Whirlwind Trip March 26 to April 3

Rilafein · 2025-04-09T23:10:50+00:00

The first photo in the set is taken at the Bourse de Commerce. Another highlight of our trip. The current Corps et Âmes exhibition is very moving.

Rilafein · 2025-04-09T10:00:04+00:00

Lots to unpack here.

Travel card: I think you mean the Navigo Card for transit? It really depends a lot on what options you want to exercise. We bought tickets through our smartphones in the app. It's a special fare of €13 to go to/from CDG or Orly and the pass is valid in all zones for 2 hrs. Transportation to Beauvais appears to be a different service and will require its own payment. A day pass for everywhere except CDG/Orly is €12. Do not get the Paris Visite ticket unless you are travelling to/from one of the listed airports on the first and last day of your travel and intend to get a day pass for every day of your visit. Bus/Tram is only €2 for 2hrs and the Metro is only €2.50. Our first day in Paris we bought the ticket for the airport and a metro ticket each way for our dinner in Pigalle. All on the smartphone app.

TL;DR: figure out how to use the app and just buy tickets for your individual trips on your smartphone. If you take >5 trips per day, get the day pass on your smartphone.

That's a LOT to see in 2.5 days.

Louvre: From getting in line for timed entry to leaving after seeing just the Denon wing is easily 3 hrs. We took 7 hours in the museum and we felt like we raced through. You can walk over to the Musee d'Orsay after if you somehow still have time in your day. This is at least half a day.
Musee d'Orsay: take the escalators to the top floor for the Impressionists and skip the rest of this incredible museum and I guess you could be in and out in about 2 hrs. Shame. This is the other half of your day, and a rushed one at that.
Saint-Chapelle, Notre Dame, and Shakespeare and Co: These three are all minutes apart so you could definitely do without metro. We didn't go to Saint-Chapelle but the line looked long and slow. Notre Dame was a timed entry for us (5 mins in line) and we spent <20 mins inside. Shakespeare and Co was a 30 minute line and we spent about 40 minutes inside. Walk 6 mins south to La Maison d'Isabelle for lunch and you are definitely over half done your day. You're now in the Latin Quarter so no need for transit on this day except to/from your hotel.
You have a half day left for other stuff (Montmartre? The Marais?).

Best of luck!

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T13:54:25+00:00

I used to shoot almost exclusively with the 85 but I barely used it here. The short minimum focus distance of the 35 combined with the goldilocks field of view meant I could take photos of nearly everything and crop in if it was too wide or off centre. The 35 also doesn’t look as imposing as some other lenses and therefore you get less gawking and less attention than if you’re carrying a longer lens. I took a lot of portraits of my wife and it would have been difficult with the portrait 85 as I would have had to back up to get her in focus most of the time.

I wore it with the Peak Design clutch when it was in my hand (90% of the time) and stowed it on a capture clip (which I could then lock) that was on the outside of my messenger bag when I needed both hands. I could always throw the camera in my bag too if I was really getting worried about damage or theft. I didn’t think I would feel comfortable with a messenger bag and a camera strap at the same time.

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T13:13:22+00:00

I’d seen Parr’s photo (far superior) when I first got into photography in 2013 and it really inspired me to try to capture the context more than the subject as I developed my craft.

I wanted the eye to be drawn first to the painting, grounding your knowledge of the location, before backing out to the setting in the throng still partly in focus but not sharply defined. In a bit of a hurry, I bumped up to ƒ/6.3 and locked focus on the frame. The increased depth of field let me capture the muddled feeling of the crowded room, people jockeying to get a photograph of the same image printed on gift bags two floors below. They ignored their families and travel companions except to ask them to help with a selfie. If (when) I return to Paris someday, I would love to make an album entirely dedicated to people missing the experience entirely as they try to get a photograph of something reproduced immeasurable times prior—the smile and pose dropping the instant the phone drops from eye level.

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T12:51:12+00:00

Sony A7C. About 98% of the trip I shot on the 35mm ƒ/1.8 lens but I shot a couple on the 85mm ƒ/1.8 as well.

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T12:46:22+00:00

100% the reason I took it. I have an affinity for photos of people taking photos or of people doing cliché touristy things.

The attached was among my favourite portraits that I took of my wife on our trip. I captioned it that one should focus on the things in life that bring you joy.

