A nighttime bus ride in the City of Light

Posted 5/20/2014

Well, my blogging has been more than light recently; sorry for the long hiatus.  I had a great time with my visiting friend Marilynd, who stayed with me for a week.  One of her ideas was to catch the number 69 bus at dusk, since it goes past many significant landmarks that are lit up at night (though the city has cut back on some of the lighting to save energy).  So, you get a nice tour for the price of a Metro ticket (or actually two tickets, since you have to get off and get back on again at the terminus.  I suppose otherwise they could have people staying on the bus all day).

We waited for the bus near St. Paul's Church in the Marais.  It was looking very nice in the early evening light, especially the red doors and the colorful clock:

I did not take any photos while on the bus, but we did pass the Louvre pyramid, the Invalides, Pont Alexandre, etc.  Of course, at the terminus is la Tour Eiffel:

We didn't time it quite right to see the flashing light show at 10 pm (other than from a distance while still on the bus), but it was lovely nonetheless.  There were searchlights radiating from the top, which you can just see in the photo.

After riding back to our starting point, we walked back from the Marais.  It was around 11 by that point, but there were quite a few people out and about, so we felt fine.  I got this shot of the river with a Bateau-Mouche approaching:

And we were delighted to see Notre Dame lit up!

In the above photo, you can see a guy playing the saxophone on a bench at right.  He didn't seem to be making much (if any) money -- it seemed that it was just something to do.

To top it off, it was a beautiful night with a full moon!  So, thanks again to my tour guide, Marilynd!