Seattle as seen from my boat’s departure point…

This is not my cruise ship yet… mine will arrive tomorrow morning and I will be embarking then. However, this ship is about the same size as my cruise ship - the Norwegian Sun - will be.

I cannot begin to explain how impressive it is to look at this huge thing. None of my photographs came close to show how absolutely gigantic this boat is. It is a building on water. When I was any closer than this, there was no way any of my photographs would have made sense as the image field could not physically comprise even a significant part of it…

I am officially scared!

Seattle is very well known for its huge outdoor and indoor markets… I have to say the size of it is as impressive as the amount of stuff there is to sell in there! Not to mention the food looks delicious and there are so many things I had never seen before..

There is no way I can show you everything but here is a little selection:

Some jewelry sold in the outside market…

Fresh from Alaska…

Beautiful fruits!

Appart from being moving billboards, I find it’s really funny how those buses are attached to a line above the street… I wonder why?

That’s it - I have arrived in Seattle, after a very long journey - including about 16 hours in a plane… there were some delays…

It’s fun to be back in the US after 4 years… Lots of things are exactly the same as I remember. It’s the American feel in the air. Funny how difficult it is to describe what is so specific about a country! But I guess a lot of it is in the architecture, the streets, the cars, the parking lots, the street signs, and the way people talk to each other (so very friendly!)

And then there is Seattle itself, where I had never been, and that I started to discover today by walking a bit randomly. It’s really a fantastic city! I was especially impressed with the outdoor market and the Pine Street area, so many shops - so many original things… so many good things to eat!!! It requires complete self control in order not to buy everything there is to sell…

My hotel - probably the least atractive thing I have seen in Seattle…

Tomorrow is the big day for me where I am taking the plane away from my home and all the people I love… It’s at the same time frightening and exciting, definitely not easy for me, I feel a big ache in my stomac (since this morning) and I am trying not to panick too much over small details. Everything is pretty much set. The big adventure is in front of me, a big empty canvas that I am going to fill out with the paint I find along the way.

I am looking at some 12 hours of flying tomorrow and I am not sure what I am going to find in terms of internet connection when I get to Seattle (I am sure there is going to be a way for me to write up but still!) but be sure I’ll try to keep you all updated very soon!

All the best my faithful readers - see you on the other side of the Atlantic!

The operation “Paris Plage” this year is attractive especially because of its water spraying in some areas! With the heat wave it is quite a relief.

But other people prefer just any fontain in order to freshen up. Here kids are playing in the Hotel de Ville fountain…

And to finish, the lovely colors of the sunset. These will be the last pictures of Paris I will be posting for quite a while, I hope you enjoy them!

The countryside outside of Paris: small, beautiful, quiet towns with rivers and trees… it felt wonderful to be out of the big city.

What I like about this image is that the contrast is making the landscape look almost black and white.

I have moved out of my flat, boxed most of my things, now I just have a few last details to settle before I take the plane in a week’s time. I haven’t been posting much as I have been very busy and without a regular internet connection, but I’m going to hope that this connection holds a bit longer and post some photos I’ve taken over the last few days.

Tomorrow I will be packing all of my things and leaving my flat in Paris. In just 15 days I will be leaving my country and taking a plane to Seattle… where I will work for the next 8 months as a cruise photographer on the ship “The Sun” of the Norwegian Star Cruises! On there web site you will be able to see where the ship will be taking me in the next few months… or you can simply wait to see where I take you by checking this site from time to time!

I am very excited about all the new places I am going to discover, the people I am going to meet and most importantly the pictures I am going to be taking throughout this journey. “My little corner of the sky” is getting bigger and bigger!

This site will become more of a “travel logs” kind of blog. I will be writing more regularily, describing my journey which I am sure is going to be quite extraordinary. I will keep putting photos of course…

I hope that all the people who have loved my web site won’t mind if I talk a bit more from now on and that you will keep loving my site and follow me around the globe!!!

Talk to you all again soon!

Emilie

Night vision of the Seine and Notre Dame de Paris…

Contrebass player in front of the Beaubourg museum (also known as the Centre Pompidou) - it’s always something to see a music instrument bigger than its player! The drums were also quite intersting, looking like flying saucers…