France 2010 — November 25

This trip doesn’t really have a railroady goal, but more like tourism with a friend («’Dwin») who wanted to visit Paris with a native guide, or at least what’s the closest to it.

(Explorers will be delighted to click on the photo legends, which will open a Google Street View window where the picture was taken).

So, we get there on the morning of November 25th after an uneventful flight. Right out of the airport, we hit the RER (Express-Metro) and head to our B&B, in the Roquette neighbourhood in Popincourt (11th district of Paris). Unpacked, and despite the jet lag, we start walking aroudn, and eventually, we get to the Richard Lenoir boulevard via Sedaine street, where we discover a rather busy market right on top of the St-Martin canal (which is an underground tunnel at that place).

We walk towards the place de la Bastille, where, surprisingly, traffic is not too heavy, and we go on by the street of the same name…

… where we walk alongside some cafés & restaurants, all the way to Tournelles street.

From there, we keep going west on St-Antoine street, which is rather wide compared to what we’ve seen so far.

While going, we peek into the side-streets, so often full of surprises. At the end of the Guéménée dead-end, sits one of those strange isolated houses, much higher than wide, so typical of Paris…

At the corner of Petit Musc street, a very handsome ancient building is being renovated. The style is obviously inspired from the nearby Place des Vosges.

We then turn on Birague street, and go towards the Place des Vosges (Vosges Square), walking towards one of the central houses whose roof is randomly sprinkled with tiny windows…

Then we arrive on Vosges Square, majestic and always so beautiful. I head towards the arcades under the bordering houses, but ’Dwin wants to go on the square itself, and wants to have his picture taken…

In the middle of the former Royal Square, Louis XIII is still there, turned into stone on a stony horse. At least, there, he’s not a menace to the Republic.

And, finally, we can go under the arcades around the square, where cafés, boutiques and art galleries are established.

We then go on westward on Francs-Bourgeois steet.

At Turenne streetm ’Dwin wants to have his picture taken on a typical newsstand, probably thinking that the “Le Parisien” sign is proof enough that he’s been to Paris…

We then go southwards, on Turenne street, much more quiet than what we’ve seen so far.

At the address 14, a few arches show a handsome garden behind one of the Vosges square buildings. We keep southwards, then turn on Jarente street.

At the end of the Poissonnerie (fish shop) a nice old fountain, hiding yet another higher-than-wider house…

Right next door, at the address 4, a gate offers a view of the courtyard where a few trees and shrubs proudly grow, shunning the pavement.

Then, right after the very short Caron street, the St-Catherine Market Square is right there, which can’t be more parisian, with it’s double benches, cafés with expansive awnings and the ubiquitous bollards to prevent encroachment by cars.

We keep southward, until we get back to St-Antoine street, precisely where Rivoli street ends, between the Caron and St-Paul streets.

Slightly west, Sévigné street offers an attractive perspective, just with the strange building, right past the Ormesson street, but we keep going west.

We then thread the very narrow Prévôt street (so narrow cars can’t go)…

…and right after Charlemagne street, past the Nonnains d’Hyères street, we hit the hôtel des archevêques de Sens, which doesn’t look like it’s 500 years old.

After Hôtel-de-Ville (city hall) street and the Célestin quay and the Georges Pompidou (past President from 1971-1974 — he was a carhead who wanted to sodomize Paris with “penetrating” highways) highway, we cross the Marie bridge from where we have our first view of the Seine river.

I take advantage of a passing bus to make a terrorism act: I take a bus picture!

On St-Louis Island, we notice that the St-Louis en l’Îsle church has the end of it’s bell tower redone.

This shop is full of gastronomic pleasures…

On the Bourbon Quay, ’Dwin wants again to have his picture taken.

Going towards Notre-Dame via the Notre-Dame Cloître (cloister) street, we cross the Chanoinesse (Canoness) street. We wonder what favours she did to the clergy to earn such a title…

And Notre-Dame sits there, dominating, as it has been doing for the last 800 years.

The address 16 is a strange little house, a bit crooked, that doesn’t fit well between the other buildings.

Then we get in front of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. Of course, ’Dwin wants to have his picture taken

Then we dive into the silent crowd that walks around the cathedral, from which a low murmur mixed with respect and awe. ’Dwin, on the other hand, takes pictures of everything that he sees, without taking the time to impregnate with the ambiance.

When we go out, the sunlight is unreal, extraordinary.

The contrasts are quite taking.

But a cloud kills the ambiance right when ’Dwin wants his picture taken on the Petit Pont (little bridge) just as we were going towards the Latin district.

We call it a day on Huchette street and the rue du Chat qui Pêche (fishing cat street). We go back on St-Louis island through the cathedral square, Arcole, Chanoinnesse, Ursins streets and the Quai aux Fleurs (flowers quay) to eat a saurkraut, and we get home next, because we are dead-tired since we did not sleep much on the plane..

2010 trip to France

November 25

Arrival, Roquette, Notre-Dame & sauerkraut