This post is all about two of my favorite things: France & film photography! It was a dream of mine to combine them, so creating a blog post about our experience was simply a must!

It all began in December 2018 when I was aimlessly searching Google flights & I saw an amazing flight to Paris during my 30th birthday in August. Needless to say, I was all about it! Nick & I discussed it that night and it was decided – we will celebrate 30 in France! Having already explored Paris in 2016, we decided to venture to new locations to enjoy France from fresh perspectives. After some thorough research, we honed in on two locations; Loire Valley & Gordes (Provence region). Being a 10-day trip, we wanted to feel like we could relax in each destination and not overdo it by jumping around too much, even though that would be a more diverse trip. We really value having moments to truly relax on our getaways. As plans matured, it became very clear that I would love to create a photoshoot while in France. Believe it or not, shooting in France was not a part of the initial blueprint. A little rearranging allowed us to have one full day in Paris between Loire Valley & Gordes, the perfect mid-trip stop to fulfill a dream of shooting film in Paris. From Loire Valley to Paris to Gordes, the trip was truly 3 diverse chapters, full of rich history in Loire, capturing iconic Paris in the heart of the city, and coastal relaxation in Gordes. Here is how it all unfolded!

Loire Valley

Photographing the historic chateaus of Loire Valley was top of list! We loved the idea of enjoying more of the countryside feel of France and Loire Valley was definitely that, while still having a city center with restaurants, cafes, sights, etc. We stayed in Amboise which is an adorable little town a short drive from all our destinations. Normally Nick is the great researcher, finding the best places to stay, restaurants to eat at, songs to play, movies to watch, so when my research wins out, it’s a big deal! I found a cute little Bed & Breakfast called Château de Nazelles located in the village of Nazelles-Négron. The B&B features a variety of individual cottages ranging in size based on your needs. It is rather intimate and charming so I think there are under 10 cottages, keeping each guests’ stay personalized and quiet. It is hosted by a lovely couple, Veronique & Olivier. Upon landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, we drove to Château de Nazelles which took us about 3 hours. We arrived late, it was dark & we were starving! Veronique met us personally, providing us with a key to our room and offered us a late-night snack of cheese, bread, yogurt & jam. We are definitely in France!

Left: Getting ready to tour chateaus, posed in front of our cottage on our first day! // Right: View of Château de Nazelles from our cottage.

Top Left: Cute & Rustic details // Top Right: Landscapes // Bottom Left: Main house & breakfast through arched brick doorway // Bottom Right: Our cottage windowsill with morning coffee.

Left: Cottage Flowers // Right: Entrance/Exit of Château de Nazelles (taken from within the property).

Chateaus

Chateau Gaillard Amboise – This one is the smallest of the three and we felt it was the perfect way to begin. It was not on our initial list, but recommended to us by our B&B host, Veronique. It was very charming and not overly crowded. A long tree-lined drive led to the estate, which was perfectly rustic. They also serve fresh squeezed orange juice which was delicious! Weddings are also hosted here, which is soo romantic.

Left: Nick & I at the tree-lined entrance to Chateau Gaillard Amboise. Right: Quaint side house off the main chateau.

Enjoying fresh squeezed orange juice & overlooking the garden views.

Château de Chaumont – This chateau was very gorgeous with 15th century charm and gardens. Originally built in the 10th century, it was called for destruction, then later rebuilt in the 15th century by Charles I d'Amboise. The crowds were a bit more overwhelming so we kept to the outsides, not prioritizing indoor tours. There were romantic gardens, a beautiful courtyard and spectacular views. I actually took a few of my favorite new headshots here along a neutral wall! I’m sure a wall like this could be found in many places, but I love that is it here.

Left: Fave new headshot! // Right: Beautiful courtyard within the chateau.

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Château de Chenonceau – Going into the chateau journey, this one was my favorite, so we saved it for last, knowing light would be a little softer and more ideal for shooting film. This one was the most grand, eye catching and left us feeling transported back in time. We also went to this one last as it attracts the most crowds and our host, Veronique, suggested by going towards the end of the day we would be spared from the masses. She was right! As we walked in, we were swimming upstream, as almost everyone else was leaving. Being on our third chateau, we knew the drill, but still were in awe of the beauty.

