It definitely looks much less like a foreign object. It will surely improve even more once it appears a bit more "used." Glad that you like it now after all. :)
Regarding photo 3: Did your neighbor have the mosaic pavement laid in segmental arches? I think that’s great and still hope ;-) that my husband will lay it like that for us too... with a professional it would probably cost a fortune, apart from the fact that we wouldn’t find anyone here in the region anyway.