David Enzel

Silent statues and stone façades, watching over the Louvre’s courtyard as they have for centuries.

During Blue Hour

A fiery sunset after a summer rainstorm. The clouds parted just long enough to set the Eiffel Tower against a dramatic sky, with the Seine reflecting the storm’s fading glow.

The interior of Notre-Dame de Paris, reopened in 2024 after years of painstaking reconstruction following the devastating fire of April 2019. The restored nave once again reveals the soaring Gothic vaults, chandeliers, and stained glass that have inspired worshippers and visitors for centuries, marking the cathedral’s return as a spiritual and cultural heart of Paris.

The vast Gothic interior of Église Saint-Quiriace in Provins, France, begun in 1160, towers above the medieval town that grew wealthy from its great fairs. Despite its incomplete construction, the church dominates the skyline and offers a strikingly large scale for such a small community. On August 5, 1429, Joan of Arc attended Mass here alongside King Charles VII, linking this sacred space to one of the most storied moments in French history.

The French tricolor hangs beneath the Arc de Triomphe at dusk, its colors framed against the illuminated stonework and the evening sky. Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and completed in 1836, the monument honors soldiers who fought and died for France, and today stands as a national symbol of remembrance at the top of the Champs-Élysées.

On Rue Saint-Dominique in Paris, the neon glow of the historic Thoumieux restaurant meets the golden sparkle of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. A classic Parisian evening scene where everyday life unfolds under the city’s most iconic silhouette.

The Assemblée Nationale in Paris, seat of the French Parliament, stands illuminated at blue hour. Built in the 18th century as the Palais Bourbon, its neoclassical façade was added under Napoleon I. For Paris 2024, the steps were temporarily transformed with vibrant rainbow colors as part of the Olympic cultural program, symbolizing diversity and unity against the backdrop of France’s democratic institutions.

The Vasque de Paris, designed for the 2024 Olympic Games, now serves as a landmark in the Tuileries Gardens. Shaped like a monumental balloon, it was first lit during the opening ceremony as the Olympic cauldron. Here it glows at sunset beside the Ferris wheel and the historic Louvre, blending sport, tradition, and Parisian spectacle.