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.

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! 🙂