“Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.”
Thank you for that quote, Edith Wharton … one of my favourite writers and a true Francophile.
Those are just the right words to introduce this petit goût of window photos from my travels in France.
Windows and doors: my camera and I can’t get enough of them in this country that owns my heart.
French windows are special. But… of course…
Seriously. Unlike most windows in British and German architecture, the ones in France swing in from their casements.
This sets them apart, makes them unique and, for me at least, gives them that certain je ne sais quoi factor.
No screens! Unlike almost every window in North America, there are no screens on the windows in France and that makes them even more attractive and … all those shutters?
The peeling paint?
The array of colours?
They speak to me of pure romance. They just do.
Of course there are many styles and shapes of windows in France: elegant, ornate, simple, quaint, rustic, from Romanesque through Gothic, Baroque, right up to Modernism.
The windows that call to me aren’t necessarily from a particular period.
They are simply there … irresistible and unique with their own character and style.
As I photograph them I wonder what’s on the other side.
What’s the story?
Patricia Sands lives in Toronto, Canada, when she isn’t somewhere else. An admitted travel fanatic, she can pack a bag in a flash and be ready to go anywhere … particularly the south of France. Her award-winning debut novel The Bridge Club was published in 2010 and her second novel, The Promise of Provence was an Amazon Hot New Release in April 2013. Find Patricia at her Facebook Author Page or her blog.
