Here are some photos that might otherwise be left on the cutting room floor. Just fun moments and discoveries.
This is one of my favorite things about Paris -- the way they wrap up structures that are being renovated or repaired so that, even if you can't see the real thing, you can see a semblance of the real thing. This is the glass I.M. Pei triangle through which one enters the Louvre. One day on my way by, I found it covered in a cloth. Painted on the cloth was the facade of the building behind the triangle that one would normally see through the glass. I think I got the angle almost perfectly. I certainly wasn't the only person trying to capture the perfect image.

I live in a district of art galleries and from time to time they collectively hold a vernissage or private viewing (what we would call a gallery opening). This is almost always accompanied by something interesting -- lights strung over the streets if it's winter or perhaps a band or other event if the weather is nicer. This is the view from my window of a lovely jazz combo entertaining passers-by (and nearby residents) one lovely summer evening.
The Mairie of Paris sponsors many wonderful outdoor art installations, sometimes temporary and sometimes permanent. I'm always delighted when I happen upon one of these excellent pieces. I particularly liked this one, of a barefoot woman in an enormous hat sitting on a bench. She's holding her face in her hands. I just wanted to sit on a corner of the bench and put my arm around her, but the French don't hug in public much, preferring the air kiss on one cheek and then the other that is called a 'bisous' (pronounced bee-zoo).

Getting lost is one of the greatest things that can happen to you in any city as old and wonderful as Paris. One day, I went to a French-English conversation exchange sponsored by the American Women's Group. I wasn't sure what was the right location and so wound up wandering through a district in the 16th arrondissement that I didn't know. I found myself in the Place des Etats-Unis (United States Square) and there was a statue of Jefferson and Washington shaking hands! Paris is always beautiful when the sun is out, but this low winter sun made it difficult to photograph the statue well. In spite of the bad photo, it is a really great statue -- I can't recall ever seeing another of the two of them in the US -- and certainly not shaking hands as their political philosophies placed them on opposite sides of the debates of that day.
On a final note, of course, there was another 'attentat' in Paris yesterday. This looked to me more like a lone wolf or, even more likely, someone with a mental health problem. It was at the Louvre, which is quite close to my apartment. A subway stop was closed and traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, was redirected in the area for a time. But everybody is just fine. Including me!
Only six months to go. I'm looking forward to every minute!