Utter calm this morning. 65° in January (18+ C), and this has been going on for ten days.
A pleasant morning spent wandering across the Jardin des Tuileries, after an early visit to the Eglise St. Roch. In the short video (end of picture slideshow), we have the west end of the Louvre, with the Arc de Triomphe du Caroussel. Panning northward, the vast Richelieu wing of the Louvre, then the rue de Rivoli with its sumptuous apartments and famous hotels (and ‘chez Angelina’ for their famous hot chocolate!). Behind the reflecting pond and fountain – and there are several here – one can make out the Place de la Concorde, with its massive obelisk brought here from Napoleon’s Egyptian expeditions, and further, the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Elysées. Panning left you can just make out the Eiffel Tower, across the Seine, then the two spires of the American Church in Paris (I sang there every Sunday in 1978 for pocket money) then the magnificent Musée d’Orsay. Then back to the Louvre (Denon wing) and its entrance through the Grande Pyramide (behind the Arc).
The spring plantings are just showing, and soon the entire Jardin will be filled with irises of every type and color.
And the nice French family who walked in and out of the shot asked me afterwards to also take their picture, capturing for them, and for me, a near-perfect moment.
