One of my favorite places in Paris was the Pantheon, a neo-Classical church in the Latin Quarter.  It was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, and topped with a dome similar to Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.  Although it was originally an abbey, it now primarily serves as a burial place for many famous French heroes, leaders, artists, and writers.
This beautiful building was constructed as a result of a promise made by King Louis XV in 1744.  He was suffering from a serious and mysterious illness (later believed to be gout), and vowed that if he recovered he would …read more

Playing with photo editing software today – always a fun thing to do with travel photos.
I like making the Eiffel Tower even more artistic looking that it really is!
 
Photo credit:  personal collection
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Standing in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle (also called the Place de l’Étoile) at the western end of the Champs-Élyseés, the Arc de Triomphe is the largest triumphal arch in the world. 
It honors those who bravely fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars.  ,  Beneath the arch is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I, marked by the very first eternal flame.  The flame burns in memory of those who died, but were not identified, in both WWI and WWII.  An inscription reads “Here lies a French soldier who died for …read more

One morning I get up and I’m on the west coast, and when I go to bed that night I’m on the east coast.  And I think nothing of it.  So it’s easy to forget that at one time cross the country wasn’t quite so easy!
The Theodore Judah Monument in Sacramento (Second & L Streets), celebrates a time when we crossed the country by railroad.  Judah was the engineer responsible for creating the plan that became the Transcontinental Railroad.  So set was he on seeing this plan come to fruition that he became single-minded in his focus on this …read more