Stroll through Paree

Central Paris is a wonderful place to just walk. Just make sure you have a guidebook. We started off from our hotel in a new direction and first of all encountered a Japanese film crew setting up a scene on a busy avenue almost across from Napoleon’s Tomb. We stuck around to watch for a while as the film crew rushed around setting up the shot. There were cameras on a crane and also on the ground. The director was placidly sitting behind us looking uninterested.

As we walked toward the tomb the golden statues on top of Pont Alexandre III came into view to our right. I’d been wanting to see this bridge since we arrived so it was a pleasant surprise. We took photos then continued to walk along the Left Bank until we reached the Musee d’Orsay.

We turned at the museum and walked through the St. Germain area. This is a shopping area full of designer clothing, jewelry, and furniture stores. We walked past the Brasserie Lipp where Hemingway is said to have written much of A Farewell to Arms. It’s practically catty-cornered from the cathedral St. Germain-des-Pres which is the oldest church in Paris dating from the 11th century. A Christian church has stood at this sight since the fall of Rome. The original was destroyed by Vikings during the 885-886 siege. We stepped into the cool dark and listened to the chanters as we rested for a while.

After this respite we set out for Ile de la Cite in search of the bouquinistes along the Seine. They started as used book sellers in the mid 1500’s. The waiting list to become one of the 250 bouquinistes is 8 years. They each have 4 boxes attached to the stone wall along the river. They sell more than books but three of their four boxes must be books. They pay rent only on the stone their boxes rest on (less than 100 euro/yr.).

We browsed the bouquinistes without buying then caught the metro back to our hotel. We figure we walked about four miles.

My husband pointed out that I say “merci” a lot like Gomer Pyle said “golly.” MAYRsee. I just say messy now.

A couple of negatives I’ve noticed about Paris:
A lot of owners don’t clean up after their dogs.
Fromageries smell like restaurant dumpsters. The first one I encountered on Rue Cler, I smelled long before we got to it. I was looking all around for a dumpster or sewer grate. The lines from Sweeny Todd’s “Pirellis Miracle Elixer” (“Pardon me sir, what’s that awful stench. Are we standing near an open trench?”) kept running through my mind.