Touristing Paris

Regular classes ended for me last week when I gave my in-class exams to my students. This week is study week for those who have exams in the two upcoming weeks. This week also gives time for teachers to correct all the exams they gave the previous week, which I had done by Friday.

I wanted to make a point of getting out and walking around Paris this week, despite the overcast and rainy weather. I particularly wanted to visit areas I'd never been before - there are still a lot of them. On Monday I didn't exactly visit an area I'd never been before, but instead one I hadn't been to/through in a long time. Usually, I avoid the Louvre and the Louvre section of the rue de Rivoli like the plague. This is pretty much exclusively for the reason that this area is usually plagued with tourists and I can't stand the large crowds. But this time I took some less-frequented streets and kept clear of the crowds.

Mon parcours
 

this was so much better than walking through Place du Châtelet and down the rue de Rivoli

 Le Louvre from the left bank of the Seine

 Le Louvre

 I.M. Pei's controversial pyramid

 Daniel Buren's striped columns at the Palais Royal

 La Colonne de Vendôme at the Place Vendôme
 

 looking through the Jardin des Tuileries at the Louvre
 

 La Tour Eiffel from the Tuileries
 

 I actually smelled them before I saw them!
 

Place de la Concorde with the Obélisque de Louxor and la Tour Eiffel, 

and the Grand Palais peaking over trees on the side