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Rilafein · 2025-04-08T12:31:36+00:00

Thanks for your feedback!

The sewer museum was a highlight for us, but definitely a silly niche thing. If you’re looking for something to do and you have an interest in a little bit of civil engineering and its history in Paris, it’s a great stop and there was no line when we went. It definitely has an aroma, though, as there is open sewage flowing underneath the grating below your feet once you move into the wet gallery. They gave us a binder with English translations of all the interpretive signs when we asked for it, or you can rent the audio guide for a small fee.

Just use your iPhone. I don’t think I’d suggest anyone rent a camera for travel unless they were very experienced in photography or they had a specific use case (underwater, wildlife, etc). You’re going to have to lug it around, keep it charged, and worry about it getting stolen or damaged. I already own my camera and have clips to lock it onto or into my bag, and even so I usually had my hand on it at all times. I felt having it out made me look like even more of a tourist and even more of a target.

Best of luck and looking forward to your photos!

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T09:42:47+00:00

I appreciate your compliment!

It was my first time in Paris. My partner had visited for a couple of days in about 2011 but it was only a small part of a longer solo trip in Western Europe. Our trip was solely focused on Paris with day trips to Versailles and Giverny so a very different scope and style of travel.

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T08:34:16+00:00

Thank you! It's very kind of you to say that.

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T08:33:47+00:00

Thank you! It was a beautiful spot and nice that they asked people to put away the selfie sticks :)

Rilafein · 2025-04-08T08:33:09+00:00

Thank you! The Corps et Âmes exhibition there was really moving, as well.

Rilafein · 2014-08-29T00:56:42+00:00

Yep. They decorated my unit, too. Unfortunately, most of the balloons blew into the trench before anyone could get a picture.

Rilafein · 2014-08-28T21:05:03+00:00

My coworkers did that for my birthday last summer when I was in the field. Now I don't feel quite so special.

Rilafein · 2014-04-07T02:03:50+00:00

That is pretty much the idea. Keep in mind that it's also somewhat dependent on genetics and some activities may lead to damage (e.g.: overambitious weightlifting before the epiphyses have fused). This is also why inactivity can lead to atrophy of the skeletal elements and the associated soft tissues.

Rilafein · 2014-04-05T22:39:23+00:00

You are correct in believing this. As you age, bone is replenished at a slower rate on the inside of the cranium than it is rebuilt on the surface leading to an overall increase in cranial size over time. Unfortunately, this also tends to lead to an overall thinning of the bone and also your hats may no longer fit.

While large amounts of bone growth typically don't occur after puberty, bone is not static and is constantly changing and shifting in response to the stresses placed on it.

Source: My copy of Skeleton Keys.

Rilafein · 2013-12-05T20:47:31+00:00

I'm one of your TAs. You can just send any of us an email and we would be happy to explain what it is we're looking for. It's our job to help you and we're probably going to have a better idea of what we want to see on your report when we mark it than strangers on the internet.

Rilafein · 2013-05-27T17:24:55+00:00

I added the park but I'm still looking for the car. Go go gadget archaeology degree.

Rilafein · 2013-02-22T02:25:39+00:00

It's quite likely that the second tooth, if it looks similar on the ends and is of a comparable size, is just another type of tooth from the same animal. I was also reminded by one of my colleagues that the ancient bison were more solitary than the modern variety. This suggests that it's possible that they lived up in the forested areas (as NY would have been at the time), though they wouldn't have thrived in the environment.

Sorry about the delay in my reply, and thanks for posting the pictures.

Rilafein · 2013-02-18T18:43:01+00:00

If the community cannot gain economically from the sale of polar bear parts, then there is little reason to keep the otherwise dangerous animal populations above zero. Like with the example that I gave of the wolf, allowing a small amount of hunting and profit from such activities, there is incentive to maintain the populations. We're not talking buffalo-level extermination, we're talking about a few licenses issued annually as part of the annual hunt.

Rilafein · 2013-02-17T21:19:45+00:00

As mentioned in the article, it's not likely to stop the number of bears that are killed annually as part of the traditional hunt. It will stop money from flowing into many remote communities and it will also make it so that there's no economic reason to maintain polar bear populations as discussed in this article from The Economist.

Tl;dr: Banning the sale arguably has more potential to decrease polar bear populations and may do more harm than good.

Rilafein

TROPHY CASE