Eiffel Tower

Quintessentially Paris

Black And White Photography, Photography
The Seine with Pont Neuf and Eiffel Tower in the background.

(Color version on Visual Venturing.) A favored Paris tourist experience is to view the city from the waters of the Seine. Here, one of the legendary “Bateaux-Mouches” sails toward scenic Pont Neuf, while the Eiffel Tower and the Institut de France beckon in the background.

And, now, for those of us old enough to remember The Kingston Trio, I can’t get this song out of my head! (If you click on the link to listen, I guarantee you’ll never think of Paris or the Seine again without humming this song 😉)

The Seine

One night along the river at St. Germain de Pre,
I first met my beloved at a small sidewalk cafe.
We walked along the river, the shadows passing by
but we only saw each other, the shining water and the sky.
The Seine, the Seine, when will I again meet her there,
greet her there on the moonlit banks of the Seine?
Standing there across the river, mid sound of horn and tram,
in all her quiet beauty, the cathedral Notre Dame,
And as we passed beside her, I said a little prayer
that when this dream was over, I’d awake and find you there.
We walked along the river, ’till dawn was coming nigh.
Beneath the Eiffel Tower we said our last good-bye.
There on that splendid morning, I left you all in tears
and the beauty of that hour will shine within me through the years
The Seine, the Seine, when will I again, meet her there,
greet her there on the moonlit banks of the Seine.

La Rive Droite

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

 The Left Bank has become a rather expensive tourist trap nowadays so we are eating and drinking the afternoon away in a darkly lit bistro on La Rive Droite, The Right Bank. The cassoulet contains mutton, pork skin, and white beans. We are pouring a table wine from a country estate in St. Emilion when a short little man, with a rat-like visage similar in look to Roman Polanski sidles up to our table. He knows we are foreign by the way we are dressed and, probably, by the loudness of our party.  We are, unashamedly, ugly Americans! Loud, rude, obnoxious. I am prone to blaming it on the wine consumed at such an early hour. Not quite 3 in the afternoon. He wants to show us Le Sacre Couer Basilica, Les Palais de Tuileries. He is offering his services as our own private tour guide when we explain we have not yet even seen La Tour Eiffel, l’Arc de Triomphe. He is aghast. Offers to show us both at the same time. A little known spot not too far from our present location very few know about. Only the cognoscenti are aware of this secret spot. He scurries out, confident he has piqued our interest and will follow. He has and we do.

And there they are.  Both the Eiffel Tower and the Arch of Triumph. On opposite sides of the Seine. Captured in one photo on one magical Tuesday afternoon.

Rive Droite-2

Please visit Photos By Emilio for more of my work, mostly in color.

And my apologies to anyone duped by such an outlandish tale as this photo was taken just outside the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas NV just last week.

But I had fun writing it! 🙂