Wednesday, July 2, 2014

A moment captured

Did you know that Rome wasn't always the home of the popes?
From 1309 to 1378, the papal seat was located in Avignon, France.
The Palais des Papes is the first thing you see when you arrive in Avignon.
Standing solid and proud over the city and the river.

I walked through the palace discovering the history of Avignon and the catholic church.
From room to room, I wandered.  Marveling at the amazing architecture.
Reading about the men and the popes who left their mark here.
Moved by the impressive expanse of the great rooms.
Straining my neck to look up at the grand ceilings.

I walked through a set of ornate, grand doors into a small vestibule.
Large open windows led out onto the courtyard with a grand staircase to one side.
In the fourteenth century, popes would climb the wide staircase with great ceremony,
stand in the windows and greet the people below.

As I looked up towards the tall windows everything went a bit soft and hazy.
Maybe it was the way the sun was hitting the stone.

Two young catholic priests in long black robes
stood framed perfectly in the open windows.

I caught my breath and everything went still for a moment.
It felt as if I was seeing into the past.
They stood casually, completely separate from the throngs of tourists.

Time stood still for a moment and I wondered what they were thinking,
standing is this grand place where popes once stood.
A place so very heavy with history.


As they turned, I noticed that they each had an audioguide pressed to their ear.
Just that quickly, the moment passed and I was again among the tourists.



I'm linking up with Emma, Rebecca and Kelly for their monthly Travel Link Up.

The prompt for July is your favorite travel photo.

This is probably not my best but it is certainly my recent favorite.

There were people milling all around us.
When I saw them my camera instantly went to my face
and I willed everyone to stand still.
One click and it was gone.
I'm so happy that I captured it.

 I just think they are beautiful standing in that window.
So young and full of promise in a place that is old and lost in the past.


Be sure to link up.  I can't wait to see your photos.

Have you captured a moment when time stood still?



11 comments:

  1. Shikha (whywasteannualleave)July 2, 2014 at 2:43 PM

    Beautifully written Selena! Your words really give a story to a photo that really gets people thinking I think - I find myself looking at it wondering what they were thinking about as well1

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  2. Such a stunning moment (and a touch Twilight movie to boot!)

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  3. Ok I had chills....and then they turn around with an audio guide! Love it! Still, a beautiful moment and amazing how you captured it!

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  4. Such a lovely moment captured Selena! The light around them is perfect too. (Loving that you don't see the audio guides either!)

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  5. Love it. The photo really seem to capture the place and moment. Love it that they turned out to be tourists as well.

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  6. BeautifuL!!!!! I love this photo - it makes these two priest's so real. I love to see people of the church in real life situations (like Nuns smoking).

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  7. That is an awesome, awesome shot! So perfectly framed.

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  8. How wonderful, I went to a Catholic school K-8 and I remember a few moments seeing the priests walking about campus and being struck by how set apart they seemed in their robes and sandals.

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  9. Beautiful Selena, you have captured the moment beautifully! I feel like I'm actually there watching that moment xx

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  10. great shot and so different to the tourist shots others get

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