Landed in Paris. Jet-lagged and anxious to get to Germany, I was not in the mood to appreciate Paris.
Our bus must have taken a wrong turn and gone through the sleaziest part of Paris. I was also amazed at all the fast food joints. The "Love Burger" restaurant seemed to capture all the decadence of that evening. Luckily, I returned a few years later to erase those awful first impressions and now consider Paris absolutely wonderful.
One of my first views of Paris street performers - some guy walking on broken glass, nails, fire, etc.
Paris traffic - drive anywhere you want, park on the sidewalks with the funny little cars. Notice the blue scooter-wagon in the back.
Some great French art! Paris is beautiful nevertheless.
Glass pyramid next to the Louvre. A few years after this I took a package weekend tour with a busload of Germans to Paris. Quite reasonably priced. You can tell the Germans by their socks and sandals.
After making fun of Americans and McDonald's the whole ride there, some of my German companions decided they didn't want to shell out the francs for a good French lunch and proceeded to eat at - McDonald's!!! Having good American sense and taste, I found a small store selling delicous baguette sandwiches and enjoyed a peaceful, German-free lunch in a small park.I even documented this event with a photo of my half-eaten baguette.
Famous art gallery with the wiring and ducts on the outside. Pompidou Centre.
Notre Dame. Cathedral of Our Lady. Gothic Style. Next to the Seine River.
A lonely, bored gargoyle looks down from Notre Dame over the city.
The French and Germans have many such victory columns commemorating victories against each other. I can't remember if this is Paris or Berlin. It must be Paris.
Here's a victory column in Berlin, I think.