I've decided to start an irregular series of posts to share with you some of the things that have grabbed my attention - for what-ever reason - during the course of the 300 odd miles that I have spent walking on the streets of this magical city over the last 5 months. To begin, I'll offer you a couple of clichés from our neighborhood walk tonight. Yeah, I know I'm about the billionth tourist to take this picture of the Eiffel Tower. It's still irresistible. The lighting is like pixie dust from Tinker Belle's wand. If you're not paying attention for 5 short minutes, you'll miss the show. The lighting is still attractive, but, it's not the same. If you pivot around, you'll look down the Parc de Champs de Mars (where, it is rumored, over 10,000 Gaulois are lying in unmarked graves after their final battle with the Romans over two millennia ago,) and you will see the Ecole Militaire, with the ugly Tour Montparnasse in the background. Between the monument to the Industrial Age, and the training grounds for Napolean's Army is a simple glass and steel structure honoring Peace in over 80 languages. It was looking fine last week, and tonight we arrived to find that it had been vandalized. One frame gone, several showing the rays of smashed safety glass. Poignant.
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