Not only am I trying to make some headway on an article I’m supposed to be writing (Research Leave isn’t all about traipsing around lovely new cities, after all), but I spent the weekend with an unwelcome bout of gastroenteritis. Since Pater picked up on it about a day later, we’re suspecting a virus rather than food poisoning, and we’re both on the mend today. Still, I find it hard to muster either the time or the enthusiasm to regale you with an account of eating in San Francisco and Yountville, the intended subject of my next post.
Rather than abandon posting altogether, I was inspired by Eric’s ParisDaily photo of winter sunshine on the Madeleine in Paris 
to post my own photos of San Franciso buildings gloriously illuminated by the late afternoon winter sun.
Sorry to have so little to offer you, word-wise, especially when so many new visitors have been stopping by at Lisa’s suggestion
but perhaps some silence can be as golden as this marvellous light, these buildings’ tones . . .
and besides, we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words . . .
so Eric’s 1000 (above, remember?)
plus my 5000 . . . and I’m probably over my limit.
But you’re not . . . feel free to leave as many words as you’d like in the Comments. Always Welcome!
Ooooh – GE is the worst. Hope you and Pater are back to full strength soon. Rest and recover – more important than blogging! Love all your photos of San Fran.
Gorgeous shots! There's something about that low angle of light in the wintertime that really brings out details, color and textures.
Feel better soon!!
I love your building shots. San Francisco has such lovely architectural details.
Your pictures are always enjoyable…
hope that you are feeling better…and good luck on the paper!
I can't tell you how much I miss that late afternoon sun, I go to work in the dark I come home in the dark, and I ache to feel that sun on my face.
San Francisco really does look warm and lovely in these photographs; did you ride on a street car? I will be sooo jealous if you did.
Hope you are feeling better, if not slimmer!
I love how each of these cities has its characteristic light. Beautiful photos! Feel better soon. (Just got a flu shot yesterday but hear it might not protect against the strain that's causing so much illness.)
Thanks, Jillian. We're on the mend, but still tired. . .
Pseu: Yes, it's a light I really love, and then against the colours of these buildings, mmmmm!
Nancy: I really noticed that wealth of detail on the buildings, such a treat.
Hostess: Thanks. I'm actually having fun with the research.
Alison: One of the best things about being on leave is being able to get out in the sunshine when it does appear, soaking it up on my back in a mid-day walk. And no, we didn't ride on the cable cars, three or four times, along Hyde Street to downtown. . . if hearing that makes you feel better, nor did we hold our breath to see if the brakes would hold as the over-filled car stopped on an ever-so-steep hill to wait for the intersecting traffic. . .No, we did not, if that's what you need to hear. . .
As you suggest, I did lose a pound or two to Gastro, but sadly, I suspect it will bounce right back on in a few days.
Duchesse: I love that too. Not only is the angle slightly different, the sky colour as well, but the buildings' different colours have a say as well.
I haven't bothered with a flu shot for a few years, but if the relevant vaccine were available for this latest version I think I'd take it . . . altho' not being exposed to the students right now will perhaps make a difference, I hope.
I love the light you have captured in these photos, and the marvelous architectural detail as well. The warm glow and the angle of the winter light is so breathtaking. Paris too.
I love the light in Paris in the spring but have never been in the winter months. Perhaps a goal, but then a return to SF is also a must.
Gastroenteritis sounds awful. I hope you both feel better soon.
Lovely photos.
Ooh, the gastro – hope you are both feeling better. We suffered a similar fate during, of all things, our 6-day cycling holiday!! We held it together during the day, but hotel time was spent vying for the ensuite. TMI? Sorry. It was just too bad we couldn't take full advantage of the gourmet meals.
The light in your photos is truly lovely – yes, San Francisco is someplace I'd love to go. P
Happy New Year Materfamilias! Sorry to hear about the bug I hope its gone by now.
That afternoon light somehow makes me feel melancholic but it looks so pretty in photographs. That last building is so beautiful.
Mardel: We've been in Paris often in the spring/summer, but like you, I've never been there in the winter. It's a dream of mine to be there some year for the Christmas windows (and thus also the winter light), but that would mean being away from Nola and the rest of the family at Christmas . . .
Susan T: Thanks, we're both feeling much better.
Cybill: Happy New Year to you as well — glad to hear from you. It's true, there's something melancholic in at least the second-from-bottom photo that I didn't feel in the moment. In all of these, does the melancholy come perhaps from the awareness that the beauty is doomed to disappear with the setting sun? Or is it just a heightening of the melancholy that pertains to all photos — the record of a moment that is always already lost even as the shutter clicks . . .