Advertisement
Published: September 12th 2013
Rue Cler market
Kind of empty and dead.Another cool and cloudy day on Tuesday but good enough to spend the day outdoors again. We've been wanting to go to the Rue Cler Market to really immerse ourselves in the Parisian atmosphere of the daily markets, although the indoor and outdoor markets around our apartment are great. But Rue Cler is highly recommended so off we went, along with a list of two other market areas to check out. It's just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower and has been a pedestrian only street since 1984.
The metro stop was a couple of blocks away from the market and when we found it, we were immediately disappointed. It is only two blocks long, the stalls were sparse, shoppers even more sparse, just a few tourists taking photos and not much of anything else happening. We took very little time in walking up and down the two blocks before hopping back onto the metro to head off to our second stop, the market street of Rue Mouffetard.
The Place Monge metro stop drops you very near the start of the market, and this is a GREAT market! It winds along narrow, cobblestone streets packed full of shoppers
Rue Mouffetard market
Busy, charming Parisian market making their way along the many fresh produce stalls, boucheries, fromageries, poissoniers, chocolate, wine and flower shops, cafes and little stores of every description. You won't find much in the way of souvenirs here as this is the heart of the daily shopping district for Parisiens.
Rue Mouffetard is the remnant of an ancient Roman road although the buildings have been rebuilt several times since then. Some of the buildings date from the 12th century, and many have distinct histories. In a sense, this street represents the history of Paris. The Mouffetard market fills the lower half of the street every morning, and people come to do their daily shopping. Its vitality is reminiscent of a scene from the Middle Ages. After the market closes, restaurants open up, offering a wide variety of ethnic as well as traditional French food at cafes and creperies.
Every day except Monday, the rue Mouffetard hosts perhaps the most famous street market in all of Paris and historians have traced the origins of this market to 1350 A.D., and possibly earlier. Unlike most street markets in Paris, with temporary stalls and goods brought in, the area's permanent shops place their goods on
the pedestrian street and have a great stake in preserving the character of the area.
Almost all of the buildings along the rue Mouffetard date from the 17th century and the city of Paris has gone to great pains to preserve this section of town. The bas relief above the door at no. 122 - à la Bonne Source (At the Good Spring) dates from a 1592 A.D. wine shop. The shoe shop at no. 64 dates from 1890 and still sells wooden shoes worn by farmers and other peasans. In 1938 a hidden treasure of three thousand gold pieces was found inside the walls of a building at no. 53 (now a Comfort Inn) by some construction workers, eventually traced to a nobleman who had disappeared in 1757. The amount was finally divided among the construction workers and the nobleman's living descendents in 1952. Near the top of the hill of rue Mouffetard, a quick jog to the left along rue du Pot de Fer (or "Iron Pot Street") is an amazing variety of restaurants with tables spread out into the walking street including the first Taiwanese teahouse in Europe, la Maison de trois thés at no. 5.
La Maison des Tartes - Rue Mouffetard
Great lemon and chocolate tarts and home-made lemonade. The atmosphere was festive, the architecture was beautiful with centuries old buildings, little alleyways and courtyards and the market not only went on for several blocks but branched off from side to side as we wandered along. Chris tried on some clothes and bought a dress to wear to Kelsey's Mexico wedding. We stopped for lunch at a little Asian café with a huge selection of ready-made foods in their counters. Chris got a vegetarian quiche and I chose a Brochette de Poulet (it was fantastic!) and a fresh salad roll in a rice noodle wrap; total price only 5 Euros! Later on we stopped at another tiny little café for coffee and dessert. They specialized in tarts so Chris got a huge slice of lemon tart and espresso and I went for the chocolate tart and their specialty home-made lemonade.
After a couple of hours wandering around Rue Mouffetard, we decided to walk the few blocks down Rue Monge to our next metro stop Censier Daubenton. It was an interesting walk through a very ethnic, 99% black, neighbourhood and I counted over a dozen cosmetic stores and 28 wig shops in 4 blocks, and that was just
on our side of the street! We're assuming this was connected with the transvestites we also noticed along the way. And no, I did not stop to take pictures.
Our next stop was the Marche Couvert St-Quentin, an iron-and-glass covered market built in 1866. The Marché Couvert Saint Martin is located at 31/33 rue Chateau d’Eau. It is open Tuesday to Saturday 8:30 am to 1/1:30pm, and 4:00 pm to 7pm /7:30pm. Sundays 8:30pm to 1pm
. Although our guide book stated that it was lined with gourmet food stalls, we found it to be half empty, partially under repair, and with only a handful of shoppers in the whole place. Another huge disappointment as far as a market but it was a very nice building, the stone gates are from an earlier market in that location, built in 1854 after the Haussmannization of Paris necessitated the demolition of an earlier market located there–the Marché Saint-Laurent, to make room for Boulevard Strasbourg. But a modern building was constructed around it, with the stone gates retained. Even the modern building is a mix of styles: metal vents, doric columns, and glass on the first floor and a hybrid Parisian style on
the upper floors. Some of the gates have glass doors.
Located in the 10th arrondisement, the history of the name is interesting. Prior to the Marché Saint-Laurent, there was another market in the same location called the Marché Saint-Quentin. A new market was built by a saving and loans company, who made an agreement with the local prefecture to create a market. It was known as the Marché Chateau d’Eau Saint-Martin, a combination of the name of the street (Chateau d’Eau) and Saint-Martin, the name of
another market that was once located at the intersection of rue de Conté, rue de Vaucanson, rue Ferdinand-Berthoud et Montgolfier. The market was also referred to as the marché de la Porte Saint-Martin.
