Pictures of Blue – NW Oregon Coast
Lorsque je lève les yeux,
Je rencontre tes yeux
Et je me dis : “Mon Dieu,
C’est vraiment merveilleux,
Tant de bleu.”
Edith Piaf (Plus Bleu Que Tes Yeux, 1951)
When Edith Piaf crooned these words (which are sooooo much more romantic in French, don’t you know), she was losing herself completely in the deep blue of her lovers eyes.”As I raise my eyes, I meet yours.. My God, it’s truly marvellous, so much blue”.
I had very much the same feeling when I reached the Oregon coast this week, only here my partner was the ocean and my eyes were reflecting the great big blue of the sea beyond. It was a profound moment with a beach so vast and a sky so large they merged as one glassy picture of heavenly blue stretching to the horizon. We’d made it back to the Pacific after almost 2 years apart. Like lost lovers united we took off our shoes, ran into the chilly waves and revelled in the moment.
IT….WAS….GLORIOUS!
So here we are. The Oregon coast stretches 363 miles (584 km) from Washington to California. Due to a unique quirk of the state (specifically the Oregon Beach Bill) the beaches are 100% public, so there’s literally hundreds of miles of human and dog-gone paradise carved in lines of beach, sea cliffs and rock stacks. We’ll be spending most of September bonding with the coast and reporting back on our experiences along the way.
As it so happens we’ve had a few clouds come in since that first day on the sand (in more ways than one), but that’s a story for another day. In the meantime I leave you with pictures of blue and eyes lost to the horizon. C’est vraiment merveilleux, Tant de bleu.
P.S. Piaf sang several versions of this song, but I particularly love the duet she recorded with Charles Aznavour. Listen to it HERE.
What a great way to describe my love affair with the Oregon coast. You are a master with words. I remember standing on a cliff thinking, “I’m home. I’m where I’m supposed to be.” That was when I was with Rich. If I ever get to go, again, I wouldn’t meet the kids in Oregon. I want the coast all to myself.
Thanks! And so agree on the sentiments!
Nina
Yes,we loved it too and Oregon is on our list of “visiting again State”.
Thanks for sharing.
Some how you guys are going West and we are East…..
Yeah, we’re driving almost opposite each other.
Hoping you see some colors out there!
Nina
I just love the Oregon coast,,, pet peeve of mine is the word “loosing”
there is no such word as it should be losing… we lose change but we may have loose change in our pocket.. feel free to delete this comment if you wish.
Ah, caught it & corrected it….cheers.
Nina
I so enjoy your writing……you have a wonderful gift!
Thanks! Happy to please 🙂 Nina
Wonderful picture of the wreck.
Cheers! It’s a gorgeous sight. Nina
I had no idea that the beaches are 100% public. Yay Oregon!
Yeah, it’s an interesting quirk of the State. You can own parts of the beach, but must allow public access by law. It’s very cool for public folks like us 🙂
Nina
We had the pleasure of spending a week along the Oregon Coast in July. Hubby grew up there but it’s so different to go back as an adult. As a kid mostly what he remembered was the wind and cold, as an adult he appreciated the beauty more.
There’s definitely spots of wind and cold up here, but it’s true that the beauty shines throughout.
It’s a lovely area!
Nina
I love this song and my husband has the CD but I had never seen the video before.
Thank you for the link.
Yeah it’s a cool little video. I love the way they make Edith Piaf look almost spirit-like.
NIna
Next summer isn’t going to come fast enough. We will be right where you are enjoying the blue! Love the pictures.
Glad you’re enjoying the shots. The coast sure can be tempermental w/ the weather, but
when it’s a sunny day there’s almost nothing better!
Nina
We think Oregon is one of the most underused states going…wait until you see the east side of it someday…..my favorite Piaf is “Non Je ne regrette rien” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Kvu6Kgp88…(hope this works)
ps how is the head????
Nice! Love the video. Head is OK thank you….it’s a good thing I have an extra-hard noggin!
Nina
Merveilleux! (Did I spell that correctly?) I’d like you to know that my high school and college French classes left me able to translate that verse with barely a hitch! Thanks for the opportunity to test myself! We’ll play the song in a moment, but first lemme say how we enjoyed your visit to the ocean, and look forward to you next reports. Good shot of the Peter Iredale at rest at low tide. We’ve seen it only at high tide.
Thanks! And YES you spelled it perfectly! Just goes to show all that learning
comes in handy sometimes 🙂
Nina