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| Monica and Diana at the Royal Palais |
The journey of getting to
Paris for our 2012 annual adventures had a perfect beginning-uncontrollable
laughter. We booked an early train from London to Paris and had plenty of time
to look around the shops at St. Pancras Train Station…or so we thought. We went
to the queue to check-in only to learn we missed our check-in time for the
train, oops! Thankfully, the attendant was so nice and changed our tickets for
the next train without a penalty.
He directed us to go through the gate and pointed to the left; we
entered the wrong one and even he couldn’t stifle his laughter.
All of our friends and my
family know how much I love Paris and the dream I have of living there someday.
I always wanted to capture being young in Paris and while I was trying to
figure out a special gift for Di’s 30th birthday, the photo shoot
seemed perfect and something we both would have fun with.
Of all the wonderful
memories from our annual adventures, having a professional photo shoot in Paris
is one of the most memorable moments we have experienced. We had a grand time
taking photos with our wonderful photographer Pierre and the laughter that
began at St. Pancras continued throughout the day of our photo shoot.
With eight months to go
prior to our trip, I began researching professional photographers in Paris. In
typical fashion, I created a spreadsheet and listed categories ranging from
portfolio to overall impression. As soon as I came across Pierre Torset’s
website, I knew he was the photographer we had to work with. His portfolio
stood out more than anyone else’s. Check out his amazing work, you will easily
see how gifted he is!
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| Collage of some of our photos! |
We have so many stories to share from British tourists taking pictures of us, being photo-bombed by our waiter at a café, people trying to take our taxi, Di finding a random French man for me to take pictures with and so on. We started our mid-morning two hour session at the Le Palais Royal and ended the evening photo session at the Eiffel Tower. I hope you get a glimpse of the day from our stories below.
Five Favorite Photo Shoot Memories
Di’s Marilyn Monroe Moment
at the Moulin Rouge
This gorgeous picture says
it all! Di is a natural and had so much fun taking this picture. Pierre
captured a stunning photo of Di with the historical Moulin Rouge in the
background. The circular structure Di was standing on was releasing air, which
was perfect for a Marilyn Monroe type photo.
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| Di in front of the Moulin Rouge. |
The Non-Salon, Salon
Toward the end of our
mid-morning photo session, we asked Pierre if he could help us find a salon so
we could get our hair styled for the evening photo shot. Why not? We were in Paris;
it’s the ideal city to get dolled up in. Pierre started calling salons and
located a salon in the St. Germain Quarters with an English-speaking employee.
Perfect! We arrived and were told Brigitte would be with us in a few minutes.
In the meantime they took our belongings, placed them in a closet, and gave us
robes to wear. How luxurious for a salon!
Then the entertainment began.
As Di and I were looking through magazines trying to find styles we liked, we
noticed there weren’t any styling tools and the magazines were just fashion
magazines. Brigitte greeted us and asked what we would like done, I showed her a
picture from the magazine and she told me my hair wouldn’t look good cut that
way. WAIT!? What?! Who said anything about cutting? Di and I just started
laughing, we soon learned the salon was actually not a styling salon but one
that just provides hair cut services.
Brigitte told us they had no
styling tools or products because they like to teach people to love their
natural style. Hah! What do you mean no products or heated hair tools? We
laughed for the next hour and really appreciated how Brigitte and her team did
their best to provide us with styled hair for our evening photo session. We
found another salon nearby as we were walking to a taxi and bought some
hairspray.
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| Dolled up for the Louvre! |
Walking along the Louvre
By the afternoon Pierre got
used to dealing with Diana and my very different personalities and he really went
above and beyond to capture the best photos possible. Di was walking along the
edge of the famed Louvre pyramid and was just gorgeous, as always, poising for
the camera. All of a sudden, these two French women were walking by and one of
them had a book in her hands and she went up to Pierre and started yelling at
him. Excusez-moi, who
is this woman and why is she so angry? We had no idea what was going on and
soon learned she had asked can’t he read, the sign says ‘no standing’. Pierre responded,
‘she is not standing, she is walking.’ Look how stunning this photo is. Merci
Beaucoup, Pierre!
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| Picture Perfect Moment! |
The Forgotten Bra,
Sisterhood to the Rescue
For months I planned on
wearing a formal dress in front of the Eiffel and a less formal dress for the
remainder of the evening photos. At the last minute, I decided to wear the
formal dress for the photos at the Pont de Arts and change into a sequined
dress for the Eiffel. But I didn’t think of grabbing my bra since the formal
dress was already equipped with one. As I realized my mishap in the taxicab and
used some colorful language, Di asked what I had forgotten. I told her and she said “that’s ok, you
can try my maternity bra and see if that will work”. So when we went into the
same café we had taken our café photos at, the waiter was so excited to see Di.
We had no time to waste, she said "Mon’s forgotten her bra and needs to change!" Hah! By a sheer miracle the bra fit! Giving up your bra to make sure your best
friend can take the photos she’s been envisioning, now that’s sisterhood!!
Merci Di!!
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| The dress I was able to wear thanks to Di's bra! |
Monica’s Twirling Moment at the
Louvre
The
dress…I still wonder how it didn’t get ruined in my luggage from the States or
in the small luggage piece I managed to cram it into for the adventures in Paris.
But, somehow it survived and I had so much fun twirling around and around. I
felt so glamorous and the photos turned out better than I could have imagined!
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| Love the location Pierre chose! |
Our day came to end at the Eiffel Tower and this is one of our favorite pictures! Even though we were standing on an island in the middle of the street with traffic around us, we were so relaxed!
Of course, none of the
amazing photos from our day would have been possible without the best
photographer in Paris. Working with Pierre was a memorable experience of its
own. He was wonderful to work with, allowed us to be as creative as we wanted, had
great ideas, and was just so much fun. The memories he captured are priceless
and will be forever cherished. If you are ever in Paris and thinking of hiring a
professional photographer-learn from the experience we had and know that Pierre is
the best choice you can go with.
To experience a nice change
from being behind the camera while visiting a city, consider enjoying a
different view by being in front of the camera. Having a professional
photographer in Paris was an incredible experience and one we will always look
back on with fond memories. Want additional advice on how to pick the perfect
photographer for your next destination? E mail us at info@bonvoyagefriends.com
Bon voyage!
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