Place de la Concorde is the most famous square in Paris. It is now a very, very busy traffic interchange. But back in the days & years following July, 1789, this is where the guillotines did their work.
It is the confluence of many views in all directions, where L'Enfant got his ideas for the layout of Washington, DC.
It was late in the day & the weather was threatening (but only threatening as it turned out) so the lighting is poor. There's the ever present Eiffel Tower.
Looking opposite Champs Elysees is the Tuilleries Gardens & the Louvre off in the distance. That photo didn't turn out.
In another direction, across a Seine bridge is the National Assembly, the equivalent of our Capitol Building.
Looking opposite the Assembly is a street with the Madeleine Church at the end. It was intended to look like the Parthenon.
And the odd fountain thrown in. The French love fountains.
Susanne took this video (above) of a motley crew of musicians down deep in the Metro. Hey, they're doing honest work! And bringing joy to numerous folks. One of the Paris gifts I've mentioned.
We were on our way to the omelet/croque dinner. We arrived at the little bar/resto not far from the Coke distribution. We sat down at an outdoor table & set down the Cokes. The waiter insisted the Cokes had to be put away. It is unfair to occupy a table & not buy anything. I tried to explain that we were buying dinner, even tried to order. Nope, the Cokes had to go. Instead, we did. Drank our Cokes in search of another place. Found one, sat down, noticed a couple at another table each having a beer, accompanied by a Coke bottle on the table. We have an expression when this sort of thing happens..."C'est Paris!!"
Our Victory guy doing his thing during a full moon.
The Holocaust took place here in France as the Jewish community was rounded up and shipped East into death camps. But through the efforts of righteous gentiles who risked their lives, less than half were taken. There are memorials all over Paris. Please take the time to read this plaque. A shot of the entire wall follows. It's large.
The lowest cost, most eco-friendly, most easily parked form of wheeled transportation in Paris.
A clever street performer. Two cut-down fishing poles, some thick string suspended in a circle between the poles & some soapy water. Throw in lots of practice & voila! Giant bubbles...
The Seine is a working river. Freight by day, dinner cruises at night.
Caught this young couple in a goofy mood.
C'est Paris!!!
The par-tay has already begun.
Gives new meaning to the term "French Door".
Seen in the window of an instrument repair shop. It can be yours for 9,200 euros, over US$13,000.
This photo was taken across the Metro tracks. It is for a tribute performance in October.
We discovered Joe Dassin while in Paris in the mid '80's. He paralleled Neil Diamond (Jewish, born in New York) but went to France to become famous singing mostly in French. We loved his music, bought his CD's.
(For the tango folks, some of his songs would make great cortina music)
On a subsequent trip we asked the store clerk if he put out anything new. Got a strange look. Further research found that he died of a heart attack in 1980 at age 42.
Susanne always says it's the shoes that make the outfit.
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