Planes, Trains & Automobiles, or: Friends, Cameras & Food

ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
edited April 13, 2010 in Journeys
Once upon a time.... a long long time ago.... there was talk of a special trip. A trip that would require Planes (at least for one of us), Trains & Automobiles. Consisting of friends, cameras and a lot of food, this trip would become an awesome trip.

Early September last year, I had the pleasure of welcoming my dear friend (known by this community as "Schmoo") at the airport in 'my' country, the Netherlands. The plan was to hit The Netherlands, an abandoned Castle in Belgium and Paris, France.

I had a few images processed (a few were posted earlier), but it took till now for me to get to process most of the images.



This first post contains photos of our trip to the Castle with the Hanging Doors, in Belgium. The castle was a pretty young one, having been built in 1886, and it has been abandoned since 1991. After a bit of searching and trying not to scare the many pheasants, we found the castle. The Castle was in a pretty far state of deterioration and by no means 'safe', so we took it nice and slow. We came in through the side, but the old gates were there on the other side, welcoming those who did go to the castle the normal way:
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Welcome

Once inside, we found the main staircase:
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The main staircase


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It was pretty deteriorated, but there was still a good amount of color present:
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Ceiling

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Ceiling


The reason for the name, the Hanging Doors; Where is the floor?
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The Hanging Doors

More color:
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Floor

Interestingly enough, quite a few curtains survived
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Window


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The Castle with the Hanging doors




More to come...
Ivar
www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug

Comments

  • PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    Wow a whole abandoned castle! Thats pretty cool. We don't even have anything resembling a castle here so its amazing to see one abandoned! Thanks Ivar!
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  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited March 9, 2010
    Pretty sweet. But the IR, even sweeter!
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  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2010
    rolleyes1.gif I love "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." It's perfect!

    I can't believe these gems you got from the castle. You really were able to catch the subtle beauty in such a place and your processing (and new watermark) is faboo.

    Glad we were able to uhhh, finally find the building. lol3.gif
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  • ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2010
    Prezwoodz wrote:
    Wow a whole abandoned castle! Thats pretty cool. We don't even have anything resembling a castle here so its amazing to see one abandoned! Thanks Ivar!
    You're welcome lol3.gif
    It was pretty cool to find such a big cool thing all abandoned!
    ian408 wrote:
    Pretty sweet. But the IR, even sweeter!
    :curtsey
    schmoo wrote:
    rolleyes1.gif I love "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." It's perfect!

    I can't believe these gems you got from the castle. You really were able to catch the subtle beauty in such a place and your processing (and new watermark) is faboo.

    Glad we were able to uhhh, finally find the building. lol3.gif
    I figured you would like the title :)
    Thank you, my dear lol3.gif
    Ivar
    www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
  • ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2010
    After the car-ride to the Castle (do they have traffic jams in Belgium, woah) we took a train to Paris! WOOHOO! The funny thing was that I've never really been to Paris until last year, and then I went 3 times <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/lol3.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

    Of course, it started out with rain:
    <object width="640" height="362" ><param name="movie" value="http://ivar.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2010012201.swf&quot; /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="flashVars" value="s=ZT0xJmk9ODA3NjQ1NDA0Jms9b2Rvb3EmYT05NjE0Nzg4XzVwRlBNJnU9SXZhcg==" /><embed src="http://ivar.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2010012201.swf&quot; flashVars="s=ZT0xJmk9ODA3NjQ1NDA0Jms9b2Rvb3EmYT05NjE0Nzg4XzVwRlBNJnU9SXZhcg==" width="640" height="362" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object>


    but it turned out pretty nice, especially considering the whole train-ride was only just over 3 hours:
    807667890_ewQKA-XL-1.jpg

    We agreed that during our time in Paris, we would eat proper French food and proper French food we ate:
    807656751_VGNqS-XL-1.jpg

    Food became a theme during our visit
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    and that was photographed of course:
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    Besides the food, there was plenty to see
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    Places to go, things to see

    We took a few touristy, kitschy shots and had a lot of fun doing so:
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    807664250_2rYyk-XL-1.jpg

