Arles has many sights to offer - a roman amphitheatre, many churches and an ancient and formerly very important cemetery.
A very good way to relax in between is to take a stroll along the Rhône river.

Another photo from the Canal St. Martin in Paris.
The atmosphere here is completely different compare to the more renowned attractions, but I’d prefer it even to a stroll along the Seine.
A notice about homeless people camping in tents along this old canal reminded me of my last Paris visit.

More on this story:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0701/S00176.htm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457516,00.html
http://www.paris-link-home.com/news/121/ARTICLE/1580/2006-12-19.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070108.wxhomeless08/BNStory/International/home
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5318251

A lantern in the evening.
Taken on Fujichrome Velvia and scanned.

A street in Arles.

Paris in the early morning.

A nice contrast between old and new: the pyramid at the Louvre, Paris.

When looking for reflections of the Louvre in the windows of the Louvre, I realized a little figure sitting precariously high under the windows of the world’s most famous museum.
Only when looking at him through my tele lens, I realized that this was art - not suicidal behaviour.
I wonder how many times a day the police are called to help?
Presumably it’s just a reference to Günter Grass’ Oskar Matzerath from the “tin drum”.

Enlarged view of the boy with his tin drum.

The red mill is the sign of the famous cabaret.

Right next to the gigantic Centre Georges Pompidou, there is the small Igor Stravinsky place with a very colourful fountain.
The sculptures of the fountain are by two well-known modern artists: Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.

The Seine, shortly after sunrise. Getting up that early surely was worth it: the light was truly magical.
Again (see my evening bridge with train), I waited for a train to cross the bridge before pressing the trigger.

The Musée Auguste Rodin its holds many sculptures by the famous artist, but the main attarction is its garden where you can see some of Rodins most important masterpieces in beautiful surroundings (including “the thinker” and “Eve”).
You can visit the museum building and the sculpture garden separately.

The shadow of a lantern against the walls of the Louvre, Paris.

One of the landmarks of Paris, the Basilique du Sacré Coeur looks down on the city from its hill on top of the famous Montmartre quartier.
Looking at the white building that combines romanic and Byzantine styles, it is hard to believe that it was only officially opened after the first World War.
Sacré Coeur is only a very short walk away from Place du Tertre, where you can get a portrait of yourself painted by one of the many artists preying on the truckloads of tourists.
When I visited this time, Montmartre, Sacré Coeur and the Place du Tertre were quite enjoyable - winter is a good time to visit the more touristy attractions of Paris.

The famous pyramid at night

Everybody knows the Seine, but few people walk along this charming old canal right in the center of Paris.
Highly recommended!

The Samaritaine is on e of the great department stores of Paris and has a prime location at Pont Neuf.
Now, at Christmas, it is lit in festive colours and al the windows have special decorations.

The pyramid at the Louvre, Paris, France.