Normandy light in the late afternoon

A ways back, not long after we moved here, Natalya and I noted independently, and then shared with exclamation points, each of us insisting it was our idea, that the light in Normandy, in the very late afternoon, is ethereal.

Not in the morning, not midday, not afternoon. Only late afternoon. When the shadows have stretched out far.

The photo captures it well. It is a strong yellow light. And that is why (I think) it is ethereal. Because there is no strong yellow sun to produce it.

Sure, the sun is setting, but this is not the South, so even the setting sun is not insistent in the way one would think since it is at eye-level. You can almost stare at it here. So it is quite the mystery where the capacity comes from to envelope everything in such a magically pervasive yellow.

And it is so lovely to experience! It is like a Kurosawa film set. Not that I was on one, but reading about him, he was fanatical about color and lighting. He even had grass painted (forgot which film) because he didn't like the color green that was showing up on the film.

Well, these dreamy, ethereal afternoons, bathed in this pale yellow glow, is something I can imagine he would have liked.



Photo, left to right: Gabriel, Alexandra (a friend), and Maxime in kitchen apron, which he wanted to wear on the walk, for reasons probably known only to him.

Those three again. Gabriel almost hidden between the other two. This is the new "dock" and picnic area that Maxime helped to construct. It's done now, just waiting for the grass to come up!