Thanks to a very generous father-in-law and his wife, Jeremy and I were able to visit them for about ten days in Paris and Grenoble. Along the way, I noted a few things. So, here we go… things I learned in France:

They don’t tip at restaurants. Not because the French are cheap, but because they pay their wait staff enough where they don’t need tips. This is a picture from a cafe that we had breakfast at.

They dip their croissants in their coffee. (They really know what they’re doing.)

Everyone smokes cigarettes. Ironically, I did not get a picture of anyone smoking. But, don’t be fooled. Everyone.

(This lovely picture taken by Martina.)

The amount of people I saw that chose to walk, take public transportation, ride their bicycle or motorcycle was overwhelming. In such a great way. There were still a lot of cars on the road, but a lot less than there could be!

When they do drive cars, they are all manual shift and use diesel fuel. As a side note, it took awhile to get used to the speed limit signs measured in kilometers.

They eat croissants right out of the bag, and carry baguettes around with them. Just like the movies. (This is me pretending I do this on a regular basis.)

Often the toilets are separate from the main bathroom. That way someone can use the toilet if someone else is in the shower. Smart! Also, there’s a handle on the top that is used to flush the toilet. It uses less water than flushing the way we do.

When you weigh yourself in kilos, you can pretend you weigh a lot less than you do, and therefore eat a lot more. Don’t make fun of my orange shorts.

The public restrooms in Paris are pretty neat. You may have to pay to use one, but they self clean when you are done. They make loud, whooshy cleany sounds.

America, we are so behind on our love for recycling. These recycling centers are all over the city.

I wish I had gotten a better picture of this, but this is how cars are towed. If you’re illegally parked, a big truck comes over and picks you up with big rubber bands.

Paris likes Star Trek.

And “Twilight.” Which apparently translates into “Fascination.”

Jeremy and I hit The Louvre, and as big as the crowd around The Mona Lisa was, Mona Lisa herself was tiny. (She’s way back there, you can see her if you squint.) Although I’m glad I saw her, I actually enjoyed the other art much more.

Another picture of inside The Louvre. It was beautiful.

After that, we thought about skipping the Eiffel Tower out of exhaustion, and afraid of it being too touristy.
I’m so glad we didn’t skip it! It was so much more enormous than we thought, and such a site to see.

To end, I will post a few more pictures of some of my favorite pedestrian shots. I could post so many more, but I hope you enjoyed these!

…named Molly and Ellie.

They love books…

 …and each other dearly.

When it’s time to pack up the books…

 …they ask for the hats.

And to play hide and seek…

…and to cuddle like cats.

“See the lake over there?”

“Well, I was thinkin’s…”

“We should take off our hats…”

…”and run like the dickens.”

That they did, until they passed out.

A great day indeed…without a doubt.

My name is Hudson.

How are you?

Why, I’m doing just dandy, thanks.

This is my mommy.

She’s pretty.

This is my daddy.

He’s fun.

And my baby brother, Noble.

He sleeps a lot.

I don’t talk much yet.

But, I like to read. And play. And hang out with my family.

And sometimes I like to just hang out by myself.

 Nice meeting you!

YES.

Here are a few shots from our mini-shoot!

In my last post, I showed you some pictures of two sweet little boys. On the same day, I also photographed them with film. This is actually my first film shoot in years… here’s the (added on) story of Jakob.

As you may know… there is a boy named Jakob. Who loves to play.

And he did, while his brother Noah took a nap.

 He is fond of Veggie Tales. He sang the theme song.

 He wondered why I was taking his picture.

And then he forgot that I was taking his picture.

And so he played.

And drooled.

And waited for his big brother Noah to wake up.

 Eventually, he forgot about both me and Noah…

And went on his merry way.

Noah wakes up in this post…

We hung out in a hammock.

We sat down and had a chat. And sang some songs.

He played with trucks.

For awhile.

Then his brother Noah woke up from his nap.

And they played.

And played.

And played.

The little one went off.

And there was one.

Filed under: Children ]]> http://amysnyderphotography.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/afternoon-with-the-boys/feed/ 1 Amy Snyder Photography jakob blog-0886 jakob blog-0898 jakob blog-0928 jakob blog-0940 jakob blog- jakob blog-0951 jakob blog-0978 jakob blog-0995 jakob blog-0999 jakob blog-1003 jakob blog-1016 jakob blog-1024 jakob blog-1037 http://amysnyderphotography.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/photography-on-a-wall/ http://amysnyderphotography.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/photography-on-a-wall/#comments Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:08:54 +0000 Amy Snyder http://amysnyderphotography.wordpress.com/?p=720 ]]> If you are in the Charlotte area, you can stop by the coffee shop at Journey Church in Huntersville and see some of my photographs. There are a few other photographers featured as well! They are available for purchase or just for viewing.

They’ll be up until the end of August!

As we were walking to the next spot, I took this candid shot of Jackson and his mommy.

Two years ago, my mother-in-law was visiting, and her and I took a trip to Lake Norman for the day. It was hard to walk from the car to the lake. It was hard to get in and out of my beach chair. It was hard to open my soda can. But, I was used to it. Daily things were hard. I tried to remain positive about my situation, but the bottom line was that we had no health insurance, no money, Jeremy was unemployed, and I had to work full time. It made me trust God more than I was comfortable. It made me know that there’s more grace than I knew existed.

Our day at the lake was done, and we packed up our things to head home. We began our walk to the car, but first we had to lug up this walkway. I stopped for a second and just looked. It seemed a mile long and as steep as Mount Everest. There’s no way that I can walk up this. I was embarrassed. But my awesome mother-in-law knew, and she took on all the beach chairs, bags, and snacks, and walked up to get the car.

I took my time. I got half way up the walkway and took a break because my knees were about to buckle. I wasn’t sure I would make it the rest of the way. I walked a little further. Took a break. And finally made it to the top. Breathless. And sore.

This isn’t a story about how you can do things you think you can’t.

I was at the same lake today. When I was ready to leave, I packed up my things, and headed over to the walkway. It didn’t look so long. It didn’t look so steep. I clutched on to my beach chair and bag, and began to walk. I didn’t have to stop and take a break. My knees didn’t feel as though they would buckle. I made it to the top. I made it to my car. Without pain.

Things are still difficult for me. It’s hard to shoot. It’s hard to walk between campuses. It’s impossible for me to eat certain foods.

But.

I walked up this walkway today. And I couldn’t do that two years ago. And for that, I am grateful.

Here’s to summer time! More shooting, more sunshine, more wind in my hair, and more sleep less sleep and enjoying more of the day!

Find your simple pleasures and enjoy them often.

Hourly, if possible.