Quintessentially Paris

Posted on by Stacy P. Fischer

Posted in black and white on Monochromia.

Bateaux Mouches sails toward Pont Neuf, the Eiffel Tower, and Institut de France.

A favorite Paris tourist experience is to view the city from the waters of the Seine. Here, one of the legendary “Bateaux Mouches” sails toward scenic Pont Neuf, while the Eiffel Tower and the Institut de France beckon in the background.

And, now, for those of us old enough to remember The Kingston Trio, I can’t get this song out of my head! (If you click on the link to listen, I guarantee you’ll never think of Paris or the Seine again without humming this song 😉)

The Seine

One night along the river at St. Germain de Pre,
I first met my beloved at a small sidewalk cafe.
We walked along the river, the shadows passing by
but we only saw each other, the shining water and the sky.

The Seine, the Seine, when will I again meet her there,
greet her there on the moonlit banks of the Seine?

Standing there across the river, mid sound of horn and tram,
in all her quiet beauty, the cathedral Notre Dame,
And as we passed beside her, I said a little prayer
that when this dream was over, I’d awake and find you there.

We walked along the river, ’till dawn was coming nigh.
Beneath the Eiffel Tower we said our last good-bye.
There on that splendid morning, I left you all in tears
and the beauty of that hour will shine within me through the years

The Seine, the Seine, when will I again, meet her there,
greet her there on the moonlit banks of the Seine.

34 thoughts on “Quintessentially Paris”

  1. Oh the homesickness worsens… 🙂 I had never heard of the Kingston Trio so looked them up and didn’t know that song but managed to listen to a couple of other ones that I did know..

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    • Oh, I’m so glad you listened to some of their songs. So many good ones that they sang, but I just never realized (or remembered, perhaps) that it was them 🙂 And as for homesickness, I’m finding that if I work on an image from Paris every few weeks, I at least get a taste of it 😀

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  3. Such a lovely, emotional photo of the city I love. Paris really has a personality, don’t you think?

    Thanks for sharing the lyrics. I’m also thinking of the ABBA song, with the line, walks along the Siene.

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    • Oh, I can’t believe I don’t know the ABBA song you’re talking about, Alys; I’ll have to look for that one! Thanks for liking the photo 🙂 Paris – just the word evokes wonderful daydreams …

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        • Oh, of COURSE! How could I have forgotten this one?? I saw “Mama Mia” to celebrate my oldest son’s 18th birthday (he is now 28-1/2) and I STILL remember dancing in the aisle at the end! Such great music and just so darn fun 🙂 Thanks for bringing back those memories!!

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        • It is a lot of fun. We had, until about a year ago, a theater called the Retro Dome. They ran this move with sing-a-long lyrics every Mother’s Day. We even dressed up. So much fun.

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        • Sadly, they lost the lease on the theater which has since been torn down and replaced with a restaurant. It’s a great organization that does live, original theater, and hosted several sing-a-longs each year as well. They now do one or two here and there, but it’s no longer in one place and not in the fifty year old theater which lent it so much charm. They searched high and low for a new space, but it is so expensive here that a small non-profit theater can’t afford most spaces.

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  10. What a beauty, as if everything came together in this one shot, the angle, the lighting, the mood, the processing. I am so tired of over-saturated images that don’t even come close to reality! This is perfect.

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    • Emilio, you always leave the most delightful comments. I wonder if the over saturated images sometimes come from non-calibrated screens? Before I learned about that whole issue, my first images were on the oversaturated side. Well, I should say they weren’t on my screen but on other screens they were. I was aghast when I found out. Anyway perhaps you already know this and are addressing another issue entirely 😉 As for my image being perfect? Well thanks for that. I mean it is my favorite city in all I’ve been fortunate to visit and I’m glad I did it justice!

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Any thoughts?