Capturing Paris

1. La Tour Eiffel shot from Museé du Quai Branly. Paris, October 2012

2. Boucicaud Square, Sévres Babylon neighborhood. Paris, October 2012

3. "Jelly Baby Family" by artist Mario Perucchetti.
Photo by my husband. Paris, October 2012.

4. Parc Monceau. Paris, October 2012

5. Panorama of Parc Monceau. Paris, October 2012
(click to enlarge photo)

6. View of Louvre. Paris, October 2012
Special effects using CameraBag.

I packed a "real" camera, but it never left our Paris apartment. On this trip in October 2012, I used my iPhone 4s with OS 6 for all photos. That said, we've traveled to Paris many times, so I've accumulated hundreds of photos with Canon and Sony cameras that took advantage of powerful zoom capabilities and high resolution. I've used some of those photos to decorate our family room. If you travel to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, take your best camera.

Unless specified in the caption, none of these photos were edited (other than cropped or straightened). You may click any photo for a slideshow.

Where to take your own photos of these scenes:

1. La Tour Eiffel shot from Museé du Quai Branly: If you're walking along the Seine between the Eiffel Tower and Musée d'Orsay, stop off and wander through the walled garden of the Quai Branly Museum in the evening. Besides going inside the museum, there's a little coffee shop/snack bar if you want to wait for the Eiffel Tower lights.
2. Boucicaud Square, Sévres Babylon neighborhood: Get off at the métro at the Sévres Babylon stop. This little park with the marble statue of Mme. Boucicaud and Baronne de Rothschild and stroll the neighborhood to go to the Sorbonne or Cluny Museum.
3. "Jelly Baby Family" by artist Mario Perucchetti: See this work of art (and a few others by the same artist), in front of Église Saint-Eustache (a church) near the Louvre.
4. Parc Monceau: A beautiful, tranquil park filled with French families strolling, playing and picnicking. This park is in an upscale neighborhood, within a few blocks of the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées.
5. Panorama of Parc Monceau: For more on how to do panoramic shots, see this story.
6. Louvre view: Walk through the arches from rue de Rivoli. I used CameraBag software for this special effect.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Favorite Flower Combinations in 2012 - Part Two

Rudbeckia (yellow blooms), loropetalum (shrub)
and monarda (raspberry blooms).

The burgundy foliage of loropetalum chinense rubrum anchors this color scheme and has been paired with monarda 'Raspberry Wine' for years. For 2012, I added a mass of rudbeckia (grown from seed) as the deep brown eye of the susans picks up the chocolate tones in the loropetalum. I was hesitant to add the gold-yellow color to the cottage garden, but the brightness of the blooms do brighten the heavy shades of burgundy.

All plants are growing in full sun, south-facing in zone 7b in the fenced cottage garden. When hungry, deer will nibble the loropetalum, especially in winter since it is an evergreen shrub.  The rudbeckia are grown easily from seed, so I don't worry so much about the occasional deer nibbling and grow the susans outside the fence, too. Rabbits may also nibble rudbeckia foliage and blooms.

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' is a great bee balm and you can click here to see what's growing on the other side of this combo. Yes, it will spread easily, but bee balm isn't difficult to remove if you have too much. This variety is suitable for zones 4-9 and has been good in drought without a mildew issue.

View the pink and purple combination in Part One.

Another view

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.