Eiffel Tower and Le Mur pour la Paix, Paris at Dawn

As I exited the Champ de Mars metro station at around 5 am I was disappointed to see that it was still raining, so I kept my fingers crossed that it would subside and that I would get some nice sunrise photographs of the Eiffel Tower. It remained gloomy and overcast as I walked around trying to find an interesting vantage point to shoot from and somehow stay dry. Well, once I got to Le Mur pour la Paix Paris, the vantage point worked out a lot better than the plan to stay dry but in the end I’m really happy with the rain for many reasons. To begin with the only people that were foolish enough to be out at this time in this inclement weather were one photographer and about a half dozen joggers. So, lucky for me that there were no people around to get in the way of me taking whatever photo I wanted and lucky again to get all those wonderful droplets of water clinging to the glass facade of the monument that add something special to this image. Even when the weather is horrid, wet and cold, Paris is still a magnificent city with so many beautiful things to behold.

Le Mur pour la Paix or in English “The Wall for Peace” is a monument at the far end of the Champ de Mars opposite of the Eiffel Tower. There is great irony at play here as the monument that is devoted to the concept of world peace is located on the field of Mars the god of war (Champ de Mars) in front of the military college. The word peace is engraved in 49 different languages and uses 18 alphabets. The monument was a collaborative effort by artist Clara Halter and architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and is part of a trio of works all dedicated to peace. There is a Peace Tower in Saint Petersburg and the Gates of Peace in Hiroshima. Please visit the official website of the Wall for Peace here: www.wallforpeace.com

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