Tuesday's 'take on the tower'...a trick of forced perspective.

Image:Barthi75

Liberty beneath the tower...walk across Pont de Grenelle at just the right angle, and you’ll catch a surreal sight, Paris’s Statue of Liberty standing as if directly beneath the Eiffel Tower. Of course, the two landmarks are quite a distance apart as the statue rests on the narrow Île aux Cygnes, and the tower looms upstream but from certain viewpoints, they appear perfectly aligned.  

It is, of course, a trick of forced perspective but a powerful one. In a single frame, you see two icons layered by distance but united by vision.  To get the shot, stand on the eastern side of the bridge or approach from the Passy side and look west. For an even better angle, try a Seine river cruise, you’ll see Liberty rise beneath the tower's iron arches as you float past.