A room over the street, a photo from Pays-de-la-Loire, West

Photographer's Note

Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department (Pays de la Loire region) and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles. It has been host to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race since 1923.

First mentioned by Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a sub tribe of the Aedui. Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum (City of the Cenomani). Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, lies in the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. An amphitheatre built in the third century AD is still visible, but the thermae were demolished during the crisis of the third century to build the city's walls, which remain some of the most complete circuit of Gallo-Roman city walling that survives.

As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the eleventh century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror was able to invade England successfully; however in 1069 the citizens revolted and expelled the Normans, which led to Hugh being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Mathilde in the cathedral, where Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was baptised.

The city retains a well-preserved old town dating from the medieval period (known as the Cité Plantagenêt or Vieux Mans), where the cobbled streets and half-timbered house fronts provided the setting for Gérard Depardieu in the 1989 film of Cyrano de Bergerac. Most of the pictures in this series were taken in Vieux Mans in rather dreary weather unfortunately.

The above information was extracted from a fairly lengthy article on Wikipedia that can be accessed by clicking here.

ChrisJ, jlbrthnn, timecapturer, RhodieIke, ikeharel, Budapestman, Charo, sandpiper, cargus, Graal, kordinator, macjake, lgir, pierrefonds has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rodgerg (55767) 2011-12-22 0:36

Hello Stephen,

Excellent cadarge vertical sur cette charmante petite ruelle où cahque élément apporte sa touche. Les vieux pavés ajoutent également à l'amabiance. Belle perspective ouvrete sur les colombages qui sé détachent dans le fond.
Amitiés,
roger

JFS (32107) 2011-12-22 0:47

Hi Stephen!
Very nice composition of this lovely village. The light is perfect and the sharpness too. I love it!

cheers,
Juan

jurek1951 (35765) 2011-12-22 0:56

Hi Stephen,
Nice street scene well captured with nice perspective,Very interesting architecture.
Georg

siudzi (23857) 2011-12-22 1:18

Hi Stephen,

A lovely lonely old street has been found and captured. Very interesting depth and perspective here. Beautiful work.

Happy Christmas!

Warm regards,
Malgorzata

ChrisJ (86854) 2011-12-22 2:02

Hello Stephen,

Good textural details in the cobblestone street that is apparently designed to channel off water asap with the v groove. Excellent sharpness & diffused lighting & well composed. Tfs!

lakshmip1949 (19110) 2011-12-22 2:54

Hello Stephen,

I have seen passages connecting the two buildings, but not a room connecting the two sides. A nice shot of the village with sharpness and depth. I like the cobble stoned street which is deserted. The blue closed shutters and brown door catch as much attention as the room above.

Lakshmi

Nicou (97637) 2011-12-22 3:08

Hello

très belle iamge de ce passage et de cette rue avec le coloombage, le pavage, super cadrage et iamge on a envie de passer de le traverser.

bravo et amitié

Nicou

jlbrthnn (79773) 2011-12-22 3:42

Bonjour Stephen,
La photo est soigneusement composée et cadrée. La rue est pleine de détails agréables à découvrir. C'est une photo très intéressante de cette ville, une photo d'excellente qualité. Bravo.
Bonne journée
Amicalement
Joël

Fis2 (73084) 2011-12-22 4:21

Witaj Stephen!
A very curious alley.
Interesting architecture.
Good frame and colors.
I like it.
Nice afternoon
Krzysztof

timecapturer (30300) 2011-12-22 5:32

Hi Stephen
a beautiful street and captured beautifully too! Love the Teddy crying for help! Executed flawlessly and an attractive image, presented perfectly.

Enjoy the day - Brian.

RhodieIke (9207) 2011-12-22 6:46

Hi Stephen, Great street view you have captured, interesting architecture, good Pov, super colours, light and management.Trust you came to the rescue of the bear, enjoy the festivities, Cheers Iain.

