On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
We have another first submission this week! We are treated to lovely pictures of Paris over the years, in parks and outdoor places, and it’s been fun to see a bit of Christmas in Paris in multiple posts this week. I love the last photo, and it doesn’t seem weird to me at all. Totally charming! So glad you took the plunge! ~WaterGirl
There go two miscreants
A few years back, I was lucky enough to have friends who lived in Paris, and visited there six times over a span of seven years. I had never visited France at all before — I’m not much of a tourist — but I enjoyed it a lot. It does help to know someone where you are going, and my companion at that time (still a friend) was the instigator for these visits. So I was fortunate, as I might never have gone on my own initiative.
It is quite easy to get around Paris; the Metro is great, and bus service is good too. It was helpful to get a Navigo card that allows unlimited rides. No need to be concerned about getting tickets although that is more economical if you don’t plan to use Metro much. We walked a lot as well, even in bad weather.
I am not really a good photographer, and I don’t take enough shots (bad habit from growing up with film cameras where every shot costs money). (Hmmm, I think that’s different from: “The food is terrible and such small portions!” but maybe not.) I did manage to get some presentable pictures although with just a point&shoot type camera. There is so much to see — maybe if I survive until it is safe to travel again…

The Seine looking upstream toward Pont Neuf and the Ile de la Cite. This was in September 2009, and the weather was superb.

Same September trip, that is me on the steep stairs leading to Montmartre. There is a funicular (left side of picture), and of course you can get there just walking on the streets (which we did on the way up).

View from the top of Musee d’Orsay, overlooking the Seine, with the Tuileries on the opposite bank, and Montmartre in the distance. This was in January 2012, and the weather was a bit raw, but still walkable. Musee d’Orsay is my favorite museum by far; we spent two days at the Louvre on one trip (it is just overwhelming), and went to several other museums on the various trips, but I love the MO best. (I didn’t show the museum itself because there are much better pictures online. Also, I learned the hard way at the Louvre that it is a waste of time for me to take pictures of the art! So I knew better by the time we got to MO.)

Another shot from Jamuary 2012. Christmas decorations were still up in many places; this is looking out from the plaza in front of the Pantheon toward the Tour Eiffel around sunset. (When it was built, and until the Chrysler Building was completed, the Tour Eiffel was the tallest structure in the world.)

From a November 2014 trip, another of my favorites, the Musee Rodin. The sculpture garden has a lovely path with various works along it.

A view of Musee Rodin from an earlier visit in January 2012.

November 2012 My companion and I went for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne, a large park on the outskirts of Paris.

Our last trip was in June 2016; after that the friends moved out of France. We went to Pere Lachaise, which is…weird, man. Heck, I grew up behind a big cemetary and *I* think it’s weird. It’s also steep in places, and confusing to find your way around.
Lapassionara
These are great! Thank you for sharing. And thanks to WaterGirl for posting them. They lift my spirits.
stinger
Thank you for sharing these pictures!
There go two miscreants
I was delighted to have an excuse to flip through the pictures and remember. I’ve really enjoyed the other postings in this series too.
Apropos to the subject of several previous threads this evening, on one trip we rented a car and drove to Normandy to the memorial and cemetary. It is a longish drive for a day trip, but worth it. Very impressive. And sobering, as your view is from the top of the bluffs above the invasion beaches. Hard to imagine what it was like approaching from below.
Auntie Anne
@There go two miscreants: I visited Normandy as well. Extremely moving, and OMG, those cliffs! Thank you for the wonderful pictures.
randy khan
D’Orsay is such a great museum. That series of galleries on the north side is scary good – you could spend days in them. One time I was there I decided not to take photos of the really iconic pieces, and realized that the “second tier” pieces mostly were iconic, too.
Not to mention that the decorative arts galleries on the main floor are a wonder in themselves.
Mary G
I loved the Bois de Boulogne; now I’m going to Google Earth for a virtual walk if they have one.
Dog Dawg Damn
I haven’t seen a feeding frenzy online like tonight since Kamala was announced.
Trump has really stepped in it this time.
This is going to stick.
piratedan
@Dog Dawg Damn: we can assume so, but I’d hedge my bets by suggesting that Faux News and OANN give us a non-stop breathless expose of NJP mask “hypocrisy” 24/7 for the entirety of the weekend.
susanna
Love these, could easily feel as if I was strolling through Paris leisurely and lovingly.
Barbara
Musee Rodin is so lovely, a great place to take children.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the garden at the Musée Rodin is one of my favorite places in Paris
rikyrah
Paris???
Elizabelle
Beautiful photos. What a pleasure, to be able to see Paris on successive visits and in different seasons.
Hope your friends ended up in another wonderful location!
Elizabelle
I think the photos I love the best are the Christmas trees with Eiffel Tower — really appealing shot — and the steps at Montmartre, which do give a sense of how steep that hill is. (Funicular, hmmm?) And the Bois de Boulogne.
I went to Pere Lachaise too. Weird to realize that some dead do not stay buried there forever. There is a lease (although also the choice to purchase for perpetuity). Once the lease period is up, if not renewed: the bones are moved to an ossuary also at Pere Lachaise, and the gravesite is reused. The cemetery is almost filled, and in demand. Paid a visit to Jim Morrison and Chopin. Could not find Oscar Wilde, not that he was a moving target …
DaveInOz
All of these photos of Paris bring back memories of our trip to Paris in 1980 (that really dates me). Amazingly, we were able to book a trip for I think it was 10 nights including travel, accommodation and two meal vouchers a day for the princely sum of UKP89 each. It was all organised the the Paris Travel Service which I presume existed to build visitor numbers in those days.
The price included return train travel from Cromer on the North Norfolk coast of the UK to Paris and back (including the ferry). Highlights that I still vividly remember:
Aaah memories. We spent the last day of our Europe Trip there in 2018 before flying back to Australia from CDG. The weather was pretty ordinary but it was great to be back.
Matt McIrvin
@piratedan: Nancy Pelosi’s presidential run is OVER.