The Vault ~ Reims

Notre-Dame de Paris might be the most famous cathedral in France, but I also am a big fan of the Notre- Dame de Reims cathedral in Reims, North-East of Paris, home of Champagne.

I first visited the cathedral on a cold Christmas Eve and got overwhelmed by the atmosphere. I felt so tiny next to those huge columns and I sat there listening to a children choir singing softly Christmas songs.

The vault is 38m high (125 feet) with no decoration. The austerity and the cold inside creates an intimidating atmosphere.
It is definitely a place I would go visit again and again.

Endless Journey

And the pilgrim walks and walks knowing that the goal is never clear nor important, but the journey is endless and enlightening.

Many of these pilgrims (now good friends) that I have come across keep on walking, again and again, either physically or spiritually. Many don't really know where they are heading, but all know that the journey is what makes us grow and gives us the strength to carry on with our dreams.

"Caminante, no hay camino... Se hace el camino al andar".

"Traveler, there is no path... the path is made by walking".

Pebble Garden

One of the most magical places on the Camino de Santiago was "The Garden of Pebbles".

It was really a tough day: pain in the knees, the right ankle, blisters.. We had just stopped for a quick meal in Ventosa and I desperately wanted to reach the next town to finally rest. That's when we stumbled upon this place with hundreds of small "pebble towers" everywhere.

All these pebbles put there by pilgrims over the course of the years, with all their prayers made this place almost a holy place. It was peaceful, relaxing, and full of comforting energy. We just had to stop for a while and immerse in it.

We finally ended up camping not far away instead of reaching the next town. The stormy sky granted us a beautiful sunset over the ice-capped mountains.

Buen Camino!

Find Reality

"To the desert go prophets and hermits, through the desert go pilgrims and exiles.
Here, the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to escape but to find reality"

~ Paul Shepard ~

I have always found the desert to be a mystical place. It is serene, quiet and relaxing. Silence reigns like a void enabling us to hear those important voices inside ourselves.

Almost every weekend during "winter" time when I still lived in the UAE, I escaped the chaos of big cities with a few friends to find peace and refuge in the surrounding deserts.
Either camping or just desert crossing, it's always relaxing for the soul... and Fun!

I also love photographing the desert. There is something about all those forms, dunes and harsh shadows that make it very pleasing to the eye. Call me crazy but I also find all the curves kind of.. sensual and feminine.

Shooting in the desert is quite tricky. The sand here is made of very fine grains. With a slight wind blowing all the time, it's not an easy task to keep your camera clean, not to mention your eyes, ears and mouth... And the best moments to take pictures are at dawn or evening because of the light, sun angle and temperature!

Since I started traveling, it is probably one of the rare things I miss from the UAE. From desert to jungle... what a change!

Stillness

"In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the Heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair"

Howard Thurman

Sitting alone on the cold sand, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, I was contemplating the Moon ruling the nightsky before leaving its place to the Sun's splendor. All was so quiet, so peaceful. And, for a moment, as I closed my eyes, all seemed so .... still.

I felt like capturing that feeling, like a piece of frozen time. A very relaxing moment for the soul.
Can that be possible through a picture? I tried.

Thanks to my handy tripod, I placed my camera right in front of the shore, included the moon in the composition and took a looooong stare with my camera.
I shot this at f/8, a 32 second exposure and ISO 400. I chose a higher ISO than normal because I wanted to have time to experiment many shots and the waves were getting closer and closer.. Also originally, I was thinking of converting my photo to black & white, so noise would give it an original old touch (like grain).

The long exposure was to smooth the Ocean and give it a still "creamy" flat look. Also it was quite dark so I needed to capture the light/colors of the sky.

I processed slightly to shot in PS to add some contrast and saturation and crop the final shot to make it more "square-ish".

The final result was better in color than in monochrome as the blend of colors really mix well together. I think I kind of succeeded to reflect the feeling I had during that moment, a frozen piece of time. Staring at this photo really relaxes me.

Hope you share that feeling with me.