We hadn’t done much research on restaurants while in Amboise but stumbled into the gorgeous Hotel Le Clos D’Amboise for dinner. It ended up being our favorite from our time in Amboise. It was within a charming courtyard and felt like such a romantic escape! Cute balconies, croquet, beautiful menu selection – we loved it! We started with a cheese platter (opposite of the French who enjoy cheese as a dessert) then a main course and a buttery sweet dessert that was so delicious I forget what it was. We dined past 10PM, loving that European lifestyle!

Left: The exterior of Hotel Le Clos D’Amboise, the view from within the courtyard. // Right: Courtyard fun.

The next day was officially my birthday! The weather was rather cold with rain showers, so we opted for a vineyard tour in Chinon at Chateau du Petit-Thouars. The 150-hectare estate is run by Sébastien & D’Arcy du Petit Thouars, the twelfth generation to reside here since Sébastien’s ancestor George purchased the property in 1636. The family is from a generation of aristocrats but nowadays, being a Count or Countess doesn’t mean quite what it used to, so these families maintain jobs, often offering tours of their grand chateaus! We were shown the vineyard, underground wine storage, and then had a wine tasting paired with cheese.

Left: Château Du Petit-Thouars details // Right: We’ve arrived in Chinon! This is just down the road from the Château Du Petit-Thouars.

Left: Touring the vineyards at Château Du Petit-Thouars // Right: Château Du Petit-Thouars flowers

We used the next day to explore the city center of Amboise. We explored, walked around, stopped for coffee and quiches and gelato later on. We spent the afternoon at Château de Nazelles reading books and snacking on local bread and wine we picked up in town. Isn’t is often true that the simplest experiences are often the sweetest?

Left: Perched on a wall in the town of Amboise // Right: Town of Amboise

Shall we have a pre-dinner drink here, my love?

Late afternoon spread of cheese, bread & wine from our tour the previous day at Château du Petit Thouars, enjoyed back at our cottage at Chateau de Nazelles.

Paris

Next up: Paris! We drove back to Paris in time to check into Hotel Alfred Sommier and prepare for my portrait session with a friend I know from middle school. We have kept in touch via social media, but probably haven’t seen each other since early high school! We began her session in the charming courtyard at Hotel Alfred Sommier, then ventured to the Louvre, and ended with the Paris bridge that shows off the Eiffel Tower in the background. She wore a beautiful Self Portrait dress that had lace detailing, long sleeves, and a flattering pleated skirt. She marked her Paris trip with a Cartier ring so we were sure to show that off too.

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Stephanie marked the significant of her trip and season in life with this gorgeous Juste un Clou ring by Cartier.

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We had the Louvre practically to ourselves!

I adore this Ilford 3200 black and white sequence of Stephanie in Paris.

On the day of the editorial planned with Raela of RSVP Event Designs, we coordinated for a sunrise shoot to avoid Parisian crowds. Even though it is very common, I really wanted to capture iconic Paris for my first France shoot. This included locations such as Jardin des Tuileries, Jardins du Trocadéro where the Eiffel Tower awaited in the background, and Palais-Royale. We also had a very special indoor space reserved at Hotel le Marois. The interior of Hotel le Marois was spectacular, with gold detailed walls, pastel painted ceilings in the theme of Amor and Psyche, and a chandelier made for royalty. That said, with the variety of popular outdoor common areas, we needed clean open spaces which means starting close to sunrise! We had a firm 3:45AM wake up and hair and makeup began in the wee hours of 4AM. It is all a little blurry now, but we were shooting by late 6AM. The entire collection was photographed on Fuji400h film using my Contax 645. I brought my digital camera as backup, but didn’t pull it out of my camera bag once! Warning: A decision like this may cause anxiety later. The weather was perfect and since that is the one thing you cannot control, I was elated to have a beautiful day! After close to 11 hours, we wrapped! And were SO exhausted! I am so eager to share the images. With MUCH excitement, the editorial has been accepted for publication with Wedding Sparrow (yay!!!) and it will be featured in January 2020, so for now the majority is under wraps. It will be totally worth the wait. I’ll include a few sneak peeks!

