Today is Bastille day, the french national holiday. It’s a remembering day for the storming of the bastille in 1789, the beginning of the french revolution. The photo above shows the place de la bastille, but there’s nothing left of the notorious prison of the ancien régime. The big column in the middle of the place commemorates of the july revolution in 1830, which marks the end of the bourbon restoration in france. The guy on the picture is my dad, btw.

On my last day in Paris, I visited La Défense, the new financial and business district built in the last decade. I didn’t expect much, because the tall buildings I had seen from Place Charles-de-Gaulle seemed to be pretty ugly from the distance. The more I was surprised when I actually got there: vast open space, very few people, lightweight skyscrapers with glaring reflections of bright sunlight on this first day of spring. It is very different from the crowded center of Paris with all its narrow sidewalks and tiny rues. As you see, I especially loved the EDF-tower’s stunning architecture, with 165m the tallest building in La Défense, which was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Roger Saubot and Jean Rouit. Hope you like it too.

For exif-information and more photos from Paris visit my set on flickr.

Today Paris was hit by strom Xynthia, so I spent most of the day at home. In the evening the storm had moved eastwards (to Germany) leaving a clear blue sky with a nice sunset behind. I took some last pictures out of the window of my bureau, where tomorrow the next generation of interns will start their work. Tonight, I’m spending the last night at Hôtel Duret de Chevry, in my little chambre that was my home for the last two months. Next two nights I’ll be at a friend’s place before I return to Germany. The last two months have passed so quickly and it’s sad to leave this beautiful city where spring has just come to town. But still, I’m also excited to get back to Freiburg, even if this means I’ll have to start working on my thesis, on which I’ll be working all through summer…

The sunset above was taken with f/32 and 1/2000 at iso100 on 55mm.