I was in Paris for lunch three years ago. I remember it was raining and we weren’t quite sure which was the best route to take from the Metro to our friend’s apartment.

It was a whirlwind visit, a great meal and a chance to catch up with one of my wife’s classmates from university. But there was no chance to see any of the city.

Several days later it was a similar story. We were flying from Paris to Bucharest, but never actually came into the city.

So when I was asked if I would like to go to Paris for a conference in September it was easy to say yes. The conference would have been work, with little free time, but I figured I might catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Or get to take a walk along the banks of the Seine.

I knew there would be no time for the Louvre, which was okay with me. My guess is that the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa look pretty much the same as the last time I saw them in 1986.

Plans change though, and now a September trip to Paris is no longer on my schedule. But the city has been on my mind.

When I was cleaning n the weekend I found a bag of photos taken on the 1986 trip. The good ones are in an album somewhere. We have moved four times since then, and I am not quite sure where the album is. With Paris on my mind though I thought these photos of the Eiffel Tower were appropriate.

I don’t remember if it was hazy when I took the distance shots, but it sure seems that way. The photos taken underneath are much better. The ones that were properly framed are, I think, in the missing photo album. At least I remember some better pictures than these.

I must also confess that while I can at times be terribly creative, it hadn’t occurred to me to lie on my back and take a picture of the underside of the Eiffel Tower in its nighttime splendour until I saw someone else doing it.

Maybe I’ll get to Paris in 2018. Until then, I still have memories of 1986.