We spent our last days of 2003 and first day of 2004 in Paris. To be there on new year's eve is a cold, but great experience. We were lucky to have sunny and dry weather on our first days, a cold but dry new year's eve and snow on our last day. In our first days we visited a lot of monuments and the famous shopping center LaFayette, but when we went home on January 1st we realized we certainly have to go back here to visit all other things Paris has to offer. For example the quarters Montparnasse, Marais and quartier Latin.
	Opéra Minolta Z1	Opéra Minolta Z1	Opéra Minolta Z1
	Opéra Minolta Z1	Opéra Minolta Z1	Merry-go-round Minolta Z1
	On our first day we arrived in the afternoon and we only had time to visit the Opéra during daylight. But that was no problem, as shopping center LaFayette, Champs-Elysées and the Eiffel Tower were beautiful enlightened. So after a short stay at the Opéra we discovered these 3. We first saw the enlightened Eiffel Tower from the park in front of the Louvre, where we also made the pictures of the merry-go-round.
	Merry-go-round Minolta Z1	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1	Champs-Elysées Minolta Z1
	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1
	The trees of the 2 kilometers long Champs-Elysées were all decorated by lights. There must have been a million! Unfortunately the Arc de Triomphe at the end of Champs-Elysées was not lit, because of renovation activities. We only got the idea of how big the Eiffel Tower is when we were standing under one of the huge pillars.
	Père Lachaise Metrostation Minolta Z1	Cemetery of Père Lachaise Minolta Z1	Cemetery of Père Lachaise Minolta Z1
	Sacré-Coeur Minolta Z1	Sacré-Coeur Minolta Z1	Sacré-Coeur Minolta Z1
	At the 43 hectares big cemetery of Père Lachaise you can find graves of famous people like Jim Morrison and Edith Piaf. The church of Sacré-Coeur is called whipped cream pie by many inhabitants of Paris. On these pictures you can see why.
	Place du Tetre Minolta Z1	Place du Tetre Minolta Z1	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1
	Eiffel Tower Minolta Z1	Galleries La Fayette Minolta Z1	Arc de Triomphe Minolta Z1
	On Place du Tetre there are always a lot of artists at work, and enough people to admire and buy the paintings. As you see the Eiffel Tower looks much different during the day. We preferred the night view of the Tower, with all the lights. From dusk till midnight 1500 flash-lights on the Tower twinkle for 10 minutes every hour, that's a lovely view. (As an Italian girl said when she first saw it: ohhhh mama mia) In the middle you see shopping center La Fayette with all its lights, also an impressing view.
	Arc de Triomphe Minolta Z1	Arc de Triomphe Minolta Z1	Place de la Concorde Minolta Z1
	Louvre Minolta Z1	Louvre Minolta Z1	Louvre Minolta Z1
	The 50 meters high Arc de Triomphe is standing at the end of Champs-Elysées, and in the middle of the big Place Charles de Gaulle (former Place de l'etoile) where 12 roads start or end. The building of the arc started on instruction of Napoleon, but was only completed by instructions of Louis Philippe. The obelisk on the huge Place de la Concorde (one of the worlds biggest squares) was placed here by Louis Philippe and was a gift from an Egyptian viceroy, Mohammed Ali. The Louvre-museum is a huge building, that needed 800 years to be built. It was opened in 1793 to be an art-museum. The pyramids are made of glass and steal and the biggest is the main entrance of the museum.