Your own private viewing while everyone is sleeping. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Rain or washed down, the wet streets make for some calm, beautiful photos. It makes me think of the song "On My Own" from the musical Les Miserables when she sings---"the pavement shines like silver"---only in the case of these photos it shines like gold.

I'm glad you liked the photos, but wet shiny streets are so easy to do! The big difference is that Paris is one of the only cities in the world that has them every day, due to the dual water supply. "Drinking water" is not used to wash the streets. There is a completely different water supply of non potable water for fire hydrants, decorative fountains (not the Wallace fountains which dispense drinking water!), and street cleaning.

I have added another photo of the Champs Elysées this morning if anybody wants to take a look.

Photos are lovely...we laughed while we were there at how Paris is not an early city at all!! We sleep in there more than anywhere (which we never do) and the day we left our taxi picked us up at 7am and there was no one around and traffic was so much lighter than it had been when we came in. Proof that you can have the city to yourself if you can get up and out early.

I always love seeing your photos and remember the Paris early mornings with fondness. I will see her again in 9 months and counting!

"The City of Light" seen in a different light --thanks! And please keep the new year happy for your long-distance viewers by more explorations seen through your camera lens.

Denisea, it is absolutely true that Parisians are extremely late risers, particularly on the weekend. On a Sunday morning, the streets in most areas remain completely empty until past 10 a.m. A lot of the biggest cafés in the city don't bother to open until around 8:30 a.m. There just aren't enough customers before then.

On the other hand, a lot of Parisians go to bed really late. Living on a main thoroughfare, I can confirm that traffic stays pretty busy until about 3 a.m.

Monsieur, ceci est quelque chose merveilleuse! Vous avez un talent extraordinaire!

Avec affection,
BC

lovely, makes me so eager to see it for myself.(except the Mcdonalds - got that any time I want (: thanks for sharing

Ah, but Lauramsgarden, how many McDonald's restaurants do you see that look THAT nice????

BC

WOW!!! Just wow. Even the McDoo looks fabulous!
Merci beaucoup
P

One year we stayed near Les Halles. Due to jet lag we were up and ready to go at 5AM. So we wandered around in the dark. It is magical for sure.

Thanks Kerouac. This is my favorite time of the day (sunrise)...where ever I am. In April I will be taking my morning run at 6:30AM to experience what your pictures show. I suspect that I will be taking more pictures than running. ;-)

Thanks again.

DaveMM

Excellent treat. I like 'off-peak' pictures of Paris, rainy day pictures (snowy might be the most recent version of...), since they, to me, evoke a diffrent passion for the city than more standard ones do.

Je vous remercie.

Excellent treat. I like 'off-peak' pictures of Paris, rainy day pictures (snowy might be the most recent version of...), since they, to me, evoke a diffrent passion for the city than more standard ones do.

Je vous remercie.

Lovely photos, and a reminder of just how far north Paris is. And how far west in its time zone.

Yes, it is indeed 'far north', and after all these years I remain amazed at how late the sun can rise (or set) at certain times of the year. Paris is farther north than Montreal, for example.