David Enzel

Notre-Dame has reopened, five years after the devastating fire. When I stepped inside on my recent trip to Paris, I saw not scars but renewal — a cathedral more luminous than I remembered.

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Just published: Maison Européenne de la Photographie: A Home for Photography — my walk through the MEP in Paris and the Marie-Laure de Decker exhibition. Her black-and-white work held me still: film grain, quiet strength, and moments that linger. More than photos, this is about presence and seeing.

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EN: Notre-Dame at dusk, glowing above the Seine as the city settles into evening — timeless, serene, and unshaken.

FR: Notre-Dame au crépuscule, se reflétant sur la Seine tandis que la ville s’apaise — intemporelle, sereine, inébranlable.

FR : À Montmartre, près du Sacré-Cœur, cette illusion d’optique fait croire que l’immeuble bascule. En réalité, c’est la butte qui est en pente — mais l’effet visuel amuse toujours les passants et les photographes.

EN : In Montmartre, near the Sacré-Cœur, this optical illusion makes the building appear to lean dramatically. In reality, it is the hillside that slopes — but the visual trick never fails to amuse both passersby and photographers.

EN: The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooks Omaha Beach, where more than 9,000 American service members are buried. Row upon row of crosses and Stars of David bear silent witness to sacrifice, freedom, and memory.

FR: Le Cimetière Américain de Normandie à Colleville-sur-Mer domine Omaha Beach, où reposent plus de 9 000 soldats américains. Rangée après rangée de croix et d’étoiles de David témoignent en silence du sacrifice, de la liberté et du souvenir.

EN: The sun sinks into the horizon at Cabourg, painting the beach and sky in soft evening light.

FR: Le soleil disparaît à l’horizon de Cabourg, teintant la plage et le ciel de la douce lumière du soir.

The Eiffel Tower glows beyond a quiet street, framed by lit windows and the moon breaking through clouds. A nocturnal Paris, both intimate and grand.

Opened for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, Pont Alexandre III is Paris’s most ornate bridge, built as a symbol of friendship between France and Russia. Its gilded statues and Art Nouveau lamps shine over the Seine, linking Les Invalides with the Grand Palais.

Eiffel Tower at Blue Hour

From inside I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid, the historic Louvre rises through a web of steel and sky. Opened in 1989, the pyramid transformed the museum’s entrance into a symbol of Paris itself — a meeting point of classical grandeur and modern design.

This is the Salle des Séances, also known as the Hémicycle, the debating chamber of the French National Assembly. Located in the Palais Bourbon, it was completed in 1799 during the turbulent years following the Revolution. The semicircular design, inspired by ancient Roman theatres, symbolizes openness and equality among deputies. Above the speaker’s rostrum hangs a monumental painting, The Oath of the Jeu de Paume by Jacques-Louis David, commemorating the pivotal moment of 1789 when deputies swore not to separate until France had a constitution. Today, the chamber remains the symbolic heart of French democracy, where laws are debated and the government held accountable.

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.