My Favorite Photos of France – Part 2

Walking tour of the Medieval town of Viviers.
Walking tour of the Medieval town of Viviers.

In my previous post, I shared 19 photos of our first 3 days on the French Waterways vacation that we went on last July. This post will show 15 more photos that were taken over the next 2 days.

The opening photo and the next two were all taken after we hiked up from the Rhone River to the small walled city of Viviers.

Jana and Barb at scenic overlook in Viviers.
Jana and Barb at scenic overlook in Viviers.

This small town was built during the Medieval Ages. There were only one or two streets that a car could travel short distances on.

Rooftop of the buildings in the Medieval town of Viviers
Rooftop of the buildings in the Medieval town of Viviers

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Chandellier inside Medieval church in Viviers.
Chandellier inside Medieval church in Viviers.

The chandelier above was in the Viviers Cathedral, which construction was started on in the 11th century.

Nuclear power plants on the Rhone River, north of Viviers.
Nuclear power plants on the Rhone River, north of Viviers.

That afternoon, it drizzled and rained on us as we cruised further north up the Rhone River. About noon the next day we arrived in the city of Vienne.

From our docked river boat in Vienne.
From our docked river boat in Vienne.

While we were waiting to waiting to disembark on our walking tour of Vienne, I went up to the top of our boat. While I was there, this French gentleman cruised past us in his houseboat.

A houseboat passes by our docked river boat in Vienne.
A houseboat passes by our docked river boat in Vienne.

Now here is something that you just don’t see in the very often:

A Medieval house on the left, next to some Roman ruins in Vienne.
A Medieval house on the left, next to some Roman ruins in Vienne.

The house with the criss-cross timbers was built in the Medieval Ages, and they built it right next to the arched wall that the Romans had built!

We hiked up to the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Salette in the drizzle and light rain. It was worth the effort, as we were rewarded with this spectacular view of the Rhone River winding into town from the north.

Scenic view from above Vienne, France.
Scenic view from above Vienne, France.

While standing in the same place, but looking straight down, we had a great view of what remains of an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Roman amphitheatre in Vienne.
Roman amphitheatre in Vienne.

Since we had hiked up the hill to the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Salette, we went inside to get out of the rain.

Chapelle Notre Dame de la Salette, a medieval church above Vienne, France.
Chapelle Notre Dame de la Salette, a medieval church above Vienne, France.

If that looks somewhat odd, it is because it is a composite of two different exposures: one for the inside of the church, and one for the stained glass windows.

Jana and Barb on the walking tour of Vienne, France.
Jana and Barb on the walking tour of Vienne, France.

It was a good thing that my camera and lens are pretty much weatherproof, as I didn’t have an umbrella like Jana and Barb did.

When we got back down to the city, we got to see a still-standing Roman temple; the early Imperial temple of Augustus.

Roman temple in Vienne.
Roman temple in Vienne.

We also went inside of the Cathedral of St. Maurice, which was built over a long period of time; between 1052 and 1533.

Medieval church in Vienne.
Medieval church in Vienne.

I should mention that I only took one camera to France; an Olympus OM-D E-M1. Although I did take 5 lenses with me, I only used two of them, and ALL of the photos that I will share in this 5 Part series were taken with one single lens; the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO.

In addition, every photo that I have shared up to this point was taken while hand-holding the camera. This next photo is different, as I used my travel tripod and the self-timer on the camera.

Group photo of our travel mates on this trip
Group photo of our travel mates on this trip

This photo of our entire group was taken at 9:20 PM, and since it was getting dark pretty fast, I bumped up the ISO to 400, but even with the aperture wide-open at f/2.8, the shutter was open 1/20th of a second. After all of the wine that we had consumed at dinner, it’s amazing that nobody wobbled into a blurred state….

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2 thoughts on “My Favorite Photos of France – Part 2”

  1. Love the perspctive of the interior cathedral arches the most. All the pictures bring back such good memories!

    1. Well, thank you, Jana! That photo of the interior of the cathedral is one of my very favorite 5 to 10 from the entire trip. Thank you for leaving a comment!

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