In our Windows on the World series, we ask Canadians living abroad to give us a sense of how it feels to be where they are right now. It’s a way to cross borders without leaving home.
Amid the pandemic, the typical soundtrack of Paris – honking scooters, wailing sirens and the overall din of Parisian and tourist voices bouncing off one another in the electrically charged air – has been replaced with an unfamiliar but welcome stillness.
At noon on a recent Saturday at the Eiffel Tower, when I would normally be competing against awestruck first–time visitors and influencers for the best spots to shoot the Iron Lady against an explosion of magnolia blooms, I find myself on my own. Aside from a few passersby who stop to appreciate the spring show and take a snap or two, I have her all to myself.