When I was young and happily in love, I slept with my lover in Paris. When I was somewhat older, and briefly sad – I dined in Paris with friends. As the song says “…. a week in Paris will ease the bite of it…”

This time, feeling only a little older, but a lot more serene – I came to Paris with three dear friends: an American woman (like myself), a Brit, and a true Parisienne. Ahhh, she who was born in Paris persuaded us that we should approach this adventure, not by racing from place to place in a taxi, or the Metro – but walking everywhere… opening us up to visual delights and surprises we could not have anticipated. And so we did… about 8 miles a day for over a week. It was perfect!

An amazing thing began to happen right away… I started to photograph Paris as if with my younger artist eyes, but with mature skills and newer digital technology.

Our journey was sometimes eclectic and sometimes ‘tourist predictable’ and I wouldn’t have had it any other way ; there was the drama of Christian LeCroix’s Rouge exhibit of costumes at the Opera Museum, the sudden fun of coming upon adorable expensive puppies for sale in a series of small shops along the Seine.

There were the anticipated thrills I felt at revisiting some of my favorite paintings at the Musee d’Orsay and complete surprise as we neared the Grand Palais and found an enormous crowd surrounding President Jacques Chirac and a regiment of soldiers in elegant dress uniforms honoring the birthday of Charles de Gaulle. We watched a Japanese bride beaming as she was photographed in the Place de la Concorde.

We laughed at the risque lingerie at Galeries Lafayette and marvelled at the stained glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame. I loved the chalk hearts I came upon that were drawn on the pavement in the little street where I found the Theatre de la Huchette. The Bald Soprano has been playing there every night since 1957. My American friend had performed in it in Texas in 1960, so we all went to see it, and though we don’t speak the language, we loved listening to it in French. Every morning I wound down the spiral staircase in our hotel to a delicious breakfast in the cozy cellar room. I stumbled upon photographs and autographs of the playwright Tennessee Williams in a shop window. Once, I even photographed my food before I began to eat – it was just so exquisite! With all that and more, my favorite subject to shoot was always the Eiffel Tower at night with all the lights blazing!

Eight miles a day… eight days…. 453 shots… a good start, but I want more! Another time, another season… another Paris to discover all over again.