From my journal entry, 21 December, 2009, 9:00 pm:
I just ordered French Onion Soup, to be followed by pepper steak and a nice red wine. (Chateau de Brague 2006, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur). I spent the last 5 hours walking across the Left Bank area, starting in the 5th Arrondisement, ending in the 14th. I was approximately aiming for the Eiffel Tower, but had to go all the way around the Luxembourg Gardens. It started to rain, just at the edge of snow, so I hopped onto the metro after staring at the map for a long time figuring the best route.
Cold and wet, I followed the crowds in the long-since dark evening for the several blocks to the tower. When it came into view, I saw that it was made of gold! (I hadn’t known that before.) (…Just joking.) Glimmering, illuminated, brilliant. Its spire disappeared and reappeared as the mist and low clouds drifted. What an incredible moment for my first sight of the Eiffel Tower!
The light, constant rain begged an umbrella but it was a juggle to steady it against the breeze and gusts while at the same time bracing the camera against a lamp post for low-light. I think the occasional rain drop on the lens adds to the wintry atmosphere in the images.
(By the way, no Photoshop filters, or otherwise, used on these photos. That’s exactly what the tower looked like.)