The Show Must Go On . . .

Paris . . . ahhhhh Paris . . . What is it about Paris ? ? ?
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I've been living in or near Paris for the past 17 years, and spent 8 months as a student here before that, yet I still remain enchanted with Paris. A love affair shared by many folks in this best of all possible worlds I suppose. Paris was touched by a magic wand of urban creation way back at the beginning when people first settled there along the Seine. After 17 years I'm still discovering parts of Paris that I haven't ever seen before.
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For example, the other day, just after Christmas, I went in to Paris to catch a train out to Brittany from the Gare Montparnasse. Having an hour or so to pass before the train left, I decided to go up to the top of the Tour Montparnasse . . . which I'd never done before. The tower rises 209 meters over Paris, the view from up there is quite extraordinary, as it is slightly more central than the Eiffel Tower, though the Eiffel Tower is over 100 meters higher.
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And in case you might not have heard of him, there is a French gentleman named Alain Robert who specializes in doing solo free climbs of tall buildings around the world, with no gear or ropes or whatnot, just him on the building, with a bit of chalk for the hands. His climb of the Tour Montparnasse can be seen on YouTube here. Gives me the willies just thinking about hanging on to the window frames 50 floors off the ground . . . This is the view looking up . . .
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The Eiffel Tower is far more elegant, imho . . .

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The view from up there abounds in landmarks. The Centre Pompidou modern art museum and St Sulpice (which figured in The DaVinci Code) are visible here, among other Paris sights and sites (parasites ?) . . .
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This strange rusty object mounted on a mast adorned the top of the tower . . . if you have any idea what on Earth it might be, well I'm open to your ideas, it surely serves a critically important role in the universe . . .
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The Pantheon was gleaming in the sun. I can still remember visiting the famous tombs in the crypts there when I was ten years old; a trip which probably influenced my return here years later . . .

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Les Invalides, Napoleon's tomb, the Arc de Triomphe . . . what a view ! In every direction there was something to admire . . .
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Practically right next door, a bird's eye view could be had of the Montparnasse Cemetery, where quite a number of famous people are buried . . .
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Down at ground level again, some of the Parisian population were getting on with their daily business, watching people stroll by near the train station . . .
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