Paris la Nuit
The Eiffel Tower at night as seen from the Place du Trocadéro, with the dome of the beautiful Hôtel des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried, visible to the left.
A night view of l’Arc de Triomphe in the middle of the Place de l'Étoile, taken from a side road, probably one block away from the Champs-Élysées.
One thing that was very important to me for last year's summer trip to Europe was that my son not only experience Europe generally, but that he got at least a taste of Paris specifically, and of France more generally. After all, we are of French heritage, with my entire family being dual citizens. One of the first things that I did, personally, after he was born, was to register his birth officially for French government records, which should help smooth the path for him being an official dual citizen, as well.
So yes, the connection to keep our French heritage intact was one of the driving forces, and helped decide me when on the fence about obtaining tickets. When the tickets that I eventually got came up, there was hesitation, because it was four flights there, and four flights back. It had a layover in Washington, which would allow us to visit that city for a part of a day. But what tipped me into actually getting them were the two layovers in Paris. The first was on the way there, when we would basically spend almost the entire day in Paris. The second would be on the way back, when we would have an overnight stay in the Paris area. That would allow us to visit Paris during the daytime, as well as seeing the "City of Lights" during the nighttime, as well.
Paris is the kind of city that, when visiting, you really should see at nights, with all of the bright lights. And we did, at least some of it. We did not see as much of the city on this night as we had during the day, despite having the advantage of driving a rental car, which we did not have during our one day here. Still, while we had more mobility as a result, we also arrived in Paris significantly later than expected due to airline delays that were beyond our control. Then, after going through customs, getting our luggage, and then picking up the rental, it was starting to be even later. I felt obliged to go to the hotel first, not knowing if we might have difficulty checking in at a later hour, and also just to kind of use the bathroom and splash some water on my face, as well as to put our luggage for the next day, when we would have the return flight to the States.
After all of that, it was really very late. By the time that we got to the hotel, it was around 11pm, perhaps a bit after that. And so we spent barely any time before heading back out and going to Paris, straight to the Eiffel Tower. I wanted him to see this landmark in particular, if nothing else, during the night, because it is spectacular, especially when the lights begin to flash each hour on the hour. We spent about one hour there, walking around and taking in the views, enjoying some crêpes and an ice cream, as well as cooling off with some drinks. Obviously, the views were simply amazing.
Next, we headed to the Champs-Élysées, specifically to the Place de l'Étoile and the Arc de Triomphe, which was also beautifully illuminated. We took some nice pictures, even a little video. Then, my son took a video of me doing something that I had always wanted to do: drive around l'Étoile, making a circle around the famous landmark, and then driving down the Champs-Élysées itself. Unfortunately, he may have lost that video, although I still hold out some hope that it may be found. It was a very enjoyable night.
We then stopped briefly at the Place de la Concorde, which was not brightly illuminated, before going to the Louvre and the Pyramid. Unfortunately, these also were no longer well-lit. It can be spectacular there at night, but we had come too late, sadly. The Hôtel de Ville was still nicely lit up, but that was the last place that we saw that was like that. Montmartre was mostly dark, and the Notre-Dame was blocked off an inaccessible, since the fire that had ravaged that historic and beautiful cathedral made it an inaccessible site. The closest we would get to it on that trip was during our ride on the Bateaux-Mouche two weeks earlier.
So after all of that, my son was really tired, and beginning to fall asleep in the car. Indeed, it was very, very late, or perhaps very early, depending on how you see it. We had the flight the next day, and although that was not especially early, we would have to get to the airport two hours earlier than that, at least. Plus, the hotel we were staying at offered free breakfast, but we would have to be there before 9am, when they stopped serving. It was a good breakfast, with a French feel, and the only thing that would have made it even better is if they had had tables outside, but they did not. It was an enjoyable morning, yet there was that sadness of leaving a beautiful and well-loved place, as well as of a vacation now rapidly coming to an end.
Still, under the circumstances, I think that we made the most of our two day/night trips to Paris. My son got a good feel for the city of Paris, especially given the time constraints. We saw a lot under the circumstances, and it was not an insignificant part of our overall European trip last year. Indeed, it was his first taste ever of Europe. And last year, it was the last taste of Europe that we would get before crossing back over the Atlantic.
Below are some of the pictures from that memorable last night in Paris:
The Pyramid, with the Musée du Louvre just behind it, and really all around it. Unfortunately, we did not arrive on time for it to be very well-illuminated, but I was still glad to see it again at night after all of these years, and especially that my son got to see it, as well.
The Champs-Élysées at night. It was already getting pretty late, but as you can see, this part of Paris was very awake and busy, especially for the hour (probably around 1:30 or so in the morning, very early on a Monday night/Tuesday morning.
We went to the Sacre-Coeur, but again, it was not very well illuminated. There were still a lot of people (you can kind of make them out in this picture), mostly young, hanging out and many taking in views of the city from above, since this is atop a hill. You can just more or less make out the outline of the iconic church.
The car that I rented and drove wound up being a Citroën. It was not literally the cheapest option, but close to it. And since it was French, and I had always wanted to drive a Citroën, it was what I ultimately decided to rent for our final night in Paris.
Here are some video clips from the last night in Europe - almost three weeks ago already - during the recent trip that my son and I took this past summer.
This was really our only night in Paris, specifically. Yet, it felt like a decent and fun night, and my hope is that these videos help to maintain a strong and pleasant memory of the trip.
Paris
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