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Réunion 2010 highlights : This is the short version of my photos from Réunion Island... - video "Maloya" included. - Turdeltagere og andre interesserede der gerne vil se maaange billeder (også af turdeltagerne)...: - se den fulde serie her: http://odel.smugmug.com/Rejser/studierejser/Reunion/21351852_97N6Gp - læs mit rejsebrev her: http://peterodel.blogspot.com/2010/10/la-reunion-et-lille-ferieparadis.html - Her er en lille "belønning": en artikel om Réunion med madopskrifter mm. fra "Mad og Bolig" marts 2012 https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4UxOHv16glkYjlmNGY0NWUtMTA0MC00OThiLWJjMmItMjUwNmJhZTRiMzE1 - artikel i Børsen april 2012: http://pleasure.dk/rejser/artikel/228438/farverig_fantasi.html

Réunion 2010 highlights

Peter Odel

This is the short version of my photos from Réunion Island... - video ...

Updated: Feb 12, 2012 7:50am PST

France : Film travelog photos of France taken between 1975 - 2005.

France

PeterMHorvath

Film travelog photos of France taken between 1975 - 2005.

Updated: Jan 27, 2012 10:27am PST

French Door Knockers : Door knockers found on the front doors of homes in the south of France are common fixtures. In the French language a door knocker is " les heurtoirs". The first knockers or heurtois were small hammers hanging outside the closed front door. A visitor would just use the hammer and bang it against the door. As I walked through villages in Provence and looked at these old homes, I didn't find any hammers, however, I found many different shapes of door knockers; a small hand holding a ball, some kind of animal or fish while some are just a ring and a plate. The ones I really like are the small hand holding a ball. The visitor lifts the hand which pivots at the wrist and the ball strikes a plate attached to the door. The hand is either in cast iron or brass, painted or unpainted, and each one holding a ball. This type of door knocker probably came from the middle east. There are two legends about the "five fingers and hand". One is that it represents the hand of Fatima, an Islamic symbol to ward off the "evil eye". The number "5" (the hand has five fingers" has mystical powers over evil and keeps evil away. The hand represents the hand from the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatima Zahra. It is believed by some she had these anti-evil magical powers. Not to be outdone, the Jewish legend on this is that the hand is the hand of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, who also has anti-evil powers. Both legends regard the hand and five fingers to have powers to "keep evil away". The visitor lifts the hand and the ball strikes the metal plate on the door. Rest assured that anyone in the house will know someone is at the front door. Other door knockers have lion's heads, fish heads, ornate rings, and some have gargoyles, while others just have a traditional lucky charm, "horseshoe" as the moving knocker. Whatever the shape or form of the door knocker, I photographed it. There are even two "door bells" (pre-electric type).

French Door Knockers

Wayne Wendel

Door knockers found on the front doors of homes in the south of France ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2011 9:53am PST

Corsica :

Corsica

isabelle Le Penven (ilp-photos)

Updated: Oct 09, 2011 2:37pm PST

Lavender Routes of Provence (Les Routes de la Lavande) July 2011: In Search of Lavender, Sunflowers, and Perched Villages : My fascination with lavender began years ago when reading one of John Shaw's book on photography. He had several photos of Provence lavender fields in the book and I said that if I ever got to the south of France I was going to take some photos of the lavender like John Shaw. My wife and I had a chance to go to the south of France last year, 2010, and stay in the small town of Vence (15km north of Nice). We got to Vence in the first week of September last year and my inquiry into where I could find some lavender fields was met with laughter. Most of the lavender is harvested in July and the first part of August. I decided that if we came back we would go earlier (July) and I would rent a car to be able to get to the lavender areas of Provence. We had a chance to go back to Vence in 2011 and the timing was just about right, July 25th through August 9th. I was hoping that this was not too late, but it would be close. The plan to leave Vence on the 27th, spend the night in Murs and return to Vence the following day. If you are planning to make this trip to see the lavender fields or perched villages, here are some tips: 1. Go earlier; Bastille Day (July 14th through end of July is better timing) 2. Rent a car; preferably a diesel which will get great mileage. Just put up with the stick shift. 95% of the cars I saw in France were diesels. 3. Get a GPS with a European chip. Don't try and find these places without one. You'll be pulling your hair out. 4. Get a good map, STREETWISE PROVENCE is what I used and marked the villages I wanted to visit. Just enter the village into the GPS and follow directions. 5. Watch out for bicyclists. There're everywhere. 6. Take plenty of Euro coins for the A8 toll road. Driving from Vence to just past Aix en Provence will cost you about 15 Euros. 7. We allotted two days for the trip, it really requires about 4 days to see it all. 8. Do lots of research on the internet and know where you want to go. The French roads are well maintained, however, they are narrow and there is no forgiveness for an inattentive driver. The photographs tell you the story and route we took through Provence in search of lavender, sunflowers, perched villages and door knockers.

