PARIS

On my final morning in Paris our group took a walking/riding tour along with a boat ride on the Seine.  The walking tour included Notre Dame Cathedral, which is still under repair following its massive fire in 2019.  It is scheduled to reopen this December.

Of course, there were other landmarks along the way.
 

I was able to shoot an equestrian statue as we passed by the Eiffel Tower.

The walking tour also included a visit to a lovely park that featured a number of interesting sculptures.

Base of ornamental lamppost along Seine.

And sometimes it's good just to look down to see where you're going.

JOHN

 MUSEE D'ORSAY

On the tour I had only one day in Paris before heading home.  In the morning the group took a walking tour, and in the afternoon I visited Musee d'Orsay, one of my all-time favorite museums.  The venue, originally a train station, is gorgeous.

Most of the art work is from the 19th century.  I especially enjoy taking pictures of sculpture.

I had started taking photos of the wall art in the side galleries when my camera's battery expired.  This is what I did get.

JOHN

REIMS CATHEDRAL

On the drive from Luxembourg to Paris, our tour group stopped in Reims, France, to visit the great cathedral in that city. The cathedral is historically important as the location of the coronation of French kings.  The last king coronated there was Charles X in 1825.  The current structure was first completed in the 14th century.  It was massively damaged  during the First World War but was rebuilt after the war, reopening in 1938.  

I enjoy architectural photography, and the Reims Cathedral did not disappoint.  Here are some of the pics that I got.

JOHN

 LUXEMBOURG

It's a long drive from Bruges to Paris, and Luxembourg served as a place to stay between those two destinations.  We did take a walking tour of Luxembourg, even though it rained during much of our stay there.  As part of the tour, we saw an area of the city that has been designated as a UNESCO World HeritageSite.  It was raining heavily during that part of the tour, but I did manage to get a couple of photos that I was happy with.

JOHN

 BASTOGNE

The following day we traveled to our next stop, Luxembourg.  On the way we visited Bastogne, Belgium, in the center of action during World War II's Battle of the Bulge.  Bastogne is the location of a major--and well done--War Museum and military cemetery, where several thousand American troops who fought in the battle are buried.

General Patton's grave is located in that cemetery, though his death actually occurred after the end of the war.

JOHN

 GHENT

On one of the days we stayed in Bruges, we traveled to the neighboring town of Ghent, another medieval city.  While there, we did a walking tour and visited the city's cathedral, noted for its 14-panel altarpiece, "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb."

First, some general scenes.

Several of the historic buildings included plaques that symbolized the city's guilds or important historical figures.

The Ghent cathedral was quite impressive and offered some interesting photo opportunities, both inside and out, including some interesting stained glass.

(I liked the above as an interesting semi-abstract.)

But the "Mystic Lamb," attributed to the van Eyck brothers, was quite stunning.  I never had the opportunity to capture all 14 panels, but here is what I did get.

Finally, some miscellany: intersecting tram tracks that caught my eye, an interesting piece of public art, a clever sign, and people having fun in the river.

JOHN