St. Christopher in Reims

This is a shot of the interior of the Basilica of St. Remi in the city of Reims, France.
The Abbey of St. Remi founded in the sixth century contains the relics of the Bishop St. Remi, who converted Clovis, the king of the Franks, to Christianity in 496 AD. The small church later became a basilica thanks to the Pope Leo IX.

The origins of the abbey lie in a 6th century chapel dedicated to Saint Christopher, as seen on the photo carrying baby Jesus on his shoulder. The church later acquired the relics of St Remi which founded its success and was visited by many kings and Popes.
The Basilica was looted during the French Revolution and many valuable objects where destroyed. Later during the first World War, the building was bombed and a huge fire destroyed the roof and vaults. The restoration lasted until 1958 and the stone vaults were replaced with wood and plaster.

The original organ was destroyed during the 1918 bombings. In the year 2000, the French organ-builder Bertrand Cattiaux offered this magnificent instrument to the basilica. It looked like it was almost glowing in the dark.
The chandelier seen in the background contains 96 candles representing the Bishop's age when he died in the year 533 AD.

In 1991, the Basilica of Saint Remi became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I recommend visiting the place!

Photo Essay - WOMAD Abu Dhabi 2010

WOMAD, World Of Music, Arts and Dance, brings together artists from all over the globe. It is meant to celebrate, inform and create awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society. From music, dance to children workshops and culinary discoveries, this family-oriented event has something for everyone.

WOMAD is an organization founded in 1980 by Peter Gabriel, Thomas Brooman and Bob Hooton. It currently holds festivals in about 20 countries and is aimed to share global sounds from different cultures worldwide.

For the first time, WOMAD held festivals in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2009 and 2010. It gathered thousands of people from different nationalities and classes. Labour workers to CEOs mixed together and enjoyed the different events on a public beach. For more information, please visit the official WOMAD site.

The Drummers of Burundi, a spectacle of dance and drums with exploding energy.

Ma Guitare Bavarde

During my long walk in Spain, I slept in many hostels. They call it "Albergues" for pilgrims. One is only allowed to stay if he has the "pilgrim credential", a kind of a passport delivered at the start of your journey.

This one albergue was run by an old English couple. It had a huge garden which is a welcomed addition when you have walked all day under a bright sun, just to laze off and perfect your farmer's tan of course.

Fortunately, the albergue also had a few old guitars for pilgrims to play with. Although I cannot play any instrument, some of my friends with me could and were good at it! And there we were, sitting in that big garden, eating pasta and salad we prepared together and playing/singing under a beautiful blue sky and a perfect weather (ok, ok... It rained for a few minutes too.. BEFORE even we started singing).

It's these kind of moments together that touch me the most, bonding with travelers on their journey, behaving as if we knew each other for years..

This is the bliss of the traveler, the random encounters reminding us that we do live in a beautiful world with beautiful people after all!

Cheers!

If you are interested in buying this photo, or any other photos in my collection, please visit me at RedBubble. Thank you!

The Lone Singer

One of my favorite bars in Chiang Mai, Thailand is "The Riva".

It's a Bar/Restaurant with different style live music every night. Usually it's packed with happy couples or groups of friends enjoying their drinks while the crazy bands play their tunes.

On a Wednesday night, I felt lonely in my hotel room and decided to go their to enjoy the music and socialize with some travelers. The band starts playing at 9pm, I arrived there at 8.45.. It was empty. I waited for the band, they came, they started playing.. the bar was still completely empty.. It was a funny feeling to be all alone in the whole bar, with a band playing just for you. I felt like a VIP! They played for an hour and I had the occasion to take a few portraits.

I hope you'll like it, as I am fairly a newbie in portrait shots.. I have to work on that hopefully soon :)

Cheers!