A stroll along the Champs Elysees
There's this little street in Paris known as the Champs Elysees...
Haha ok, well it's not exactly little, and it's arguably the most famous street in the world. And while it's INCREDIBLY touristy, and filled with all sorts of retail shops, it's also a pretty interesting place to go for a stroll.
What I really mean is that there are a lot of things to point the camera at.
When we were there for a family trip last Fall, of course we ended up on the Champs one afternoon. It's hard to avoid the place, actually. It's very central, and there are so many awesome things that are next to it, on it, or nearby it that you basically can't avoid it.
So there I was: a guy who dislikes shopping, standing on the most famous shopping street in the world. What to do?
Take out the camera, and make the most of it.
Now you could literally spend an entire day or more just wandering up one side of the Champs and back down the other. It's a pretty long street, really. And there are something like 8 million tourists all cramming in there. I'm not sure what they are looking for, since many of the shops are the same as the ones at home. But I guess it sounds cool if you say "I picked this up at their store on the Champs". Or something.
Anyways, we started at The Louvre that day, which is at one end, and basically made it all the way to the other end, where the Arc de Triomphe sits. So I walked and shot, looking for things of interest that weren't obscured by the hordes of people. It was pretty hard, actually. But I got a few that I'm proud of.
When I got the Arc, I tried very hard to get a little creative with it. It's a HUGE, hulking structure and is quite beautiful. On my previous trip there, I shot it with the wide angle lens exclusively, because I had a bit of an addiction at the time.
So this time around, I thought it would be much better to focus in on various elements of it, and try to get it done differently. I think I succeeded. At least I had a good time trying.
That's it really. It was a reasonably calm and uneventful afternoon. After shooting the Arc, I hopped on the Metro and went over to Trocadero, where I shot the Eiffel Tower. Fun.
