Walking around, I think, is the best way to get to know a city, and Paris is the quintessential walking city. I arrived at my hotel in Paris on 2 July at around 7 in the evening. I put my bag down, got out my camera, and off I went. By 9:30 or so when this picture was taken, I had gotten something to eat, was thoroughly jet-lagged, and stumbling back to my hotel. The late daylight was disconcerting. Everywhere I went in France, it did not get dark until 10 or so in the evening. I suppose daylight savings time plus France being on the more or less western side of the Central Europe time zone makes for some late sunsets in high summer. I can’t say I like this. I prefer nightfall coming a bit earlier, even in the summer. Be that as it may, the soft, late sunlight on the buildings fronting Boulevard Saint Michel was spectacular. Enough to forget the jet-lag for a few more minutes.
