Lighting a Candle and Chasing the Setting Sun: From St. Germain des Prés to the Louvre

I was walking by St. Germain des Prés and thought I would light another candle for my ailing friend.

It's the one on the second row near the middle, just under the little red one.

After that, I walked down Rue Bonaparte and thought, as I always think when I pass this façade, "So much for history."

And then, walking across the Pont des Arts, I saw the sun going down over the Seine, as spectacular as I have ever seen it.

7:30 pm: Walkers, runners, friends, lovers along the banks of the river. What a glorious evening.

7:34 pm: This huge red orb at the end of the quai.

7:35 pm: Now I was running, afraid I would miss the show, and saw this through the windows of the Louvre from the Cour Carré

And then, the sun was gone, and the twilight lingered for what seemed hours.

I walked through the Richelieu wing past this lonely trumpet player, took the Metro and went home.

Sunday morning around the Etoile in Paris France

April in Paris: Walked up to Sacré Coeur Today to Light a Candle

Started at Opéra

Through the Galerie Vivienne 

The Passage des Panoramas

I fantasize about staying in this hotel in the Passage Jouffroy

Up rue des Martyrs

Up the 250-some steps ... 

Put a large candle in front of a demure Virgin (there's a chrome Madonna, but thought her a bit much)

Up the stairs to the dome

Hadn't noticed the pigeon droppings sprouting new life before ... 

Selfies on the edge ... 

The view of Paris from the dome of Sacré Coeur

On the way down

Made a pit stop at Aux Deux Moulins, which figures in the movie "Amélie." This is in the toilet.

600 Steps: Today's Walk To Montmartre, and to the top of the Dome of Sacré Coeur

Above the tracks leading to St. Lazare station, the sign says "Danger of Death," but it's been plastered over by, among others, the racist "Generation Identitaire" stickers: "Up against the riffraff, you're not alone!"

Spring creeps out from under the last fallen leaves in the Square des Batignolles.

Starting up the last 100 steps on the way to the top of the dome of Le Sacré Coeur

Panoramic view from the dome of Le Sacré Coeur. The Eiffel Tower is on the left, the skyscrapers of La Défense on the horizon in the middle, and cupola on one of the smaller domes to the right, above the Rue du Chevalier de la Barre in the village of Montmartre.

Looking past the cupola of one of the smaller domes at the rooftops of Paris and the Eiffel Tower

Inside the dome of Le Sacré Coeur.

Posters on the way to Place du Tertre in Montmartre. The Chinese on the poster of the person in a mask reads: "I have a name, but it doesn't matter."

The walls and ceilings of Le Tire-Bouchon are covered with photos and scraps of papers like these. I like to stop there for a crepe with ham, cheese and an egg when I have finished my upward march in Montmartre.

Climbed more than 1000 steps in Paris today: First at the Arc de Triomphe (300), then the Eiffel Tower (700)

Looking up at the top of the tower from the second level. This is almost as high as you're allowed to climb on foot.

The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at about 10:30 this morning.

Looking straight up from beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Someone going down on the other side of the tower while I was going up.

Step number 300

Looking down from the 1st level of the tower.

Step number 669 which brings us to the first platform on the second level.

Today's Walk Up the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France

Looking up

Looking down

Looking all around

Self portrait

"Unknown Soldiers" from France's wars, photo exhibit of empty uniforms