The Story Behind The Shot

Last year, in one of the photography forums I am a member of, I saw a picture of the Eiffel Tower taken from a tall building in Paris. At first, I thought it was taken using a drone.

Upon inquiry, a forum member revealed that it was taken from the MontPannarse Observatory Tower. So I decided if I ever visited Paris, I would find a hotel room close to that location.

So I did. When I made the decision to visit Paris, I booked a hotel that was a short walking distance from the Montparnasse Observatory Tower. As luck will have it, I had access to everything I needed during my stay including access to public transportation; everything was in the same vicinity.

As mentioned before, on the day of my arrival, I applied for the French Health Pass [$36.00 euros] as proof of vaccination to gain access to pretty much everything in France.

It was a cold freezing night when I visited the Montparnasse Observatory Tower. I was surprised to see that I was the only person in the security screening line. After they screened my Health Pass, I was the only person on the elevator on my way to the observatory. The night was so cold that without counting the security personnel, I was the only person at the observatory. I spent half hour taking pictures during sunset hour.

After I left the building, I walked ten city blocks back to the hotel with a huge grin on my face anticipating what kind of pictures I had taken. Even though you never know what will happen when taking pictures, I predicted one of the dozen images I took would be the one I envisioned. This is my favorite image taken during this trip, it was all worth it. 

More Paris Pictures

Learned recently that the Eiffel Tower is lighted in blue the month of January because it was France's turn to preside over the Council of the European Union. For a minute I was wondering why the tower turn blue at night, when in most online images it looks gold? I guess that solved that mystery.

One late afternoon, after visiting the Louvre Museum, I decided to walk [approximately 3 miles] from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, along the Seine River. I noticed a tribute sculpture (the Flame of Liberty) for the late Diana, Princess of Wales at the entrance of the tunnel where she died next to Pont de L'Alma bridge.

As I stood there, passersby dropped flowers at the sculpture next to her pics. I chose not to take pics of the memorial, I refuse to photograph anything that resembles a shrine. Instead, I photographed a young woman taking pics at the metro subway entrance next to it. Enjoy the pictures!

The top picture was taken from a place called Trocadero. Second picture was taken next to Princess Diane Flame of Liberty sculpture memorial at the entrance of the subway Metro. Next pic is another Trocadero image. Then the Louvre Museum, a merry-go-round by the Eiffel Tower, and the Eiffel Tower at night. The last picture was taken from the Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck.