Paris - like the Eiffel Tower itself - evokes moods which depend much on the weather. One day it is reflecting the sunshine from it’s great steel armour and you feel ready to conquer the whole world. The next day, it is cloaked in clouds resembling the Swiss Alps cocooned in fog and you feel like crawling back into bed or better having a croissant and coffee in the local bistro.
I love the architecture and history. I like the feeling you get from meandering from a roman arena, to a cafe where the existensialists congregated, to a restaurant where Benjamin Franklin enjoyed his lunch, to a chapel where kings once attended church, to a building where a court summarily sentenced citizens to sit in the back of a cart, to go to their death by guillotine... and then to a spot where a contemporary movie is being shot with century old buildings and a historic river as a background frame. All in one walk!
I love sauntering the avenues and strolling down alleyways to discover a small cobblestone street with the ruts where carriages used to run, to see an old doorway or portion of a wall built into a newer structure, a picturesque flower-potted balcony, a small park, a plaque telling the history, sometimes sad, of what happended at this location.
I love that around every corner is something that looks like a postcard. Whether it is a just a quiet, small street or a site as majestic as Notre Dame.
I love standing on a bridge over the Seine on a summer night, a warm breeze stirring, watching the "bateaux mouches" going by with their spotlights darting from building to building and the bridges lightening up to show their splendour, the Eiffel Tour again and again twinkling in the distance...
I love Paris in the winter when the cold, gray weather blends in with the old, gray buildings and is not overrun by tourists and sightseeing buses.
I love to order a glass of champagne anywhere I go and feel "oh, so Parisienne"!
I love the exquisite cheeses and how special a bite or two of fresh baguette tastes with a glass of red wine. I love the butter that has sea salt in it!
I love that the chocolats are works of art; the quality of the product and the scientific approach to make it look beautiful and taste unique.
I love that I feel so alive in Paris... it challenges my senses and keeps me on my toes.
I love that there is always more to discover... I love the beauty that is revealed in every single day as long as you are open enough to see it.
... oh, and did I tell you how much I looooove the Eiffel Tower?!?
View onto the Eiffel Tower from the Peninsula Terrasse
Evening sun setting onto the Sacré Coeur
City walls of Wall of Philip II Augustus incorporated into a Haussmanien building
One of many, MANY tourist shops
Baguette delivered to my doorstep
I'll have one of each please!
Notre Dame de Paris seen from a Bateau Mouche
Le Grand Palais photographed from Pont de la Tournelle
Madame de Fer in Autumn light
It's snowing !
Place de la Concorde with the Grande Dame in the background
A shot taken close from home
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