A view of Hyeres from the Villa Noailles, site of the 25th annual Hyeres Festival de Mode et Photographie.

I landed safely back in San Francisco on Saturday, even after yet another delay caused by the rerouting of my flight from Paris (Thanks, trusty Eyjafjallajokull ash cloud!) The pilot actually announced that we’d be flying north of the danger zone and that we’d be able to spot the volcano from our flight path above.

The information caused a ripple effect of eager passengers from the right side of the aircraft to hurriedly get out of their seats and climb across the laps of passengers on the left for a glimpse outside, much to the dismay of the lefties, not to mention a couple of irritable flight attendants who were flustered by the sudden chaos. My husband happily spotted the wafting gray remnants; meanwhile I stayed seated lazily watching old episodes of Sex and the City on the plane’s in-flight system wondering when, if ever, I’d finally tire of watching the show’s reruns.

On the way home, I was thinking about how it’s taken me a while to absorb everything I experienced at the Hyeres International Festival de Mode et Photographie last weekend. Each day delivered new artistic stimulation: photography exhibits, video installations, music performances, panels on the business of fashion, copyright, and the state of new media, and a culminating fashion show of the young designers competing for the festival’s top prize from Europe and Asia. Half the time, we were both having a field day just photographing inspiring ensembles worn by attendees!

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