Summer nights

Courtyard of the Louvre Museum, with the Pyramid designed by I.P. Pei

Paris_Pyramid, originally uploaded by david_stirling.

One thing that makes summer nights in Paris interesting is that it stays light quite a bit later than for most of us in the States. This photo was taken after 8 PM; dusk doesn't come until around 10 PM in mid-July. That means that people are out walking well into the night, especially on Friday. The courtyard of the Louvre is a popular place, though admittedly it is mostly tourists. The museum itself stays open until 9 PM. I had intended to spend some time looking at the exhibits, but it was so nice outside I decided to enjoy the sun instead and just people-watched in the courtyard. Apparently my impressively gigantic camera and suite of lenses had many couples believing I was the perfect person to take their portrait in front of the pyramid. I must have had half a dozen requests. I did my best not to disappoint them, having them move first one way, then the other, to get just the right angle before snapping the shot for them.