I had some short stories, poems and photographs to share ... and so here I am

The Festival of Lights


As I wasn't able to get over to London to get all energised with good vibes at the blogmoot organised by Skint, Debi and Minx, I had to find some other trick. Luckily, Lyon has been hosting its annual Fête des Lumières over the past four days. This has become famous, attracting people from afar. Historic buildings and churches are lit up in spectacular fashion!


The light shows that were projected on the façades of two churches in the city were absolutely amazing, but because the images were moving it was impossible to capture them on camera. These other shots give you a general taste of what we saw though.


The festival of lights takes place every year, with its roots in religion. On the first day of the festival residents put little candles in their windows, traditionally to give thanks to the virgin Mary. Our flat doesn't have a view out onto the street, so we don't tend to put up any candles. We overlook an internal courtyard, the historic site of Lyon's first ever hospital.


I find this festival is perfect to get people into the festive mood, just weeks away from Xmas. The roads are closed off to traffic, which gives the city a wonderful ambience of freedom and good humour. You go home feeling absolutely psyched up!


Now, it's true that I would've had a much better time at the London blogmoot. I would've seen light on a different level, the luminosity that only our favourite blogs can provide. But when it came to trying to be satisfied with the next best thing, this festival kept me smiling. Also, sometimes it's good to get out into the world, away from the computer and all of those letters!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks gorgeous. Fantastic pictures.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty stuff. The colors are a bit supernatural, but I'm guessing that was the intended effect.

S. Kearney said...

It's very funny to see such historic and "stately" buildings given such razzle-dazzle! Especially when you see what they project onto the churches!

Anonymous said...

They're lovely pictures. That's why I've borrowed one. Hope you don't mind.

S. Kearney said...

A pleasure, Dave, if it's for a good cause ... and it looks like your blog is a good cause. Welcome. I have the same photo in white and red balls if you're interested!

Saaleha said...

Wow! Simply amazing!

Anonymous said...

Kind thanks, Shameless. Keep in touch. It's hard to know how to respond to your offer of balls in red and white without sounding indelicate. I'll simply say that it is kindly appreciated but that I'll limit myself to blue ones just for now. After all, you really can have too much of a good thing.

S. Kearney said...

Dave,
Yes, sorry, you're right ... now that I read back on my offer about the balls! I shall save them for when I do a piece about France, when I need the red, white and blue theme! Glad to assist. I'd also like to link to your site if that's OK ... there's lots of good stuff there.

And Saaleha, hi ... goes without saying that these sights were better with the naked eye, of course.

Anonymous said...

Those pics are just stunning - so many colours! Lovely. Love the juxtaposition of old architecture with modern lighting FX.

Anonymous said...

Excellent photography!

Interesting sideplay about coloured balls too ;)

S. Kearney said...

Cailleach,
Aren't boys terrible when there's a little bit of word play to focus on?!

Atyllah,
I love a little bit of irreverence when it comes to things old and stately. I think it shakes things up for the good of all.

Anonymous said...

Great pics! Every year I decide to go to Lyon for this festival and every year it creeps up without notice and then it's too late...

S. Kearney said...

I know what you mean, Hope. I even sometimes don't get round to going, even though I live here! It comes around in such a flash and as it's on over four days I always think I have plenty of time. Often I end up pushing through crowds of people, all in a bit of a rush! Not good when you need to keep the camera steady to be in focus.

Anonymous said...

Excellent pics Shameless. I hope all is well in Shameless land. :)

Keep the beautiful pictures coming...

Anonymous said...

You missed a great night, but this is fantastic!

Anonymous said...

shameless - boys will be boys - always! :)

S. Kearney said...

And actually, Cailleach, I fear now that it was me who read into what Dave wrote. He was probably just saying that responding to my offer of balls could turn out to be indelicate because he was going to have to say "thanks but no thanks". See how I twisted around the word indelicate? Imagining straight away something snigger-like? Still, I am Shameless, so I can kind of get around these things by protesting that it's all part of my persona!

S. Kearney said...

Jefferson,
Thanks for the nice comment.
A video presentation of New York is on the way, with some jazz improvisation on the piano to boot! Now there's no holding me down!:)