France Day 11: Grasse and Aix en Provence

La Surprise B&B in Grasse was amazing. You should stay there. Good luck finding it. ;)






Yes, I posted a photo of the shower. It was wonderful.

We almost didn't go to Aix en Provence. It was our last full day in France. We were a bit disappointed with the French Riviera (snobs!), and thought we would head to Marseilles to see the ports and just relax at our airport hotel. So happy we didn't. Aix en Provence is basically a college town and had the best shops, eateries, and a really neat culture to it. I love the images I captured there and wish we'd had more time to stay and explore.






La Vie en Roses. Cute cute. [Do you see me and D?]



And with that, the France photos are done! I'm sad to see these posts finished. It was lovely to relive our trip every week with you.

I have two more France posts planned, but they will not add to the film images taken. If you have been waiting to see the full set before you purchase pretty photos, the time has come! :) Please visit my SHOP and ask for any Contax or Nikon print through the "Custom Print" option. I'll get them right to you!

Thank you all for your support through this series. I'm so lucky to have you cheering for me.

Xoxo, Kallie

Note: Contax 645 with Planar T* 80mm f2 lens and a couple of iPhone photos.

all images © Kallie Brynn Photography

France Day 10: Cannes, Antibes, and Valbonne

We started the day with breakfast outside, overlooking Grasse, with our house mates. Sorry, still no photos of that. Then we headed in to Cannes to explore and see what we could of the Cannes Film Festival. It was all quite beautiful. We saw no celebrities, and missed people by minutes we later found. NBD. We had a nice time.








Then we drove along the Grande Corniche to Antibes. It was lovely.



So delicious.







Then back to Valbonne to stroll around and eat dinner.



Our trip is winding down. Only one more big day left. ;)

Don't forget to add pretties to your home with prints from my SHOP! If you like an image posted today that isn't a listing in the store, you can purchase the "Custom Print" and I'll get it right to you!

Xoxo, Kallie

Note: Contax 645 with Planar T* 80mm f2 lens.

all images © Kallie Brynn Photography

France Day 9: Monaco, Eze, Grasse, and Mougins

If you follow my twitter account, you've probably noticed some exciting KBP activity lately! Last week was one to remember. Here is a list of what happened, most of it on August 31st:
I booked my first international wedding. I'll be spending Thanksgiving this year (and my 27th birthday) in Thailand!!
I booked lifestyle sessions with two fellow photographers. That's a big deal to me. So honored to be chosen by others in the field.
One of my France photographs and links to my France Prints Shop were posted on the Still Love Film blog. It was amazing to be featured with some of the bests in the industry. The response from other photographers was a bit overwhelming (in a good way!). I'm so very appreciative of it all.
Then an email popped up in my inbox that had me jumping up and down. One of the top photographers I follow, Kate Headley, emailed me to assist her with a wedding. She also said she loves my work. I'm on cloud 9.
Also that day, on a personal note, I got the all-clear from the dermatologist. Very relieving considering my family's history of skin cancer.

All of this to say a huge, massive thank you to all of the wonderful, supportive people out there - from my family to those of you I have yet to know. It means so much and is so encouraging to continue juggling a life of things that I love - being a wife, a mother, and a photographer. It's not always easy, but I can't imagine doing life any other way. Thank you.

Now on to France!

Day 9 started rainy. We had breakfast inside with our house mates and then jumped in the car to explore the Côte d'Azur/French Riviera/South of France. All of those descriptions sound so romantic. I have no images of the first part of the day. We drove the Grande Corniche through Nice. You can see clips of that drive toward the end of our Driving France video on Vimeo. The Corniche took us into Monaco and onto the Grande Prix route, which David got to drive in our awesome Ford Fiesta. ;) They were setting up the bleachers for the races.



The Monte Carlo

We had a fine time walking around Monaco, but it's honestly just not our scene. These are all of the shots I took and it started to rain a bit. Packing up the Contax in our backpack, we headed off to find our parking garage. No big deal, right? Everything was clearly labeled on how to park there. Finding it while walking should be easy, too. Ugh. It was horrible. Monaco, like Grasse, is built into a steep mountainside. The cut-throughs and levels are nearly impossible to navigate on foot because there are so many tunnels. We spent hours searching for our parking garage. Hours. We finally teamed up with another older couple who had the same luck. We went through tunnels and jumped over barricades. It was absurd. And then we drove off back into France with no intention of returning to Monaco.


We went to Eze. It's a small mountain-top village like those of the Luberon Valley. After exploring the Luberon, there wasn't much that it added to our trip, except the best French toy store. It was wonderful. We bought Tova a Koko La Lune doll from the man below.


Then it rained a lot.


A view of Grasse [above].

Then dinner in Mougins at La Petit Fouet. I decided to try ratatouille for dinner, since the Pixar movie is one of my favorites. It was bland. [Apparently all of the celebrities who go to the Cannes Film Festival (photos on Day 10) stay in Mougins. We saw none, but could tell we were a bit out of place for that village.]

Don't forget to add pretties to your home with prints from my SHOP! If you like an image posted today that isn't a listing in the store, you can purchase the "Custom Print" and I'll get it right to you!

Xoxo, Kallie

Note: Contax 645 with Planar T* 80mm f2 lens.

all images © Kallie Brynn Photography

France Day 8: The Gorges du Verdon

We started the day with breakfast at La Guillone with another guest couple over incredible views of the Luberon Valley.



Then we were off - with our last view of the beautiful Gordes village [below].

We drove a few hours through the valley and into another mountain range...


until this peeked out from in between the trees:

This is Lac de Saint Croix. It took our breath away. We've seen nothing like it - nothing that has even come close.


Then we kayaked the Gorges du Verdon.












We were in awe.






We stopped several times while driving along the mountainside. On one of our stops, a group of three motorcyclists from Italy asked me to take their photo. They lined their shiny, sparkly bikes up perfectly, straightened out their skull cap bandanas, and crossed their arms. I took one shot, and then the guy turned on the flash and I took another. It was a cool experience, but I was trying hard not to giggle a bit at the ridiculousness of everything going on. Then the guy asked David if he could take me. Haha.





And then we drove to Grasse and got terribly lost on the way to La Surprise B&B, run by some lovely Britons. We were guests with two other couples - one from Austria and one from Australia. We sat around the outside table chatting and resting for a while, then drove to Valbonne for dinner. It was a lovely place.
Two notes on getting lost: 1 - I got laughed at for my French by a French woman who spoke perfect English. Thankfully, she was very sweet and helpful. 2 - the roads in Grasse are nearly vertical. I've never been so stressed out for my life. Not even driving along the cliffs of the Luberon or Verdon.



Don't forget to add pretties to your home with prints from my SHOP! If you like an image posted today that isn't a listing in the store, you can purchase the "Custom Print" and I'll get it right to you!

Xoxo, Kallie

Note: Contax 645 with Planar T* 80mm f2 lens, Nikon FM3a 35mm camera with Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Planar for Nikon lens, and a few iPhone photos.

all images © Kallie Brynn Photography