A little sight-seeing before taking the high-speed TGV train over to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Hard to get this pic of the Arch de Triumph without any vehicles in it. 

Apparently

Can you say cheese?  Actually "frommage"

The Louvré courtyard

The Royal Palace

Street next to my hotel.  The "Latin Quarter" is a great neighborhood in which to stay while in Paris.  Tons of cafés and shops.

Notre Dame, as in Hunchback of ...  I got off the RER (train) from the airport and there it was.

View up the Seine River, Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in the background.

Dawn and my first view of the Eifel Tower.

Parisian café

We could use more of these cars in the states.

Beggar team used cup on pole to try and fish coins from passerbys.

Montparnasse Cemetery from atop the tower.

That is a skyscraper, the Montparnasse Tower, in the background.  The Montparnasse Cemetery is in the foreground.  The top of the building is from where I took the previous picture above.

Japanese kids playing atop the Montparnesse Tower. I mean yeah, there was a guard rail and all that but I still felt a little nervous watching those kids run full tilt.

I had to pick the haziest day to go atop Paris'  tallest building.

I had a lot of respect for the French police. Or was it fear? When I asked permission to take their photo they told me no so this shot was risky. The French take their security very seriously. The street cops with their automatic weapons were buffed and mean looking.


They also all had the same amazing slow saunter that made them seem scarier. I couldn't help but notice how different their image was compared to an average American big city, donut eating, pot-bellied cop. No offense to you SWAT team members out there but every single Paris cop I saw looked tougher than nails. You should not make eye contact with them unless you desire to draw their attention. Click.

Five days worth of unlimited travel on the busses, subways and trains.