How I took my favorite Paris Photo
How I found the best view of the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre in Paris to Photograph
This view intrigues me because of how much of Paris is captured in a tiny sliver. The magnificent Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre rises on its hilltop in the distance. And in the foreground, some of the iconic Parisian rooftops and windows. Behind the condensation on the glass, you’d normally see the Tuileries gardens. The colorful sky mirroring the clock face window adds color to the overcast, autumn day.
Looking at this photo on my wall makes me feel like I’m on top of the world, peeking out from my corner of it, ready to take on anything.
Back in the US, I printed it on archival quality aluminum with high gloss brilliant color ink and float mount backing, ready to hang as soon as I opened the box.
Inspiration from My Students
A few years ago, one of my photography students returned from her Europe trip excited to share the photos she took with her newfound photography skills. She’d just completed the first few classes in my 8-Part Intro Series and had been running around the streets of Paris with her new DSLR camera. The photo she was so proud of, however, she took with her cell phone! She’d visited the Musée d’Orsay and thought the view of Paris was spectacular, and the uniqueness of looking through the old clock faces reminded her of what she learned in her Intro to Composition class we’d held the week prior. I love it when my students share their progress and inspiration with me; in turn, I am usually inspired as well.
Returning to France
The image on her cell phone background never left my mind. I didn’t return to France for a year, but I knew taking a similar photo would be my top priority in Paris.
I purchased tickets in advance to the Musée d'Orsay, and somehow still arrived late on my last day in town. They would close in 20 minutes and were shooing visitors toward the front doors. It’s a wonder they even let me through in the first place. I needed to get to the top level and figure out which window would yield my spectacular view.
The elevator was already closed for the day, so I ran up three stories to the top. I stopped in the closed restaurant; wrong view. I hastily made my way against the crowds to the other end of the floor, past impressionists Degas, Monet, Renoir…and I found my perfect view and my heart sank: it was in the only corner blocked off for new exhibition set up.
Two French ladies casually stood, not paying much attention to whether people came or went. I approached the first lady and politely, surely full of distress, explained my situation (in French). It was one, singlular, perfect photo I envisioned, just one click of the shutter… She briefly consulted the other lady, and voilà ! Just like that, I was permitted into the closed-off area. To be safe, I took a handful of photos at different zoom levels and apertures, but I knew I had taken my favorite photo of Paris to date.
Statue of Thomas Jefferson on the Quai Anatole France, at the end of the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor foot bridge crossing the Seine River.
Paris vue depuis le Musée d'Orsay
Pictured above, the panoramic view from the top level overlooking the Jardin des Tuileries (17th century garden filled with greenery, flower beds, and statues), Rue de Rivoli, and in the distance, Montmartre and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
Six Continentes, esplanade of the Musée d’Orsay
According to the Musée d’Orsay,
“Now presented on the esplanade in front of the museum, these sculptures designed for the Trocadero Palace of the Universal Exhibition of 1878 had been lying in a public rubbish dump in Nantes since 1963. The Musée d'Orsay secured them in exchange for a painting by Sisley for the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.”
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