The Love Story Part 14 - The Paris Prince

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Arc du Triomphe at night

Ah, Paris.

The romance of Paris is not about romantic love. It’s the art it exudes in all its forms - paintings, sculpture, architecture. It’s in the history that seeps from its walls. The stories that echo in its chandeliered foyers. The appreciation of beauty. The leisurely pace. The love of living.

What better way to celebrate Paris and all its beauty than through photography? I am very fortunate to have my great friend J, a fellow photographer, here living in the very heart of Paris, just a moment's walk from The Arc de Triomphe. We spend each day walking and photographing and sometimes just being tourists visiting iconic spots, and partaking in the great Parisian pastime of shopping for clothes, which J is surprisingly good at.

We traverse the city scouting its best locations, where we shoot from bridges and great landmarks; the Eifel Tower at sunset, and the Louvre at sunrise.

Pont Alexandre III
Pont Alexandre III

Pont Alexandre III and all of its gold-gilded glory is the chosen location for our sunset photography this particular night. I struggle for inspiration, pacing and searching before finally settling myself at the south end of the bridge with a view down the Seine toward the Place de la Concorde and its 18th-century obelisk.

As I begin setting up my tripod and camera, a strikingly handsome man saunters over and asks for my advice on how he might take a better photo with his phone. He is debonair, reminiscent of a 1920s film star and assumes the air of an Arabian Prince. His peering brown eyes and smooth, sophisticated voice disquieted me somewhat and my immediate response is a fight or flight one. I look around for J but he is deep in conversation with another photographer. I smile blankly as my mind deliberates. I’m hardly dressed for such a rendezvous, this is a stranger, and I’m missing the sunset. Stop. I take a moment. As my thoughts quieten, I decide to abandon my unfruitful efforts at photographing the sunset and continue our conversation, after all, this is the start of the new me and well, this is Paris.

The story goes, his family hails from Morrocco where they own an Olive dynasty. He and his sister were sent to Paris to study. She is a lawyer and he, a Doctor. I became lost in the exoticness of his story so when it was finally time to part and he suggested we meet the following day for lunch, I agreed.

Already embodying beauty, art and history, could love now be included in its list of attributes? Paris, the city of love.

The story continues...here

Read from the beginning here..

 

THE AUTHOR

Photo of Nina Beilby smiling
As it does, life took a devastating sideways turn for me. With fierce determination, I quit my teaching job, shut down my photography business, packed up my apartment, hired an agent and rented it out on Airbnb, bought a ticket to London and embarked on an adventure of discovery, both about the world and myself. I’ve learned a great deal about people, places and myself. I’m happy that you are here for the ride. Nina x


Where you can find my work...
I will be documenting my travels through photography on Facebook and Instagram. Prints will also be available on my website. If you are interested in following along, here are some of my sites.


Blog - MY CURIOUS CAMERA
An in-depth look at places I've visited with plenty of travel information from Ireland, France, UK, Iceland and who knows where next.  

Website - MY CURIOUS CAMERA
Where you can purchase signed, framed limited edition prints of my work.

Website - NINA BEILBY PHOTOGRAPHY
My professional work as a portrait photographer

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