After walking around the city, it’s easy to see that Paris has a wealth of phallic symbols, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, etc…

 

 

 

Joke if you must also about France’s Napoleon complex, but whatever shortcomings we may think they have, I believe the Parisians have some serious bragging rights: look left, look right, look behind you…everywhere there is an architectural marvel to behold.  One of my favorite monuments is definitely the Eiffel Tower. There is a lush park around the base of the tower and it often feels like Jurassic Park to me, with the tower stretching its long neck over the treetops like some giant metal dinosaur.

 

In fact, I see some parallel in these next two pictures:

 

 

Besides the obvious tourists, other people also come here to celebrate certain hallmarks in their lives, so it’s always fun just to people watch if you don’t mind the crowd. If this picture below had been taken at night I would wonder how many of these people here had just gotten engaged. It’s almost like the base of the tower frames life’s events into a single photograph:

 

But my favorite view of the Eiffel Tower is from a near distance, because it reminds me of the giddy anticipation I always feel when approaching it. It always feels like a first date.