Wednesday morning was cool and cloudy again and although it threatened rain for most of the day, we only had a few drops now and then. I had been wanting to get a shot of the replica Statue of Liberty (smaller than the original) with the Eiffel Tower behind so Chris and I set out walking to find a good vantage point.
This Statue of Liberty is approximately 35 feet in height on her base, and stands upon
a tiny island called Swan Ally, Paris (Allée des Cygnes) in the Seine near the Grenelle Bridge. This exact Statue of Liberty replica monument was offered to the French by the American residents of Paris as a remembrance to commemorate the Centennial of the French Revolution. It was inaugurated on November 15, 1889 and was placed so that it faced the Eiffel Tower (so as not to have it’s back to the Élysée Palace). However, it’s creator Bartholdi was most upset that it did not face the New York location of the Statue of Liberty. But with persistence, as was his nature, Batholdi finally achieved getting the statue turned to face America at the time of the World's Fair in Paris in 1889. The tablet on the statue of liberty, that the Swan Alley Statue of Liberty holds is inscribed with the dates IV Juillet 1776 et XIV Julliet 1789 (the dates of the US and French revolutions).
We wandered out again in the afternoon for Chris to find a salon for a haircut. She chose Coiffure Visagiste at 52 Rue Vital, just a couple of blocks from our apartment. They fit her in right away and 40 minutes
and 53 Euros later, she emerged, very pleased with her new French 'do.
In the evening, Sue was anxious to get out and see some of Paris lit up at night. I had been surfing the net to get some photo ideas so finally was also anxious to go see the lights in this City of Light.
We headed out in separate directions, Chris and I starting at the Trocadero metro stop to see the Palais de Chaillot fountains with the Eiffel Tower behind. Although the fountains are not lit up, they are dramatically increased each hour at the same time that the Eiffel Tower light show runs for five minutes. I got a few interesting shots here then we walked a couple of blocks to Place de l'Alma.
A life-size copy of the torch, Flame of Liberty, can be seen above the entrance to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel near the Champs-Élysées. It was given to the city as a return gift in honor of the Centennial Celebration of the statue's dedication. Since it is above the Pont de l'Alma car tunnel in which Princess Diana died, the torch has become an unofficial memorial to the
Princess. I experimented with some long exposures here, with car lights moving in and out of the tunnel, then it was back onto the metro to go to the Louvre.
The Louvre is spectacularly lit up at night, the glass pyramids practically glowing from their internal lights. The surrounding walls of the old Louvre wings surrounding the pyramids are also well lit and the grounds were full of tourists taking pictures. I managed to get a few shots I was happy with (only one interruption to take photos of a young couple) then we were back into the metro to go check out the Place de la Concorde. There is so much to see here that I expected numerous fantastic photo ops.
At 8 hectares (20 acres), the octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris. It is situated between the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysées. In 1763, a large statue of king Louis XV was erected at the site to celebrate the recovery of the king after a serious illness. The square surrounding the statue was created later, in 1772, by the architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel. It was known as the place Louis XV.
In
1792, during the French revolution, the statue was replaced by another large statue, called 'Liberté' (freedom) and the square was called Place de la Révolution. A guillotine was installed at the center of the square and in a time span of only a couple of years, 1119 people were beheaded here. Amongst them many famous people like King Louis XVI, Marie-Antionette, and revolutionary Robespierre, just to name a few. After the revolution the square was renamed several times until 1830, when it was given the current name 'Place de la Concorde'.
In the 19th century the 3200 years old obelisk from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes was installed at the center of the Place de la Concorde. It is a 23 meters (75 ft) tall monolith in pink granite and weighs approximately 230 tons. In 1831, it was offered by the Viceroy of Egypt to Louis Philippe. Three obelisks were offered by the Viceroy, but only one was transported to Paris. The obelisk - sometimes dubbed 'L'aiguille de Cléopâtre' or Cleopatra's Needle - is covered with hieroglyphs picturing the reign of pharaohs Ramses II & Ramses III. Pictures on the pedestal describe the transportation to Paris and
its installation at the square in 1836.
At each corner of the octagonal square is a statue representing a French city: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg. They were installed in 1836 by Jacob Ignaz Hittorf, who redesigned the Place de la Concorde between 1833 and 1846.
That same year a bronze fountain, called 'La fontaine des Mers' was added to the square. A second one, the 'Elevation of the Maritime' fountain, was installed in 1839. Both fountains were designed by Hittorf.
From the Place de la Concorde you can see the Arc de Triomphe (west), the Madeleine (north), the Tuileries (east) and, across the Seine, the Palais Bourbon, now the Assemblée Nationale (south).
Overall, I found the whole area too brightly lit to get the sort of photos I'd envisioned but I did take a few and especially liked the telephoto shot down the length of the Champs Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe.
We got back on the metro after this and with one transfer we were back near home and up to the apartment before midnight for a last cup of tea before bed.
Thursday I woke to
Place de la Concorde
Fountain in front of Ministere de la Marine. another cool and cloudy day, the terrace wet from rain during the night. It's Sue's birthday today so we headed off to Montmarte again to all have dinner at a restaurant she picked out last week. Chris and I headed out early to roam around Montmarte a bit to take in the galleries and artists set up all around the square and in the streets. I just love the atmosphere there. Unfortunately it was raining a bit so a lot of the artists packed up and headed indoors. We all met up at the restaurant only to discover that it didn't open for another couple of hours. So we roamed around, checking out the dozens of little restaurants in the area, settling on Chez Eugene for Sue's birthday dinner. We had a great meal then back on the metro and home again for coffee and birthday cake.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.064s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0284s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Karen
non-member comment
Love your hairstyle. It really suits you.