Why we travel

[Photo/The New York Times]

PARIS, FEB. 21, 2011

I traveled to Paris from Geneva, where I was studying abroad. I took this photograph on the first night I arrived, after I had ridden to the top of the Eiffel Tower and was walking back to my hotel. As I was heading back, I passed a young couple walking down the path leading up to the tower, and as I looked back at them, I was struck by the contrast between the beauti- fully lit tower and the dark and romantic silhouettes.