of photographic equipment; regarding the Linhof Technika with a rollfilm back, you'll be able to find rollfilm and even 4x5 cut film in a few street shops in Paris downtown if necessary, but not en route to Mont St Michel by car for sure.
So plan ahead and think twice about your film stock and be prepared to cross a desert without any 120-film suppliers, except, may be, in Venice (???) and Paris.

A 5-day program in Paris would already be 200% full of photographic and shopping opportunitinies, not forgetting numerous museums and photographic exhibitions.

Now if you want to add a car trip to Mont Saint Michel, this is a good idea but do not underestimate travel time by car.

A quick look at the viamichelin(TM) route planner
suggests about 5-hour drive with 3 different possible routes; 2 routes using a (toll) motorway through either Rouen or Chartres, and another route in between both previous routes, without taking the motorway.

Rouen and Chartres offer magnificent cathedrals, Rouen's cathedral has been painted several times by Claude Monet, so if you are interested in XIXst century French painting, you might be interested by a "tripod hole" session at Rouen's cathedral.
On the other route, Chartres' cathedral is visible from very far away since the surroundings or Paris are very flat. This cathedral has famous windows, a challenge for any serious LF photographer

Now regarding Mont St Michel itself, there have been recent changes in road and car access, and the famous monument is now an island again, a former solid jetty impeding the free circulation of sea water has been replaced by a bridge with restricted access. You can no longer reach the place by car, but there is a free shuttle bus service from various parking lots.

http://www.bienvenueaumontsaintmiche...ur-shuttle_bus

Mont Saint Michel Bay is famous for its highest tidal ranges in Western Europe, the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada having the world record for tidal range. So depending on the time of the year when you come, you might enjoy some of those record tides. Going for a walk on sand at low tide around Mont Saint Michel can be dangerous, as the saying goes, water will come back "at the speed of a galloping horse".

The place can be overcrowded in summer, but outside this period, when you come at the end of October, it is certainly more quiet (and even quieter if it rains, Normandy is well-known for its wet climate suitable for apple growing and cider making, but remember that the driver should not drink, this will be a major difference with respect to your train cruise, where you'll be able to enjoy some good wines, as you wish )
In short, be prepared to wet weather conditions in Normandy.

It is not impossible to reach Mont Saint Michel by train and bus from Paris, but the itinerary is a bit complicated, and overall travel time will exceed 6 hours since you'll need to take a train plus 2 connected buses; so a rented car will be definitely more convenient.

Enjoy your trip and do not hesitate to raise here any question you would have regarding your stay in Paris or in Normandy!

[Tin Can]

All I can say is you must be very healthy.

I do it differently. I stay a month in a city. Become almost a resident, develop friends.

I loved Venice in June, for a month. Never bored. Very safe. No cars.

Did a month in London. Montreal, etc.

My quick tour was in 1975. Many places. Paris was wonderful.

You make me want to travel!

[Tin Can]

Here's inside the train in 3 minutes on youtube. Paris to Venice overnight.

Sure wish USA had trains this nice.

https://youtu.be/xfjiaO2lyOw

[Jim Andrada]

Hi Emmanuel

Thanks much for your comments. We're thinking to take a train (TGV?) from Paris to Rennes and get a rental car there. We'd plan on leaving Paris shortly after breakfast and after picking up the car we'd drive around a bit and then stay in a hotel near Mont St Michel. Next day would be walking around the island and then return to Paris after lunch. Does that seem do-able? We could possibly stretch the time near MSM another day if you have some good idea of other things to see and do - I think the area is known for cheese and we love cheese so a cheese tour would be nice. I thought of trying to go to the American Cemetery but my wife doesn't like cemeteries. So I guess we'll skip it.

And even though the word "Simplon" is in the name of the train, it doesn't use the Simplon Tunnel anymore. Better scenery this way!!!

Hi Randy

Thanks for chiming in. You got the right idea but the wrong train. This is the train

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXpcwWdqlo

The first or second English language book my wife (Japanese) read through from cover to cover was the Agatha Christie novel "Murder on the Orient Express", so naturally she wanted to ride the train. Of course it's "over the top"!!! And we didn't do anything special for our 25th so this will be a delayed celebration.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi Jim!

Regarding the Mont St Michel travel, your plans are the best and fastest since you'll take advantage of the high speed train to escape Paris quickly, avoiding traffic jams, same will apply on your return travel, traffic jams re-entering the Paris area can be a nightmare.
And then you'll only have a short and pleasant travel by car from the heart of Brittany in Rennes to the borders of Normandy where Mont Saint Michel is located. So doing like this is fine, you should go for it, you have a TGV train almost every hour between Paris and Rennes, travel time between 1h30 and 2h; and then travel time by car from Rennes to Mont Saint Michel is less than 2 hours and you can combine with a visit to Saint Malo, a very nice old city surrounded by walls.
The only uncertainty is about weather conditions in the 2nd half of October in Brittany and Normandy, but on the other hand, this might be a very good time to visit Sicily with less tourists than in (hot) Summer and September.
Palermo is located 38° North almost like San Francisco, CA, so from Palermo to Paris located 48°N , the difference in weather conditions can be similar to what can be experienced in autumn flying non stop from SFO, CA to Seattle, WA

Regarding your train cruise, I'd be curious to know which is the itinerary. If the train does not cross the Simplon tunnel (one of the historical routes) and goes to Austria, I'd like to know the route followed by the train from Venice, probably you'll see the Dolomites area between Venice and Austria, a magnificent place worth in itself another visit. The Dolomites area is also not far from Bozen-Bolzano in Northern Italy close to the Austrian border, where DURST enlargers were made, certainly an important pilgrimage for every serious LF-er