Day 45 : Tourists In Paris ; We Walked All Day. What’s Changed ?

---

Hi.

I’m writing very little today as the photos track our movements and frankly, I’m tired.

The weather gods have smiled on Paris today and the sun was shining for the first time in ages.

Tim and I caught the Metro train to near the Bastille and spent the day walking, walking.

The Marais,is a district oozing with character, and we often wandered towards a destination, turning up random streets, happy as long as we were headed in a particular direction. I’ve done this in Rome, and it can produce the nicest surprises at the turn of a corner.

The streets were vibrant, and locals and tourists were out in force. Falafels are the food to eat here, and the many food shops had queues stretching up the street. We just had to be patient. There were no quick options, and the shops had people going down the lines taking orders, and money. We were fed quickly and chose to find a bench, and sit and watch people. Smart informal is a bare minumum in Paris, and many locals are dressed to impress; and I was. Smart sophisticated young men, older couples, well dressed wearing those little French berets, and young women dressed for the catwalk, were out to parade their assets on a Saturday, contrasting with the tourists, wandering lost with their heads buried in the GPS in their phones, not quite sure where they’re going. It’s a very different dress code when you are living out of a suitcase, or worse, a backpack.

Tommorrow we venture down towards the Seine River, the sun will shine, and my time away is ticking away. We are going to take advantage of the free Sunday entry into some museums and art galleries, and spend some time just resting by the river.

I’ll be home in five days , but it will take a while to digest all I’ve seen and experI ended. My feet are still sore. Not from blisters; I think all the walking has just fatigued them and they feel sort of bruised. I’m looking forward to catching up with people, seeing how they are, and settling back into a normal life.

That’s it for now, I check in tomorrow.

---

Photos

Our Neighbors On The Sixth Floor
No lift either.

Our Appartment
Lovely curved oak door to match the stairs.

Home Maintenance Man Starts The Day
I shouldn’t have sold the Vespa.

The Bottomless Pit
Six floors with high ceilings. You don’t want to climb these too often.

Bright Flowers At Marché d’Aligne,
One of many Fresh Produce markets in Paris. It’s for the locals to stock up. Not many tourists other than us.

Trash and Treasure Market
Like most, it’s more trash than treasure.i could have bought some jousting swords but they were too dear. I told him he was dreaming.

The Breakfast View
Chocolate filled pastries and coffee. No healthy food choices here.

Place de Vosges, Marais
The Square is a perfect square of 140 metres. This is the Jewish hub of Paris. As you stroll the Marais, you are confronted by many plaques reminding us of the deportations. Schools, communities, and families were deported with the help of the Vichy Regime.

Victor Hugo Museum
The renowned author and artist lived in this house on the Place déVoges for 16 years until 1848 when he fled into exile. This is the original furniture from his home in Guernsey, where he passed away in a bedroom set out like this.

The Hotel De Sully
This was the home of the King’s Finance Minister. This backed directly onto Place de Vosges, a sign of his importance.

St Paul’s Church
This was originally the site of the church in 632AD, but the current edition is pretty recent, only 1641AD. When the Bastille was destroyed in 1789, the church was used to store art and books from other areas of the Quarter.

Visited The Picasso Museum.
A coffee in the top floor cafe kick started a couple of very educational hours for me.

Picasso Went From This....
Painted when he was 16 years old, using his father as the model for the doctor.

......To This. The Cubist Movement
Cubism revolutionised art and is based on painting the minds perception rather than illustrating an image as it is.

Ezra’s Getting Paper And Pencils From Santa This Year
I had one of these on the fridge not too long ago. The boy has a good eye.

Marche des Enfants Rouges
The Market Of The Red Children. Established in 1628 and is the oldest continuous covered market in Paris. The name refers to orphan children in the local hospice who were dressed in red.
This market sells food and also has many food stalls. This was our dinner preference; Moroccan cuisine.

Comments

[Susan Petch]

Bon soir
Love Paris. Ooh la la. How does it feel to be back in "civilisation"?

[sherrys]

Civilisation?
I’m not sure the Camino wasn’t more civilised. Paris is pretty nice though.