Loire Valley - France - Day 5

Today we took a break from looking at châteaux, even one château per day can be too much at times so we headed out for the town of Orleans. With some 120,000 inhabitants, it's one of the bigger towns in the region and offers some great sights to see. It was the capital of mediaeval France until the mid-18th Century. During the French Revolution it became staunchly Republican. The cathedral dominates the town (Cathedrale-Ste-Croix) and is an architectural masterpiece. I don't visit all of these churches for religious reasons but because of my awe at how they were built centuries ago. A master builder was really a master builder.

Orleans was heavily damaged during the second world war but the quays have been largely restored and worth a stroll along the Loire. The house where Joan of Arc stayed during her 10 day visit to Orleans in 1429 has been restored and is worth a visit. It was in Orleans that the English were driven out again, who were on the verge of capturing Orleans. This turned the tide during the Hundred Years War. All in all, a nice town to visit. Plan a day to see all the sights.

Photography

I decided to mount the Panasonic 42.5 f1.2 on the E-M1 but also took the Olympus 12-100 f4 with me too. Just in case, and I couldn't bring myself to leave it behind. After only a couple of shots I changed lenses to the 12-100 f4. Not that the images weren't OK, I suppose I just have to admit I'm a zoom kind of guy. I love prime lenses but sometimes they just don't work for me. I'll be keeping the primes for special occasions (because they do come around from time to time) but for general all-purpose shooting the zooms fit my type of photography better. I have to say it again, you can't always zoom with your feet.

I must admit today was a little disappointing and my shutter therapy wasn't going too well. Having had a little bit of a bad day with the Tamron earlier, and now my prime work doesn't seem to be going as well as expected I was starting to wonder in which direction my photography was going. I've had better days. Can't win them all I suppose.

Orleans - Olympus E-M1 - Panasonic 42.5 f1.2

2nd image. What impresses me about this lens is the clarity of the images.

3rd image. After a few images with the Panasonic 42.5 f1.2 I realised it just wasn't going to work in this environment and quickly switched to the Olympus 12-100 f4.

Orleans - Olympus E-M1 - Olympus 12-100 f4 Pro

3rd image. Floating buttresses. To ensure the wall stays upright. Most large buildings included these buttresses especially churches, cathedrals tec because they were huge constructions. Good examples of this type of work can be seen in Cologne and Milan Cathedrals (see below).

6th image. I had the feeling of being watched and as I was looking up I saw this. I swear, it didn't matter where I was this statue was following me around.

8th image. A good example of a rose type stained glass window.

9th image. The Bishops Residence. Another humble abode.

10th image. Joan of Arc is revered here in Orleans as in no other part of France and of course a road has to be present to honour her name. This is called Rue Jeanne d'Arc.

11th image. Rue Jeanne d'Arc looking back towards Cathedrale-Ste-Croix.

12 image. The town holds some great architecture.

13th image. A statue of Joan of Arc (who else), Place du Martroi.

14th image. Saw this at an Opticians shop. There were several of them throughout the shop and I thought they looked great.

16th image. No getting away from Joan of Arc.

17th image. Joan of Arcs abode during her 10 day stay in Orleans. Restored of course.

Orleans - Olympus E-M5 II - Panasonic 7-14 f4

3rd image. Taken @10mm.

4th image. Taken @7mm. It's only 3mm wider than the previous image but it goes to show that every millimeter at the wide end matters. At the long end of lenses not so much.

6th image. These modern wide-angle lenses can't be beaten for this type of shot.

9th image. The people in the background gives you an idea of the scale of this cathedral.

16th image. Even with distortion correction applied to this image, you can still see some curvature to the building. I quite like this image, even with it's faults so I left it the way it was.

Orleans - Panasonic TZ101

The above three images show the restored quay area. Time for a nice stroll along the banks of the River Loire is always welcome.

Not having done a lot of photography today I went out in the evening with the GX7 mounting the Olympus 75 f1.8. I was determined to give these lovely primes I have another chance. There was lovely light and I went out determined to capture some detail shots. Judge for yourself.