The Place de la Concorde and Les Tuileries are two famous locations in Paris.  Here they are on a bright spring afternoon in April.

St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is perhaps the world’s most famous church. This video is of the large and beautiful square directly in front of the basilica where the pope will often say mass for the Catholic faithful and others who gather within. The pope’s apartment is up and off to the right of the basilica. On Sunday mornings and special holy days, he will greet throngs of worshippers from his window. There are larger crowds in the city right now because next Sunday is Palm Sunday and then Easter Sunday, two of the most important days in the Catholic liturgical calendar.

To enter the basilica, you have to go through security, and if you are carrying anything that looks like a knife, i.e. a Leatherman pocket tool or a little thing dangling from your car’s key chain, you won’t get in. Trust me on that. Since the attempted assassination of the last pope and damage to some Vatican art work, security has been tightened.