The Doors of Saint-Germain

After my morning at the Grand Palais and my afternoon at La Pagode, I wandered the residential streets of the 6th arrondissement, photographing doors leading to untold inner worlds. Beside several of the more impressive doors were plaques heralding the sites as foreign embassies or government agencies; other plaques beside simpler entrances indicated the historical significance of the premises. Most of the doors were unmarked except for the street numbers, but beautiful all the same.

As the day faded into twilight I wandered west toward the Metro station near the sprawling lawn in front of les Invalides. A pretty white dog as lithe as a unicorn sauntered among the trees. As I looked up before me, I saw the Eiffel Tower. Just then it began to sparkle with glimmering lights, but only for a moment! (I think it does this every evening on the hour. It had just turned 7 o’clock). I had not visited the tower yet and I decided a westward stroll was just the thing to finish my evening. It wasn’t cold out, and home was in that general direction, anyway.

I passed sweet-smelling boulangeries selling the days’ final baguettes and tourist couples smiling and walking hand in hand. I stopped to buy a demi-baguette (50 cents) and realized that my pronunciation was not the right way to say it, as I had been advised recently by the housekeeper. (Thank Heavens, I don’t think I could have gone on saying “doo-mee baguette”!) Soon I was in the shine of the tower’s lights. I tried to capture it’s beautiful golden glow against the deep blue, velvety sky… It’s awesomeness was beyond my camera’s scope.