French Roof Tops

I've noticed on this trip to France that I've been taking a lot of photos of roof tops. This isn't something that I normally do back home but here I'm finding that while we walk the streets that I often stare up into the sky at the tops of houses. I've never really taken notice of the roofs of buildings before now and I'm not exactly sure why I find them so appealing but nonetheless I have been trying to capture that appeal whenever I can.

I think part of the appeal comes from the aerial antennas that litter the homes here in France. Back home in Canada I rarely see analogue antennas remaining on buildings anymore, except on maybe old homes in the country. In Canada, most of these devices have been removed long ago, but here in France (where we are visiting) there is an antenna on almost every roof top - as depicted in the picture below.

For me, part of the appeal is that I really like the shapes created by these structures. For instance, in the shot below I like the curves and the roundness of the lantern on the left which I feel really accents the sharpness of the antennas on the right. The antennas also kind of look like weather vanes to me, which I personally think is kind of neat.

I think another reason why I've been gravitating towards roof tops here in France is due to the fact that many of the homes within the towns are surrounded by stone walls - as demonstrated in my previous post on the subject. The walls surrounding the residences make it so that you cant actually see the houses themselves. However, the roof tops tend to peek over the walls, which I think naturally draws the your eyes towards them.

I also really like the red clay tiles. I think that they really add a pop of color that seems to accent the sandy beige color of the stones that are prevalent in the streets. Back home I'm used to houses having shingles and although shingles come in a variety of colors, they generally tend to all look the same. Therefore, the red roof tops are kind of a novelty for me.

Lastly, I think another reason I like these shots is because of the crisp distinct lines that the buildings create in the sky. The roof top silhouettes really stand out against the blue sky. This kind of reminds me of cutting clean lines out in construction paper. For instance, I can almost imagine myself taking a pair of scissors to the photograph below and following the lines of the buildings in order to cut out the blue sky. Again, I dont know why, but the thought of doing that is very appealing to me.

Thanks for Reading

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