Journeys›Photograph

A Walk Along the Seine in Paris

·Paris, France·#travel#summer#family trip#france#paris#seine-river
An ancient obelisk with hieroglyphs and a golden cap stands in a public square filled with people under a cloudy sky.

Started at Place de la Concorde, where the obelisk's gold cap was catching sun between clouds and the tour buses were already circling. The fountain nearest us was throwing spray far enough that the pavement around it stayed wet, which the girls treated as a feature rather than a hazard.

From there we walked along the Seine toward Pont Alexandre III. The bridge is the reason I wanted this route — built between 1896 and 1900 for the Exposition Universelle, named for Tsar Alexander III to mark the Franco-Russian Alliance, and his son Nicholas II laid the foundation stone. The Art Nouveau lamps and the gilded winged horses on the columns are hard to look away from. It links the Champs-Élysées side to Invalides, and from the middle you get the Eiffel Tower down the river with the boat traffic sliding underneath.

We traded off taking photos of each other at the balustrade, wind doing what it wanted with everyone's hair. The Grand Palais glass roof sits just across the water with the flag up. A tour boat went by and half of it waved at us, so we waved back.

A large, ornate fountain sprays water under a cloudy sky, with people observing and a columned building in the background.The Eiffel Tower overlooks the Seine River with bridges, boats, and golden statues under a cloudy sky.Eiffel Tower, Seine River with a boat, tree-lined banks, a bridge with statues, and cloudy sky.A smiling person in sunglasses stands by a river with a boat and the Eiffel Tower in the distance.Two adults and two children stand on a bridge, with the Eiffel Tower and a river in the background.Four people on a bridge overlook a river with boats, the Eiffel Tower and another bridge visible.A wide river flows past ornate bridge pillars and a domed building with a French flag, all under a cloudy sky.Four people pose for a selfie on a river with the Pont Alexandre III and Grand Palais in the background.

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