Pictures from a Glorious Fall Day

Yesterday I had the afternoon completely free, and it was a perfect fall day, clear and bright, so I decided to take a walk around Paris.  Sometimes I think my readers (viewers?) prefer pictures to words, so here are a few, with some limited commentary.

First, a couple of political pictures:  The Assemblee Nationale, the U.S. Embassy (sadly behind rows of concrete barriers and police), and the Elysee Palace, home of the French President.







From this area (near the Place de la Concorde), I walked through the ritzy area near Place Vendome, to the beautiful Opera building:





From there I walked back toward the Seine, passing through the beautiful garden of the Palais Royal, where for a time, unfortunately, I advertently had put the focus into manual, thus ruining all the shots until I discovered the error.  Here's one that made it.



And -- a self portrait!



There was a lady in the garden who managed to get the small flity birds to eat out of her hand.



From here, I walked through the plaza of the Louvre, into the Tuileries Gardens, which afforded a number of beautiful views.



This final one I call "Me Thinking About Leaving Paris (Naked)":



That's all for now.  The days are busy and I'm about a week behind in my posts, so there is more to come.