Medieval Valentre Bridge in Carhors, France

Back in late Autumn of 1985, I was travelling through France to Spain. On my way to Spain, I passed through Carhors and had a glimpse of a medieval bridge across River Lot.

It was cold, I went out of the coach and quickly took a picture of this medieval bridge, without even knowing the name or exact location of the bridge.

It was early in the morning. There was a reflection of the bridge in the river but was obscured somewhat by a layer of mist floating just above the river.

Only recently, I found out from Wikipedia the following information about the bridge:

The Pont Valentré (Occitan: Pont de Balandras; English: Valentré Bridge) is a 14th-century six-span fortified stone arch bridge crossing the Lot River to the west of Cahors, in France. It has become a symbol of the city. After the decision was made to build it on 30 April 1306, construction began on 17 June 1308.^[1] It was built between 1308 and 1378 with six Gothic arches and three square towers.^[2] It opened for use in 1350.^[1] It was originally fortified at both ends, but the western tower has not survived.^[3

A sepia of the same image is shown below for comparison.

I am happy to have found out more about this bridge. . .. . . a bridge I will remember from now on.

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above (2)

Only a couple of photos in this blog are not taken by me. I have to show this one which was taken by my sister-in-law because it is such a fascinating photo taken “From Above”.

This is a photo taken on a domestic flight while my sister-in-law was travelling over Botswana last year. The image, with a range of colors, seems to be taken from out of this world.

I have never seen anything like this and would like very much to share it with my readers. Hope you will like it too  :-)

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above

Have not participated in the Weekly Photo Challenge for a couple of weeks now.

A few images came to mind when Weekly Photo Challenge proposed “From Above” as the theme.

The picture below was taken at night from high above; from the windows of a restaurant up on a tall building in the touristy area Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side.

It shows the roof tops of adjacent buildings, including the parabolic roof of the Hong Kong Cultural Center; the Victoria Harbor; a few ferries in the harbor and many tall buildings on Hong Kong Island on the other side of the harbor.

Travel Theme: Light (2)

When Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack raised the Travel Theme: Light as the challenge, I have a couple of pictures in mind. The golden foliage at HongLou Temple, on which I have made my submission, was my first choice as I like the translucent look of the foliage.

Incidentally, the other picture was also on foliage but taken in the fall of 1985. The picture was taken at the Kew Garden in London when the ground was carpeted with fallen leaves.

The picture has been scanned with some lost of the original details and colors. Nevertheless, I like the rays of light which shone through the trees with some branches and leaves against the light.

Inside the Angkor Temple, Cambodia

The Angkor Wat temples are stunning and fascinating from both the inside and the outside.

The architecture as viewed from the outside is beautiful, but we spent quite a bit of our time in the inside. With every twist and turn, you find something which have not quite met your eyes before.

I like the warmth, the color and the texture in the picture above as well as the effect of looking through a series of openings.

When looking up the ceiling, it was a totally different sight; with stones arranged to form the apex of the roof structure.

Where sunlight comes through  openings. It was sort of mystical to look up through the blockwork opening towards the sky above .

Smile

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying? 
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying? 
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile. . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .

You may want to listen Nat King Cole singing this song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN8oLGBNXpE

(Picture taken in Luoping,  China March this year, after climbing up 1,000 steps to the Smiling Buddha statue. This post is specially dedicated to my brothers and sister. . . . . please SMILE )

Travel Theme : Light

This week, Ailsa’s Travel Theme Challenge at Where’s My Backpack is “Light“.

I like the interplay of light and objects.

Last November, while in the HongLou Temple, Beijing we were enchanted by the effects of light on the yellow Autumn foliage.

The leaves were transformed into  gold color while the light illuminated the artistic details of the temple beam,, the doors and roof tiles.

The light, in fact, is the main object of the picture and imparts a surreal feeling!