Notre Dame

Notre Dame by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Gothic art is simply amazing, it never cease to inspire me!

In St. Louis en l'Ile

In St. Louis en l'Ile by Alessio Fangano on 500px

In the little charming Ile St. Louis in the center of Paris lies a hidden gem of Parisian churches: St Louis en l'Ile. This is an example of what you may find inside (more to come).

Doubtful Future

Doubtful Future by Alessio Fangano on 500px

In the courtyard of Lyon Beaux Arts museum lies hidden a real jewel of a city garden. Modern and antique sculptures punctuate its green scenery. I found this one to be particularly captivating, don't you think?

In the backyard

In the backyard by Alessio Fangano on 500px

One of the pleasure of Couchsurfing when traveling is that you get to experience the eveyday spaces of local people. This was a lovely installation I stumbled upon in the courtyard of one of my Parisian hosts in 2013.

Stairs by the Croix Rousse

Stairs by the Croix Rousse by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Lyon, town of many hills... and this, by the Opera house, is one of its most charming squares.

Even in adversity

Even in adversity by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The surprises you find on a winter walk are hard to predict, even in a urban town like Paris.

Naked walk

Naked walk by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Even if with almost frozen hands, getting around Paris during that snowfall was a great decision.

A Parisian stroll

A Parisian stroll by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The square facing Notre Dame cathedral is always a very buzzy place on the Parisian nightlife. Let's take a stroll...

Inside Fourviere

Inside Fourviere by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The Fourviere basilique can really fill up half of your day to take it all in, but it is worth it.

Kings and Queen

Kings and Queen by Alessio Fangano on 500px

During the French revolution, the original Gothic statues of the kings of Judah were beheaded because believed to be representation of French kings. You can find the original heads in the Cluny museum in Paris while this is a lovely and faithful XIXth century reconstruction.

Looking up at Him

Looking up at Him by Alessio Fangano on 500px

As a photographer, oftentimes something catches my eyes but from that to make a decent shot.... Well let's say I visited Lyon last year.

Catch a ride

Catch a ride by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Sometimes while walking through your neighborhood you can find something inspiring. This, for instance, was in Lyon.

Sicilian egg gratin and my trip to Versailles

It was a sunny day that started with a little drizzle my last day in Paris.
I was stationed in a little town close to the ville lumieres at arm lengths from Versailles. In the past I have told myself many times to just take the train and visit the old kings but I was never strong enough to disentangle myself from the parisian hug. This time I didn't have any excuse; I set my alarm clock, bought my train ticket and there I was, Versailles.

Mom Francesca's eggplant and onion casserole

Traveling always improves our lives; a rich baggage of memories and images can change us more than we can actually realize.
Oral stories sung by bards and grandparents have left the place to printed works and the ominous prescriptions of altarpieces and religious friezes.
Printed and visual experiences continously pull and push us around like little creatures on our shoulders whispering in our ears words of alternate realities populated by far away but somehow familiar beings. Invisible silken threads connect us nowadays in ways almost unimmaginable to our immediate ancestors.
"Practice makes us perfect" they used to say, practice is all they had to learn by, to improve, to debunk myths and legends, when they weren't meant to accompany us in the sweet kingdom of Morpheus.

Chocolate rum quinoa pudding and a visit to Nantes

A trip to France always needs some time to get assimilated, especially when you come back with more than 1000 shots to edit.
I often rethink at the great weekend I spent in Nantes few weeks ago under a summery sun and in great company. Aside from exploring the objective beauty of a city, I find that getting in touch with its soul is a much more rewarding feat. People watching is great fun especially when you can sport an anthropological motive for your nosiness.
Being a tourist for me means being a citizen of leisure, living the city as close as its citizens would normally do but without the hanging pain of daily chores. I love to stroll among the frenchies, discovering their cities and their daily secret pleasures.
Having a camera on your shoulder though does single you out as an inquisitive foreigner ready to invade people's privacy for the mere pleasure of recording.

Salmon-Eggplant-Cardamom cakes and a French prize

After a long week of holidays of sort, nothing better than a blog post to put the schedule back on tracks.
Almost 10 days ago I started my trip to France to present (and defend) my creations (#1 and #2) at the 2012 Science et Cuisine competition.
This being my main goal, I headed directly to Nantes where the competition final was held. The trip was uneventful, but not much so were the few days that preceded it. Stressed out for the presentation I had to hold, I spent the 3 days preceding the departure in a sleepless walking coma. I did manage to test my speech though, being it in French I couldn't just rely on my admirable qualities of orator, could I? I was rather happy to notice that despite all the "Ahem...", the "Mmmm...", the "Alors..." the speech was still within the 10 minutes I had at my disposal.

Citrussy crepes soufflées

March has been a pretty busy month; my cooking classes and a couple of food related competitions made my daily schedule as hectic as I have rarely experienced before. But it has been a great and exceptional month, the best I had in the last couple years.
Healing from my Candida overgrowth has caused my diet to be extremely restrictive nowadays but the positive effects are mighty. I am my old self, full of energy and positivity; even my photography style has changed. With this extra energy I can now face this stark schedules and more!

The first third of the year has been dedicated to a food competition since the last 3 years: Les Réncontres Science et Cuisine (check my 2011 and 2010 posts) but this year a new one popped up in the same time window and it was a food-photography competition too.