Blackcomb’s Night Sky

I just missed the sunset and orange clouds

Last night was another incredible night in Whistler.  The sunset meant the clouds were showing a stunning golden glow.  My original goal was to head out and attempt another ‘cloud trail’ style picture like this picture that I took in the UK.  I was just a few minutes late getting set up and missed the glow so I decided to wait a few hours and try a star trail instead.  I think it turned out pretty well!

It was a beautiful night over Blackcomb

Cut Yer Bars

We have been blessed with some incredible weather in Whistler the past few days.  This time of year is amazing.  A great mix of people wandering through the village.  Skiers, boarders, bikers, hikers, you name it, they are all strolling about.

A mate and I ducked into this awesome trail near the village and played around.  Cut Yer Bars is a short but fun trail with some fast fun descents, a couple of cool rock rolls and a little bit of pedaling for good measure.  It was a glorious day.

 

Van City – Briefly

Well, day 21 of 2014.  Where did they all go?  It’s been a busy start to the year and as it seems to be a theme with me I have fallen behind in my uni work and have spent the last week or so struggling to catch up.  I did manage a brief jaunt down to Vancouver and we were blessed with an amazing afternoon to walk along the beach near English Bay.

 

2013 Instagrammed

2013 was an absolutely incredible year for me.

Continued my life in Whistler.

Traveled to Japan to ski for the first time.

The pow was deep in Niseko!

Started this blog.

A great start to the year saw out the winter season

Biked one heck of a lot.

Frolfed!

Explored some fantastic alpine hikes and camps around Whistler and Pemberton.

Checked out Quebec City.

Chute Montmorency

Traveled to New Zealand to ski – ended up hiking the whole time.

Sheep in NZ??

Lake Wanaka

Visited family and friends in Australia for a few weeks.

Anzac Bridge

Home Sweet Home

The old dirt road home!

Ran Sydney’s famous City2Surf.

And they’re off!

Did some more biking and camping in Whistler.

Top of the World

Semaphore Lakes

Semaphore Lakes

Locomotive

Journeyed to England and Paris to hang out with friends and family once more.

Awaited the ski season to begin which included biking right up until the resort opened and even afterwards.

Skied.

Played ice hockey…on a frozen lake!

Nita Lake

Worked.

Got Festive.

Instagrammed.

Paris est belle!

Looking over the city from Sacre Coeur

As it transpires, I took an overwhelming amount of photos while wandering the streets of Paris.  As I work my way through them, I now realise that it must have really tested the patience of my girlfriend’s family (thanks guys).

I have decided to break the post up into two.  I just had way too many photos to put into one post.  The first consists of photos from around the city with a lot taken near Sacré-Cœur.  The second will primarily focus on the Eiffel Tower with a couple of shots of the Arc de Triomphe as well.

Sacré-Cœur Basilica

Sacré-Cœur Basilica, commonly know simply as Sacré-Cœur is an incredible Roman Catholic church situated at the top of Montmarte.   Construction began in 1875 however it wasn’t completed until 1914.

Guarding the entrances to the church two impressive equestrian figures representing King Saint Louis and Saint Joan of Arc.

Saint Joan of Arc

King Saint Louis

Saint Joan of Arc

On Montmarte, leading up to Sacré-Cœur, is a really cool square with several artists peddling their work.  The artwork includes portraits of nearly any style, cityscapes and attractions just to name a few.

Artist working to a great backdrop

Ahhh…the music of Paris!!

Eventually we ventured towards another very famous building.  Along the way we came across a cool collection of fountains.

Next to the fountains was an impressive bit of artwork.

There is certainly no shortage of impressive buildings, statues, windmills and of course quirky buskers.

Bird feeding buskers at Notre Dame

 

One of the most famous buildings in Paris is definitely Notre Dame de Paris or Notre Dame Cathedral.  Translated as ‘Our Lady of Paris’, this incredible building is situated on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris.

Completed in 1345, it is 69 metres (226ft) tall at the towers with it’s spire;

reaching 90 metres (300ft).  A supreme example of French Gothic architecture, it took almost 200 years to erect.  It’s almost impossible to walk around this building an not be overcome with awe.

Simply incredible.

 

A building or two in Paris

Paris is a truly incredible city in many ways, as I am sure everyone will know if they have been there.  So much old architecture still standing.  Nearly every street I walked down had an impressive building of some sort.  Of course there are the many famous ones that define the Paris cityscape.

One of my favourite buildings out there!

What impressed me however, was that even the apartment blocks and regular buildings were incredible.  From the doors,

to the windows with their gardens,

to the amazing brick buildings and all the chimney stacks,

to the practical corner buildings,

to the curved streets

and the straight,

it’s hard not to love this place.