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.
way2blue
Our daughter spent a year at the University of Grenoble. In June we headed to Europe to help her pack up for home. Our first trip to Europe since our honeymoon… We finished up in Paris, staying at a youth hostel across the River Seine from Nortre Dame. Affordable even if they had a curfew and we slept on bunkbeds with the washroom across the hall. Breakfast’d with British schoolkids on a field trip and their harried teachers.
View from our hostel room. There was a church across the alleyway, and a shop next to the hostel run by nuns who sold honey & such. Plus an outdoor Moroccan restaurant in the alley with café lights strung overhead. Simple and delicious.
Our daughter had spent time in Paris at the start of her ‘study abroad’, so knew her way around on the metro. Our first day, we walked along the Seine for miles, me in flip flops. Alas. View of the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées from across the river.
We scouted out the crowds at the Eiffel Tower, and resolved to return early the next day.
I was fascinated by its structural patterns.
We took the lift up, and walked back down…
View from the top—this one of the L’île aux Cygnes toward the southwest.
Another view, this one to the northwest, which seems skewed to me.
A magnificent bronze stature of Hercule et le Taureau, sculpted by Albert Pommier in 1937, outside the Palais de Chaillot within the Jardins du Trocadero.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Haaland – In Style Cover
Omnes Omnibus
It can be windy on the Eiffel Tower. When my ex and I were climbing she was wearing a short silk dress and a gust of wind gave her a Marylin Monroe moment – and the other climbers a quick show.
pat
Makes me want to go back. Thanks.
I wonder how Notre Dame looks these days. Sigh.
Tehanu
There is, or used to be, a terrific restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, the Jules Verne. One of my favorite memories of Paris.
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: It wasn’t windy the day we were there. However, we were waiting for the lift on one of the levels and watched a squall line come across Paris. Very cool to see. Everyone dashed for shelter when it got to the Tower, including me. Ms F and our older son stood there instead, got wet, and ended up at the front of the line.
Mike in NC
Paris is on our bucket list. Spent a few hours at the Charles DeGaulle airport a few years ago but that doesn’t count. Next cruise we want to take goes from Barcelona to Venice via about 12-15 port visits.
The only port I got to see in the Med while on active duty was Majorca, and I had to deal with a minor oil spill during refueling.
randy khan
In all of our trips to Paris, I’ve never been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which is a pretty bad omission. On the other hand, my brother-in-law and I did go to the top of the Arc De Triomphe on our last trip. A lot of steps. (A *lot* of steps.) But the view from the top was great.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yoko Romo—the band was never the same after her.
way2blue
@Omnes Omnibus: Ha!
way2blue
@randy khan: The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is spectacular. Didn’t even know one could climb the Arc de Triomphe—that would be a unique view.
way2blue
@Mike in NC: I haven’t done Paris justice. Visited once when I was a poor college student; once on our honeymoon; and this time. Just a handful of days each time. So much to see and soak in the ambience.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@randy khan: I did that, many many years ago, like Reagan was President years ago. I can’t remember what kind of climb it was compared to the Notre Dame towers? I did those in 2017, and had pretty much decided it would be the last time, even before the fire. The stairs were less of a problem than the sardine-like crush up at the top.
JanieM
Love the aerial views, especially #5. Not sure I’d risk it, given that I have problems with vertigo. But it seems there’s plenty else to keep occupied with in Paris. Thanks for the taste.
randy khan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m pretty sure the Notre Dame towers would be much worse than the Arc.
frosty
@JanieM: I have problems with heights and the Tower was fine. You’re basically in a cage looking at the views. Not at all like standing on the edge of the many canyons in the West. Or (shudder) the Angels Landing hike at Zion, clutching to a chain for dear life. Which I’ve never done and will never do.
Comrade Colette
@JanieM: @frosty: I have severe problems with heights and had mild but tolerable problems with the Eiffel Tower – we walked down part of it (from the second deck to the first, maybe? So long ago I can’t remember). I really hate exposed/glass elevators and had to bury my face in Monsieur Colette’s back to keep from freaking out, but once I got out I was fine. The railings keep you far enough back from the edges of the decks to reduce the vertigo.
I did the Angels Landing hike when I was about 11, and I think that was the origin of my fear – I didn’t really have any before that. Almost 60 years later, I still remember the terror, which no one but me seemed to feel.
way2blue, thanks for the great pix and evocative captions!
way2blue
@frosty: I’m always surprised how calming a railing is for me when I’m up against a steep drop. When I think about it—the railing isn’t doing much, but somehow it reassures me. The Eiffel Tower wasn’t a problem for me, but I do stay away from the edge of sea cliffs. (Maybe ’cause I’m a geologist, and see landscapes as always in motion… )
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Tehanu: When we were in Paris, our hotel managed to get us lunch (less expensive than dinner) reservations at the Jules Verne, and the whole experience was great. To start, you don’t have to wait in any lines to go up the tower because there is a special elevator in one of the legs just for the restaurant. Then, the room where you eat has a great view, and the food was wonderful. My husband says it was the best meal he had in Paris (!). The only negative was all the English we heard spoken in the restaurant by the guests (obviously not a neighborhood bistro :-)
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Not good. They had a terrible recruiting class.
susanna
I applaud your camerawork and unique perspectives/framing of familiar locations around Paris.
Lovely, thank you.
Wag
@randy khan:
@way2blue:
Lots of great views from on high while visiting Paris. Last time we were there we climbed the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc, and the towers of Sacré Coeur. By climbing each one was able to triangulate the city and get a good sense of the geography. You could still do the same now, but unfortunately with only three points instead of the previous four. The loss of Notre Dame is immense.