Gerrit (43743) 2011-12-22 9:50

Hi Stephen,
what a beautiful old street with cobbles and half-timbered houses.
Excellent view and composition,
regards, Gerrit

digbymerry (3998) 2011-12-22 10:17

Hello Stephen

What a lovely old corner. The soft lighting has allowed you to capture all the details. Very well done.

Best wishes

Digby

Highlander_ (0) 2011-12-22 11:05

Hello.
Beautiful vertical photos.
See also medvedic the window.
I am new on the site and hope it will be nice to hang out.
Hello.

mauro61 (52527) 2011-12-22 11:56

ciao Stephen,
bell'angolo del villaggio ripreso in un momento di assoluta tranquillità.
Caratteristici edifici che è sempre un piacere guardare.

Merry Christmas for you and your family.

maurizio

Silvio1953 (98093) 2011-12-22 12:00

Ciao Stephen, great perspective on lovely alley with nice house, excellent clarity, splendid light and colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Budapestman (82620) 2011-12-22 12:01

Hi Stephen,
a charming street photo with spectacular composition and beautiful architectural details, nostalgic atmosphere, Tfs! Have a nice evening! Kellemes estét kívánok!
György

Charo (51174) 2011-12-22 15:07

Bonsoir Stephen,
Très belle cette partie de la ville conserve son architecture médiévale très bien. L'ours semble vous saluer de la fenêtre;)
D'excellents détails et la lumière.
Joyeux Noël!
Charo

sandpiper (5997) 2011-12-22 20:54

Hi Stephen

A beautiful small laneway with an interesting room above. Love the teddy bear in the window. Great composition and POV

Chris

cargus (6450) 2011-12-22 22:23

Good shot,an interesting architectural scene, sharpness exposure and natural colors are excellent!...well done.!!
Regards
Adrian

Graal (88852) 2011-12-22 23:25

Hi Stephen,
very nice old backstreet and window in BG. Image well composed. Good presentation of Old Town in Le Mans.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

kordinator (13411) 2011-12-23 1:11

Hello Stephen
A lovely lonely old street has been found and captured. Very interesting depth and perspective here.
Lovely old architecture.
Great job.
Best regards
Saša

macjake (39227) 2011-12-23 2:14

Hi Stephen
I'm not sure if other people have mentioned it, but personally, I think the photo would look better without the addition of the sky. If you scroll down the screen until the sky is gone, you'll see what i mean...what do you think?

love the charm, the stones, the doors, the window shutters, the bear in the window!
lots of things to enjoy :)

Merry Christmas
Craig

dkmurphys (36759) 2011-12-23 2:49

Hi Stephen,
Another charming street in that old town. The room over the street is quite attractive.
Well done, enjoy the day.

lgir (6215) 2011-12-23 9:49

Hello Stephen,

nice POV on this old street of Le Mans, with an image of a beautiful quality.
Thank you for sharing
Merry Christmas !
Regards
Laurent

ikeharel (37280) 2011-12-24 1:46

Hello Stephen,
A fine view down the alley, through old style archi. built houses.
Depth and clearity are superb.
Merry Christmas and happy holiday's weekend,
Ike

npecanhuk (53889) 2011-12-24 4:50

Hi Stephen!
Charming street!
Lovely and beautiful picture!
Chosen pov, vertical format, composition, exposure and colors are highlights!
TFS - congrats,
Merry Christmas,
Neyvan

BluSimo (9392) 2011-12-27 11:38

Bonsoir Stephen
c'est incroyable comme cet petit our nous fait élever le regard vers lui, et il nous fait venir la tentation de lui saluer avec la main, comme lui fait. J'adore ces maisons typiques françaises en bois, la lumière faible du jour, la route déserte augmente une atmosphère un peu féerique et d' antan.
Bon 2012!!
Amicalement
Simonetta

pierrefonds (48335) 2011-12-29 15:36

Hi Stephen,

The narrow street is sending my eyes toward the door which is giving depth to the composition. The point of view is showing the details and colors of the architecture of the buildings. The afternoon light is bringing out the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre