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Playing with Water, Mirrors and Reflections in Nantes

I find that one of life’s greatest pleasures is the juxtaposition of contrasts that makes little things more precious: working hard before allowing yourself a day off, sipping an iced drink when the weather is hot, taking a cold shower after a day at the beach, walking in a crowded place before going home, mixing creamy avocado with coarse grains, stretching your muscles after a long trip in a car, resting after a long walk, chatting with strangers then having an intimate conversation with a loved one… Impermanence can be handled with a healthy dose of optimism: after a shitty day comes a better day!

Today was a contrasting day in Nantes. After a week of very hot weather then came a grey sky, lower temperatures and some rain—your typical Brittany “shitty weather” day. But for once, I didn’t mind because we had a lot of sun and blue sky before. I would have reacted differently in November when every day is cloudy and rainy.

No one in Nantes fears rain. It’s business as usual, people still go out and most of us don’t even carry umbrellas or wear rain jackets. Rain is a fact of life in Brittany. You aren’t uncomfortable until you are truly soaked—slightly wet hair doesn’t count. We also developed a sixth sense to avoid stepping into puddles of rain water, much like most French dodge dog poop walking down the street. It comes with the territory…

We gave Mark his rain jacket but my mum and I just wore jeans and t-shirts. As usual, we headed out for a long walk and we enjoyed a deserted city park under the rain, quiet streets with many puddles of water and a stop in a café. At the end of the day, the sun came out and I went out again with the camera (and the non-broken lens…) to capture a few more reflections of the city in puddles of rain water.

Rainy day in Nantes
Rainy day in Nantes
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Wet leaf at the Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Wet leaf at the Parc de la Noë Mitrie
Raindrops
Raindrops
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water with Mark
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water with Mark
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water with Mark
Self portrait in a puddle of rain water with Mark
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Wet footprint
Wet footprint
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
Reflection of the city in a puddle of rain
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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