Paris

Art Seller along La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, Paris.

La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris, France. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or Rive Droite) is to the right. Art and book sellers have small booths along the walls above the Seine and everyone enjoys an afternoon stroll to people watch and inspect the sellers’ wares. A peek of Notre Dame Cathedral can be seen behind the art-seller’s booth. Cheers and thanks for looking!

Art Seller along La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, Paris. La Rive Gauch, the Left Bank, is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or Rive Droite) is to the right.
Image ID: 28146
Location: La Rive Gauche, Paris, France

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Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose. Here are a few photos of Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France. Cheers and thanks for looking!

Tomb of Napolean Bonaparte in Les Invalides. Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28122
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28161
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28121
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28162
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28163
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.
Image ID: 28164
Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France

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There were a handful of paintings in the Louvre that really caught my eye, made me stop and ponder them for a while. I am not an art afficionado and rarely spend more than a few seconds considering a single piece of art. Yet something about these works stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps it was the sheer emotion and sense of tragedy, and that passing of ages gone by. I’m not sure. But that is the point of art, to stop the viewer and cause him to think, appreciate, wonder and be moved. Cheers and thanks for looking.

The Raft of the Medusa, Le Radeau de la Meduse, oil painting by French Romantic painter Theodore Gericault, 1819. Musee du Louvre.
Image ID: 28107
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

A couple others that I really enjoyed:

Les Noces de Cana, The Wedding at Cana, by Paolo Veronese. Musee du Louvre.
Image ID: 28105
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

Death of Sardanapalus, La Mort de Sardanapale, oil painting on canvas, 1827 by Eugene Delacroix. Musee du Louvre.
Image ID: 28221
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

For more spectacular photos of Paris, hmm, well, see: Spectacular Photos of Paris!

Leaving La Musee du Louvre, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!

As the evening visiting hours ended, we sadly departed the incredible Italian painting galleries and headed for the exit. Tracy walks down one of the long, masterpiece-strewn corridors on our way out.

Leaving the Louvre Museum, evening, Paris.
Image ID: 28111
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

Louvre Pyramid at Night, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!

We joined the crowds at the Louvre Museum during the day and, while it was fun to be a part of the vibrant hustle and bustle of the great musee, we wanted to visit again when it was not so busy, crowded and loud. Our evening visit was splendid! Often we would find ourselves alone in large galleries, surrounded by some of the greatest art works of the past 500 years, feeling that we had these amazing gems all to ourselves. Beforehand, we did a little people watching in the plaza where I.M. Pei’s distinctive pyramid stands. Setting a camera on the edge of the fountain, I was able to make a few nice images of the pyramid at night.

The Louvre Pyramid at Night, Pyramide du Louvre, large glass and metal pyramid in the main courtyard (Cour Napoleon) of the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) in Paris
Image ID: 28095
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

Notre Dame Cathedral, West Facade, Trees and Streetlamp, Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral, trees and streetlamp, west facade, Paris. Notre Dame de Paris (“Our Lady of Paris”), also known as Notre Dame Cathedral or simply Notre Dame, is a historic Roman Catholic Marian cathedral on the eastern half of the Ile de la Cite in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. Widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known churches in the world ever built, Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris.
Image ID: 28242
Location: Notre Dame de Paris, France

Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!

We walked the Champs Elysees on a cold, cloudy Paris day, starting at the Arc de Triomphe and finishing at the Louvre Museum with many stops in between. We walked beneath the Arc de Triomphe just to be able to say we had seen it, but it did not appear particularly photogenic in the crummy weather. I made a few photographs of it, including a panorama from directly underneath, and was pleasantly surprised that they came out as well as they did given the flat light and colorless sky.

Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe (Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle (originally named Place de l’Etoile), at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe (in English: “Triumphal Arch”) honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages. The monument stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep.
Image ID: 28083
Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe (Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle (originally named Place de l’Etoile), at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe (in English: “Triumphal Arch”) honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages. The monument stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep.
Image ID: 28082
Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe (Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle (originally named Place de l’Etoile), at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe (in English: “Triumphal Arch”) honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages. The monument stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep.
Image ID: 28265
Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower rises over the Place du Trocadéro, Paris

I thought the reflection of le Tour Eiffel on the shiny tiles of the Place du Trocadéro was pretty neat. There were plenty of people walking around the Trocadero enjoying the cold, clear night in Paris, but you cannot see them in this long time exposure. Cheers!

Eiffel Tower rises over the Trocadero place. The Trocadero, site of the Palais de Chaillot, is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
Image ID: 28168
Location: Trocadero, Paris, France

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Stained Glass Windows of La Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France

La Sainte-Chapelle (“The Holy Chapel”) is one of the only surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Ile de la Cite in the heart of Paris, France. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns – one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom. Sainte-Chapelle is famous, and rightly so, for its spectacular stained glassed windows. If you like this, you may enjoy seeing more photos of Paris. Cheers and thanks for looking!

La Sainte-Chapelle, The Holy Chapel, is one of the only surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Ile de la Cite in the heart of Paris, France. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns – one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom.
Image ID: 28032
Location: La Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France