Lavender Routes of Provence (Les Rout...

Wayne Wendel

My fascination with lavender began years ago when reading one of John ...

Updated: Oct 05, 2011 5:33am PST

Perched Villages of Peillon and Luceram : Peillon was the "perched village" that inspired me to photograph as many of these hilltop towns as possible. The weather on our day trip to Peillon and Luceram was cloudy, overcast and I expected it to rain an any time. The sun kept popping through the clouds making for an unusual reflection off the mountain behind Peillon. Both villages were quiet with only a few tourists walking about and having coffee at the cafes. Walking into each village is like walking back into the middle ages.

Perched Villages of Peillon and Luceram

Wayne Wendel

Peillon was the "perched village" that inspired me to photograph as ma ...

Updated: Sep 30, 2011 8:51am PST

Perched Villages: LeBroc, Coaraze, Saint Jeannet, Carros, and Gattieres : These six perched villages are all within an hours drive of Vence. We found the all to be very picturesque, the people very friendly, and each one unique in its own way.

Perched Villages: LeBroc, Coaraze, S...

Wayne Wendel

These six perched villages are all within an hours drive of Vence. We ...

Updated: Sep 11, 2011 1:18pm PST

Two Villages of the Vaucluse: Simiane la Rotonde and St. Saturnin : Both villages; Simiane la Rotonde and St. Saturnin les Apt, are beautiful, picturesque, and not a lot of tourists. They were stops along our way through the lavender fields of the Vaucluse. We found no hustle, no loud noises, no traffic, just quiet peaceful little towns. Simiane la Rotonde was built around a chateau belonging to the Simiane-Agoult family who used the large rotunda as a concert hall. It is still used for that purpose on occasions during the year. St. Saturnin is an authentic medieval village with crumbling fortifications. Village streets run parallel to the hills, lined by long strings of connected medieval houses, and many little cross streets pass through low vaulted passages beneath the houses. At one end of the village, the street passes out through the 13th-century "portail Ayguier", an arched defensive entry through the fortified corner building of the old fortifications. Behind the village, paved steps and pathways go up through the remains of 11th-century walls (with interesting herringbone stonework) to the ruins of a massive defensive castle on the high end of the cliffs.

Two Villages of the Vaucluse: Simian...

Wayne Wendel

Both villages; Simiane la Rotonde and St. Saturnin les Apt, are beauti ...

Updated: Sep 10, 2011 6:26pm PST

The Lavender Villages of Sault and St Saturnin les Apt : Driving through the Vaucluse region of Provence, we visited the villages of Sault and St. Saturnin les Apt. Both are perched villages with Sault being built on a high ridge over looking farms and fields below. The fields had crops of wheat and lavender which appeared about ready to harvest.

The Lavender Villages of Sault and St...

Wayne Wendel

Driving through the Vaucluse region of Provence, we visited the villag ...

Updated: Sep 10, 2011 5:11am PST

France, Centre : Une région riche, notamment par la présence des nombreux Chateaux de la Loire.

France, Centre

OneVision

Une région riche, notamment par la présence des nombreux Chateaux de ...

Updated: Aug 21, 2011 3:22am PST

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