#antibes

10 years later.

Mellie and her best friend Doris.

They grew up together and love each other unconditionally.

We tried to recreate the first day we took Mellie to the park when we got her home in February 2016.

Had to take a lot of pictures before taking one that is close to the original one

#Photography #10YearsLater #DogPictures #DogsOfMastodon #Mellie #France #Antibes #MyDog #DogPictures

🌅 Lever de soleil sur les remparts d’Antibes, ce 20 août 2026.
Aux premières lueurs du jour, la pierre dorée rencontre les couleurs de la Méditerranée : un instant suspendu au cœur de la Côte d’Azur.
✨ Découvrez mes photographies et mon univers visuel :
https://jeanmarielafon.com
#Antibes #CotedAzur #Provence #AlpesMaritimes #FrenchRiviera #Mediterranee #LeverDeSoleil #Sunrise #GoldenHour #LumiereNaturelle #Photography #PhotoDePaysage #LandscapePhotography #TravelPhotography #FineArtPhotography

Comfort Is a Mood

Comfort is a mood, my son says.

If that’s true, then maybe happiness is an attitude? Enjoyment a decision?

I’m rarely in the mood to leave my comfort zone, but this summer, I discovered the well-kept secret of swimming in the rain. More specifically, this was at an outdoors pool here in Helsinki where the water was heated, creating a magical mist just above the water.

Whoever knew it could be so delightful? Little rain droplets fell, and I didn’t feel cold or uncomfortable at all. I was mesmerised by the rain drops’ elongated shapes just before they hit the surface, slowing down before becoming pool water.

Another new thing I’ve recently learned is that I like vanilla ice cream, after all. The flavour I used to detest is now my go-to, preferrably paired with espresso in an affogato. I had an especially good one at a pizza and gelato place near Port Vauban in Antibes, France, featured in the first two photos.

As for travel, France is my comfort zone, my constant mood. I keep going back to its comforting vistas, taking similar photos each trip, yet each time is still different.

Last October, Antibes was quiet and serene, the 20-degree weather equivalent to Finnish midsummer. This June, I expected it to be more crowded, but again, it was just perfect in its own way. A few more tourists, but the same peaceful ambiance. The gallery here is from June 2026. (I can’t believe that was last month! Seems like a million years ago.)

#Antibes #FrenchRiviera #Photography #SouthOfFrance #Summer #Travel #TravelPhotography

Sparkles on the Riviera and Choosing an Avocado

Today, I encountered an avocado squeezer. He was a chatty one, explaining to me which colors to look for in an avocado, which of the store’s three options he preferred, and how he usually had better luck than today.

We exchanged pleasantries and I drifted away, led by my own shopping plans, while he stayed behind steadily squeezing his way through the avocado stock. Why a store needs to sell three differently packaged and priced avocado options is a mystery he unfortunately didn’t offer to explain.

I’d been anticipating an encounter like this ever since my friend told me of her husband, originally from a sunnier country, who is a passionate avocado-squeezer himself, both in the store and at home.

He’ll wander into the kitchen every few hours to check if his avocados are ripe yet. Like tending a garden, but without the garden. I’ve never met him, but I imagine him to bend down closely to inspect these treats he so craves, glasses on, all senses alert, nose almost touching the fruit but not quite. I think avocados must remind him of his home before Finland. Only a few hours away by plane, but somehow so unattainable. A place of memories now colored by time.

Just a bit over a week ago, I was basking in the Mediterranean sun. Despite the “canicule de merde” hand fan I spotted in a store window, Antibes was glorious that week, pre-heatwave, neither too hot nor too cold.

Just glorious, I thought with each stroke in the water, swimming. A turquoise line danced at the end of the pool, the edge of the water lit by sunlight. The ripples on the surface sparkled in the sunlight, just like the sunlight filtered by trees’ leaves in the garden attached to our flat.

At times, I was the only one in the pool. I watched my fingers push the water away, softly, again and again. My kids jumped in the pool, splashing, as is the pool’s destiny.

Moments of beauty on the French Riviera. And now, back to real life, trying to find an avocado that’s neither raw nor rotten. Finding the right one is a form of art: you need to be there at the exact right moment.

#Antibes #France #Nostalgia #Riviera #Summer #TravelPhotography