Place de l’Alma Traffic Circle, Paris
October 2017 — Evening commuters navigate the cobblestone intersection at Place de l’Alma, a busy roundabout near the Seine that connects several major Parisian avenues. Cyclists, scooters, and cars intermingle beneath the façades of Haussmann-era buildings, a familiar rhythm in the city’s daily life. The area blends elegance and intensity—its limestone balconies and cafés standing in contrast to the constant motion of urban transit. Completed in the mid-19th century, Place de l’Alma became a symbolic gateway between the Right Bank and the Left, linking the fashionable avenues of the 8th and 16th arrondissements. The nearby Pont de l’Alma, inaugurated in 1856 by Napoleon III, was once guarded by four statues of French soldiers—only one, the Zouave, remains today, still serving as an informal flood gauge for the rising Seine.