    (not as much fun as some other people had watching us, I'm sure <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/lol3.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >)
    807663328_iYY5K-XL-1.jpg

    More to come...
    Ivar
    www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
  • ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2010
    The guy on the right of the photo we had seen before that day, just walking around the city. Later that day, when I shot this in front of the Notre Dame, he was there also just randomly joining people and groups being shot:
    807734079_ftiK5-XL-1.jpg

    Certain parts of Paris were busier than others
    807765144_vNceH-XL.jpg

    But thankfully there were plenty of quiet places and moments; This woman seemed to be writing her life-story over breakfast
    647860641_EHeKj-XL-2.jpg

    807759218_cuT3p-XL.jpg

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    The parc had chairs all over the place, available to rest your butte on:
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    807664614_Wb36V-XL-1.jpg

    Even the pigeons and the statues live in harmony
    807760214_qunFp-XL.jpg

    More to come...
    Ivar
    www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
  • ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
    edited March 22, 2010
    Of course, the famous places were in need of a visit...

    Detail from the Arc de Triomphe
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    The Louvre
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    The Louvre, side
    807663212_oYMfS-XL-1.jpg

    The Notre Dame
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    At night, in front of the Notre Dame, there were plenty of street performers
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    Some needed some assistance from the crowd:
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    The Eiffel Tower:
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    The above shot took some time to get; There was a lot of sun coming from the (left) side, causing flare. Both Schmoo and I tried to find a spot in the shade, but there were not many. Eventually she found one; My head & camera in the shade lol3.gif
    807657509_BrjsE-XL-1.jpg

    The Eiffel Tower from below:
    807759429_QX7cg-XL.jpg

    Even at night, it was open to the public:
    807759623_e8UpN-XL.jpg

    And in the same exact spot as the above photograph was shot, you could turn around and see a very colorful restaurant:
    647861068_XFEKM-XL-3.jpg

    And of course, the mandatory "Eiffel Tower by night" shot:
    807658432_m9Lts-XL-1.jpg

    It is sad that my great friend lives so far away. However a great friend she is, regardless. I did have an awesome time, traveling and shooting. Food, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, travel and friends get a big thumbs up thumb.gif
    816569513_xHws6-XL.jpg

    I hope you enjoyed our little trip as much as I did; C&C much appreciated.
    Ivar
    www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited March 22, 2010
    Oh, DEAR, the memories! rolleyes1.gif These came out so great, and I love your street performer photos in particular.

    The first shot really isolates what's so incredible with the Arc. And you would never know that there was a circle of death traps right behind you :D
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  • Ann McRaeAnn McRae Registered Users Posts: 4,584 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2010
    Bravo! What fun, and what great photography, Ivar!

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  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2010
    Great pics, Ivar! clap.gif
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  • Nikonic1Nikonic1 Registered Users Posts: 684 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2010
    Awesome!!!!!!!! clap.gifclapclap.gifclapclap.gifclap
    Matt :thumb
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  • BradfordBennBradfordBenn Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2010
    Great shots
    -=Bradford

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  • ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
    edited April 9, 2010
    Thanks for the looks and comments, guys! clap.gif
    Ivar
    www.ivarborst.nl & smugmug
  • imagesofhimimagesofhim Registered Users Posts: 527 Major grins
    edited April 10, 2010
    How AWESOME!!!! Thanks for sharing! Love the pics, but love the tale, too!!!clap.gifclap
    Blessings,
    Marjohn

    Images of Him Photography
  • redleashredleash Registered Users Posts: 3,840 Major grins
    edited April 11, 2010
    Ivar (and Schmoo)-

    This was simply wonderful to see and read, a beautiful way to start my Sunday morning! I loved all the comments and stories, and the shots are great. The street shots are especially good, but I liked the food shots the best!

    Thanks for sharing your journey!!

    Lauren
    "But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)

    Lauren Blackwell
    www.redleashphoto.com
  • davemj98davemj98 Registered Users Posts: 225 Major grins
    edited April 13, 2010
    Thanks
    for taking the time to make me a rider on your tour!
    Dave
    davidsdigitalphotography.com
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