On December 31, the last day of 2013, we left Paris.

We took a cab to the car rental office, claimed our black Peugeot and off we went into the Paris traffic. Oh my, the roundabouts were like carnival rides; no one stayed in a lane, each car wove in and out to make their getaway out of the intersection and onto their chosen street.

Our saving grace was Allen, one of the best drivers I have ever ridden with. He had the driving skills of a race car driver and the navigational instincts of a homing pigeon. Never having been in Paris before, he drove right out of Paris and connected to all the right highways on our way to the west coast of France. It was actually fun.

Because I was the “assistant navigator” in the passenger’s seat, I wasn’t able to shoot too many of the views as we left Paris. I did however have time to shoot La Grande Arche in the business district on the western edge of Paris. The immense arch seemed to hover on the horizon line for so long as we were speeding down the expressway. The arch was dramatic and spare and modern with a huge hollow center creating a powerful focal point among the skyscrapers.

La Grande Arche was built in 1989; the hollow area of this enormous cube-shaped frame is large enough to hold Notre Dame Cathedral. The arch is on a direct axis to the Arch de Triumph so far away in the middle of Paris. What a connection and contrast between the old and the new in this famous city of history and design.