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GORDES

And we are off to Gordes! We drove a long 7 hours to the South of France where Gordes was waiting for us in all of its sunshine & relaxation. We didn’t arrive till 2 or 3AM, but our AirBnB hosts, Eric & Jean, still graciously met us upon arrival. We selected an AirBnB called The Pink House that is a guest house behind a main house, where the hosts live. The guest house offered everything; a kitchen, breakfast area, indoor casual lounge, and best of all, a private outdoor space with lounge chairs and olive trees. Being there in August, the vegetation was a little tired, but it was still supremely relaxing. It was a short 10 minute walk into town, where there are cute restaurants, markets, and views overlooking Provence that are to die for! Our hosts even baked a chocolate cake for my birthday and upon checkout gave us a decorative lavender bag, which has hung in our home since! Their personal touches were so sweet and made our stay extra memorable.

Everything in Gordes felt almost Mediterranean, very coastal and relaxing, even though the water wasn’t within view. We mostly brought local food back from the market and prepared dinner at home. This part of the trip was all about relaxing and it was definitely that. I read an entire Elin Hildebrand novel during our stay!

Classic Gordes on film. I love how the sky looks like watercolor.

We went into Aix-en-Provence one day and enjoyed exploring the city part of the region. We visited Hôtel de Caumont and Pavillon Vendôme. Both were so beautiful and very classic France, which I adore. We paid admission for Hôtel de Caumont but not for Pavillon Vendôme. We spent much more time at Hôtel de Caumont, enjoying the art, courtyards and aesthetics. This would be a great place to have a romantic lunch at!

Garden area entering into Pavillon Vendôme.

Views of Bonnieux as we drove from Provence back to Gordes.

We also visited the Sénanque Abbey, which features rolling lavender fields and beautiful architecture. This was a short drive from our AirBnB. As our visit was in August, the lavender was past peak, so it wasn’t as gorgeous and lush as it would be in late June, July months. I have been wanting to visit this, and currently my grandma is painting a portrait of the landscape! She does beautiful work & I am so grateful to be able to hang that in our home someday. The remainder of our trip was spent relaxing, cooking, & reading… living the vacation life!

Stone walls in Gordes, perfect for a fresh headshot!

Back to Paris we went! We flew home after 10 days of history, adventure, memories & relaxation. The trio of our trip (Loire Valley, Paris, Gordes) truly made our time diverse and comprehensive, while not being overwhelming. There is very little I would have changed about our trip. All of our accommodations were places I would love to return to. Perhaps the only thing I would have changed would have been allowing more time in Paris to enjoy the city, since it was all work and quite fast-paced. I know for certain we will return to France again someday, and I am so joyful to think of the many ways we will continue to create memories on our travels & how France will continue to be a sentimental place for our family to adventure to.

TIPS:

· Get a rental car!

· Either have a portable wifi cartridge (one came with our rental car since we upgraded to Wifi – it was perfect because we took it with us even when walking around!) or just arrange for your phone plan to have international Wifi!

· Plan days & activities around weather!

· Download the WhatsApp app on your phone before leaving. This allows you to have phone calls without using data.

· Choose accommodations that have amazing reviews & suit your schedule well! Accommodations (hotel, AirBnB, Bed&Breakfast) can sway overall experience. Our hosts & locations made our stays even better. It totally enriched our trip!

· Don’t over do it! If the trip sounds chaotic in an itinerary, it definitely will be when executed. Keep it simple and allow time for relaxation. We knew driving from each destination would be a lot, and honestly it was, but it was manageable and any more would have deterred from our experience. Another example, we love historic spots, but don’t do tours well, so we didn’t feel guilty spending time only on the exteriors, it’s what mattered to us!

· Bring cute new outfits! I kind of indulge in having specific travel attire for the destination in mind. I don’t have major financial splurges (lol), but just find cute affordable pieces that I KNOW I may only wear while on my trip, then a handful after. I found so many cute & very affordable looks on Nasty Gal! And I promise I didn’t spend over $150!

*All film is Fuji 400h (b&w is Ilford3200) and shot on a combination of Contax645 (120mm) & Canon1V (35mm).
All film was processed and developed at Photovision Prints.

I hope you enjoyed! BONJOUR!

Rachel Owens