Ron and Connie stayed two weeks in Paris in October 2000. He mailed Mr. Greenwood a series of photos taken in Paris and his comments. Following are his comments.
My impression is that the most impressive French architecture was many centuries ago. To me Notre Dame is quite incredible. After that it seems all downhill. I've enclosed one picture of the exterior of the Louvre, which is about 300 years ago (except for Pei's pyramid). By then I feel the decoration has become over-done. Also I include a picture of Napoleon's apartment (Note, AFTER the revolution). Versailles, the pictures of which have not come back yet, strikes me as worse. Finally there are two recent buildings. The first, the Pompidou Center, has been described as looking like an oil refinery. I've seen much better-looking refineries! Finally there is the gigantic Defense arch in the only real skyscraper area near Paris (actually outside central Paris). Its hard to scale from pictures, but I understand its big enough so that Notre Dame could be easily passed through it. The arch and the surrounding skyscraper area left me completely cold.
In 1971, Mr. Greenwood visited Paris with his family. When Mr. Greenwood had met Ron in Los Angeles , he asked him to spare some of his photos for reconstruction of his memories.
Followings are what he selected from his collections.
Notre Dame
Connie and Cite station of the Metro
Musee du Louvre
Arc de Triomphe
Avenue des Champs Elysees
La Defense
Palais de Chaillot
Hotel des Invalides
Pl. Pigalle
Sacre Coeur
Opera
Facade of the Opera
St. Martin Canal and bridge
Lock and boat
Ron and Connie
2000/11/11