Redscale

Memphis, TN

Nashville, TN

Nashville, TN

Chattanooga, TN

Chattanooga, TN

Chattanooga, TN

Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

Flatiron Building, NYC

I wanted to experiment a bit more with lomography and my Diana camera and the redscale film always intrigued me. The only problem with this film is that it's only a 100 ISO - I usually use a 800 ISO and it still needs a lot of light. I asked for advice and they confirm my fears, it is definitely a summer, sunny day film. Then we booked our trip to Tennessee and I thought it would be the perfect time to experiment.

I was very anxious when I went to pick my prints up. And at first I was a bit shocked and disappointed, I didn't expect it to be quite that red. The contrast is very strong and if something was in a shadow, it's just black and you can see any details on the picture so some were a let down. Some were actually good, well I liked them anyway, but I think I choose the wrong time to experiment that film, I didn't want experimental pictures of my honeymoon, I wanted memories. But all in all, I still have all the canon pictures as memories and interesting, different, pictures with the lomo. And let's face it, I'm never going to be able to use that film in London...!

New-York

Last stop before home. We've both been to New-York before, not together, in 2008 and 2009. I wanted to go back, it felt like it has been a long time, when really, not that much, and also because at the time I didn't love it and I thought I just missed out on something.

We enjoyed it and it was fun, but New-York is not for me, or us actually. Maybe I'm being a bit of a snob here but after living in Paris and London, New-York is just another big city. And I'm tired of big cities, we are looking for a way out of London. I missed the pace and the friendliness of Tennessee right away. It is still a gorgeous city with amazing buildings, I'm a bit old fashioned, I don't like the too modern ones, but I have a crush for the Flatiron and Madison Square - my god, the size of those squirrels will never stop amazing me!

On the plus side we got an upgrade for our hotel room and a free bottle of wine, that was lovely. We walked a lot and saw the places we wanted to see, sat in Madison square a few times, went to Brooklyn and drank $6 pint of margaritas in the middle of the afternoon, went all the way up to Harlem for a Velvet Underground fan moment and walked some more. We photographed in black and white. New-York does look good in black and white.

Knoxville

Knoxville was our last stop in Tennessee before heading towards New-York. Our main goal was to go to the Smoky Mountains and maybe drive to Cherokee. We arrived there in the late afternoon and headed straight out after checking in our hotel. We had a walk around downtown and discovered how lovely it was. We looked into the shops, definitely my kind of shops, a bit above the budget though. We felt less out of place with our slim fit black jeans and our shirts than in the other places, and it felt nice to walk. There is for me a more "trendy" feel to this city, but it also makes it more expensive. We had dinner in a lovely Italian place on the main square, it was nice to have vegetables and no fries! On the way back to the hotel, we walked along the river and went up the Sunsphere. Then I realised that underneath my feet was nothing when we were in the sphere and I had to get out. I have silly phobias.

On the second day we went to rent a car. They had no GPS. Right. That delayed us a fair bit as we had to download maps and GPS on Tom’s phone. We tried it out by going to the basketball hall of fame and it was such a nightmare to find our way that we almost gave up going to the mountain. We were a bit defeated at the hotel when we decided to look at what the way would be and figured out that once you are out of Knoxville it’s a straight road down to the mountain. So we drove. And I loved it. The side of the road is full of tacky shops and mountain trees. It was one of my favourite part of the trip (I feel like everything was!). We drove through Pigeon Forge and passed Dollywood. We drove through the Smoky Mountain, it started to rain, a hot light rain that stopped as soon as we left the mountains. We drove past Dollywood again, pretended we took the wrong exit just to take a picture and left. On the way we stopped for food and returned the car. We survived driving out of town without a GPS and with road works and diversions everywhere. I’m proud of us.

Back in the city we had a giant ice cream. And enjoyed our last evening in Tennessee. I already miss it.

Chattanooga

Back to the honeymoon. The next stop on our trip after Nashville was Chattanooga. We honestly ended up there because of the name. When we decided to go in March or so, we looked at the map, we saw that name, it was on the way between Memphis and New-York. So we planned our stop in Chattanooga. We didn't have much time to see all the places so we only stayed one day there.

We arrived in the morning on a greyhound bus, and suddenly realised we had changed time zone. We didn't have a clue until we arrived one hour earlier than planned... So, there we were, in the worst greyhound station so far, needing to get to the close by airport to rent a car. We asked for direction, yes, it's walkable, just go right up the ramp. We went out of the station. It was a national road with no pavement (we were dragging big suitcases). What on Earth are we supposed to do? No choice, no taxi, nothing. We start to walk, it can't be the way, let's try over there. Ok, where is that bloody airport? Oh a car is turning and stopping by us. Hello, I'm lost, I'm looking for the airport to return this car, we are lost too, looking for the same. Come on in, I'll drive you. Oh cops are coming and stopping. Are you lost? Yes. Follow us, we'll show you the way to the airport. And there we were finally, at the airport, which was 2 minutes drive away. I still don't believe you can walk. If the same situation had happen anywhere in London or in France, we would still be there trying to figure out our way.

Hangover cured by a little more sleep, we rented the car and headed to our motel. It was the first time I was driving anywhere else than France. At least it's the right side of the road for me. Still I was a bit freaking out. We got to the motel nice and safe and decided to go straight to Point Park as after all it was the main reason for us to be there. The drive is lovely, I don't mind so much small winding roads, that's what Brittany is made of, and being surrounded by trees and going higher and higher above the city just looked great. We spent quite a lot of time there, looking at the city and the Tennessee river from above, walking up and down hill, reading about the civil war battle that took place there. We thought we would check the Lookout Mountain on the way back. I have a terrible vertigo so we thought it wouldn't be worth it to pay to go there. We missed the entrance and ended up in Georgia. I liked that. A couple of state signs photos later we were back on the road.

Back in Chattanooga we walked to the Tennessee river and we sat with our feet in the water with no one else around. I felt lucky and happy to be there. It felt good to be in Tennessee, it felt special. After that we went for dinner at Sticky Fingers as it seemed to be recommended. I was a bit disappointed. We ordered the ribs and it was nice. But not so much it would be that famous. Their salads were gigantic though. If you want ribs, go to Memphis!

On the next day, we drove the car back, took another greyhound, finally the last one and we were off a bit further in Tennessee.