More Paris Night Photos

The Louvre at Night
Some nights when it was too late to go anywhere and too early to go back to the hotel I would walk around the Louvre and down to the Seine.
The crowds were gone and the lighting was soft and more than a little mysterious. The architecture stood out in the shadows and the glass pyramid glowed with a soft light. These photos don't fully capture the space and atmosphere of being there but it's the best I could do with my little digital.

Lovers

I had a number of photos ready to upload for today's blog that seemed suited for Valentine's Day but I think this one should just stand alone.. I may post the others in a day or two.
This was taken on the Pont des Arts one cold dreary day. I watched them for awhile and took some photos from a distance and finally got closer and shot this one with telephoto. Paris, the city of romance.. everyone should go there when they are young.

La Tour Eiffel

I'd been in Paris for about three or four days and had only seen La Tour from a distance and decided to get a closer look. It was evening and I took bus 69 which goes from Pere Lachaise to the Eiffel Tower and travels along the Rue de Rivoli. This was my first bus ride and I found the bus routes easy to navigate.

It was dark when the bus deposited me at the edge of the park on the east side. A nice walk, all the while gazing up at this blue wonder... getting larger and larger as I got closer. It was amazing. There were long lines and I wanted to go to the top for a view of the city during daylight hours so I decided to just walk and take photos.

These are just a few of the ones I took that night.

Jardin du Palais Royal
My hotel was next to the Palais Royal and the gardens were just up the street and what a delight to walk through a passageway and find the gardens. In spite of it being cold, rainy, and winter, they were lovely. The trees are trimmed and when bare become sculptures against the grey skies.

Along three sides of the garden are covered walkways with shops and restaurants and interesting displays.

The walkways are set off from the gardens by towering columns and beautiful black ironwork topped by golden spikes. This day the spikes were being painted by a crew of two who seemed to be enjoying their job.

This gentleman was sharing his lunch with the pigeons on a cold dreary day.

Meet Henry...

I have a new Granddog.. his name is Henry and he lives in New Jersey with my oldest son and his family. They have always had Airdales and they get them from an Airdale Rescue group.. Henry is number 4.

The first was Spanky, an excellent watch dog. The second was one of my favorites, Reggie.. He had the biggest head of any dog I've ever met and he was just a big goofy loveable dog. Number three was Oliver, the sweetest of the bunch.. He was a little crazy but very nice. He recently crossed to the other side after many years of being loved and cared for.

Now Henry has joined the family. He, too, is a rescued dog and like the others it will take some time and love to make him feel like part of the family but they tell me he's just sweet and loveable, too, so it shouldn't take him long. I like his face and can't wait to go visit and get to know him..

Carrousel du Louvre

My hotel was just a short block from the Louvre and so on one of my first days in Paris I went to the underground area next to the Louvre called the Carrousel du Louvre. There is no carousel (Merry-go-round) but there are wonderful shops and I spent time wandering around the Virgin store and then discovered there were other areas to explore.

This was one of the fancy light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. I don't know if these are there all year round or just for the Christmas holidays.

There was a huge sliding set of doors that were slightly ajar and so of course I peeked in and saw these people and the colors were just amazing. This is where they hold concerts and other functions and when I went back a few days later it just looked drab and ordinary.. The blue was gone. I'm glad I was able to capture it, even if it is a bit blurry.


Just past that room I came to this huge space with these statues. The walls and statues were salvaged from the now gone Tuilleries Palace.

There is also I.M. Pei's Reversed Pyramid. It is gorgeous! I didn't photograph it for some reason.. but here's a link to a photo of it.
There is also an entrance to the Louvre that tends to have shorter lines so it's a good place to check out.