Obligatory, Gratuitous Eiffel Tower Pictures (etc. etc.)

Karen is here!  Roger's sister is visiting me from Vienna this weekend, and I think I may have already gained a few pounds from all the delicious food we've been consuming...

We lucked out and had a gorgeous day today for our mini sightseeing tour.  The city is just blanketed in dreamy, fluffy, cotton-candy clouds, and we took the opportunity to go up in the Arc de Triomphe and take pictures of the landscape, and then to walk down by the Eiffel Tower and take all the touristy shots you're supposed to take.  I didn't do a lot of that while I actually lived here, and it was fun to just be like a tourist all day today.

We've also been trying to walk a lot to undo some of the damage of all of the delicious food we've been eating...

The Arc de Triomphe, seen from towards the end of the Champs Elysées.

The inside of the Arc, before we went up inside it.

Looking down the Champs Elysées toward the bottom.  The huge, long building running perpendicular to the Avenue, at the very end, is the Louvre.  If you look at the very right of the photo, along the horizon, you can also see the two towers of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Looking straight down at l'Eglise St. Augustin (a pretty church), and to the left, on the hill, you can see the Basilique du Sacré Coeur, which is pretty close to where we're staying right now.

My goodness, I love this city.

Karen in front of Ye Olde Tower.

Looking through the bottom of the Tower, at all the tourists and the gorgeous sky.

I never get tired of taking versions of this picture.

Moi, along the Seine.

I have lots of work to get done this weekend, before I leave for my conference on Tuesday, so I should get to it instead of posting on here!