Paris, episode 2. In which I'm blindsided by beauty.

This was my first ever (live) view of the Eiffel Tower. It was March 15, 2007, not quite yet spring, and there was a morning chill still hanging in the French blue sky.  After emerging above ground at the Champ de Mars (Eiffel Tower) metro station, you open your eyes wide to see an elegant old city radiating towards the majestic (still unseen) Arc de Triomphe across the Seine--choice of bridges to be crossed later, but first we needed our moment.

Actually, this is my moment.

Mari has had her moment with the Eiffel Tower almost exactly 22 years to the day, but after walking along the Seine a few minutes, this is the view that first met my gaze just past a large, long, ancient row of apartment buildings.  Not technically awake for spring, the barely budding branches beautifully frame my view.

No matter how many times you've seen it on TV or in film, the Eiffel Tower still takes your breath away. No other non-cliché way to describe it.

I stopped, stunned, and gawked like a tourist until I remembered that yes, I was a tourist (with very limited time, remember?) and started looking and looking and snapping and snapping away on my new-for-the-trip and first ever digital camera. Needles to say, lots of photos of the Eiffel Tower.  The thing is, no matter how many times you visit Paris you will always take another photo of the Eiffel Tower.  This was my first and certainly not the last.

I wanted to show you Mari's first photo (March 1985) side-by-side with the photo from her second (with me!) trip, but we are deep in the midst of some remodeling and the scrapbook cabinet (yes, really) has been blocked by several layers of furniture.  Of course, she's being silly and recreating the pose from her earlier trip, but who can blame her for being silly in Paris for the silly man holding the camera?

After some time marveling at the elegant beauty of one of the world's most recognizable landmarks and Paris' most famous site, we set out on foot to sight a few more before our evening train back to London.  Heading towards the Arc de Triomphe, we made our way to the Pont de l'Alma.  This festive little chocolate shop just happened to be on the way and I was drawn in by the sunny spring display (and the colorfully wrapped chocolates, of course).

Crossing the bridge, we stopped to photograph the Flame of Liberty Memorial, a full-size replica of the flame atop the Statue of Liberty.  It was comforting to see a reminder of home and a symbol of the bond between the US and France.

In the distance (already) is the Eiffel Tower we had just left behind as we ambled our way north along the Avenue Marceau towards the Arc de Triomphe.

Mari and I had planned (of course we had a plan!) a walking route that would take us to as many legendary landmarks and illustrious institutions as we could squeeze into our ten hours.  We were navigating via a colorfully labeled tourist map with famous sites pictured throughout, a borrowed travel souvenir from a good friend and colleague who had visited Paris a few times in the past and had nearly memorized the map herself.  She was thrilled to have the map make yet another transatlantic journey to a cherished city and, I'm sure, just as thrilled upon its safe return.

This is our first (of eventually many) view of the Arc de Triomphe, probably my favorite Paris monument.  It's impossible to describe, even with a photo, the vast greatness of this veterans' memorial, home of France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It stands at the center of an enormous and enormously busy turnaround, a dozen streets intersecting intricately around its base.  On that particular Ides of March, it was a breathtaking breather for two American tourists who had just completed their first mile-and-a-half point-and-shoot gawking-and-walking tour, yet it was just the beginning of our day.

Next time, how a familiar institution showed us that we deserved a (bathroom) break that day.