Today we decide to have a lovely relaxed day wandering in the arrondissements near our apartment. We walk from Place de la Bastille to Place Vosges which straddles the 3e and 4e, is bathed in sunshine and looks beautiful today (but is still really cold!) and much prettier than the first time I was here when it was a grey and bitterly cold day.......... Parisians are out and about enjoying the sunshine today :-)
We browse the row of small galleries on the Rue des Francs Bourgeois side of the square - some gorgeous bronze sculptures and a few interesting paintings - before we continue west along this lovely street, stopping in at some of the shops, including Guerlain (second visit for me and won't be the last - so beautifully tempting!!).
We wander on, admiring the medieval architecture, some dating from the 1600s, and head around to see if the Picasso Museum is open yet but the sign now says it's reopening in summer 2013 (last time I walked by it said spring, so I guess we won't get to visit this time). Rather than taking the main street we stay on the narrow and much more interesting streets, and eventually find ourselves in Rue des Rosiers, in what seems to be a Jewish part of town - lots of shops selling Stars of David, kosher food and Jewish books (one in particular about Jewish marriage ceremonies in Afghanistan - hmmm, a best seller????) ;-) There's also lots of restaurants and take away outlets with long queues of people waiting for Falafels - very popular, and we figure that so many people couldn't possibly be wrong so we agree to come back one day for lunch! But today it's a lovely day just to stroll (and our lazy start to the day means we're way too late for lunch.........) ;-)
Back at the Bastille late-afternoon, we indulge in a warming and delicious Chocolat Chaud and yet another Crêpe au Citron Sucre - fast becoming a staple!
26/3/13 Tuesday
Another day in Paris and on the agenda today is a serious walk along the Seine to La Tour Eiffel. And I do mean serious - it's 6.5km away, but Paris is definitely a city for walking. We take some smaller streets that we haven't been down before and on Rue François Miron we stop in at the Association pour la Sauvegarde et la Mise en Valeur du Paris Historique (or in other words, the Association for the Preservation and Enhancement of the History of Paris!!!) where we're permitted to go down the narrow and steep stairs to view the structure under the building. It's fascinating to mon amour who finds buildings and history a whole lot more interesting than I do (I think it's giving him ideas for renovating our home)!!!! ;-) I have to admit, though, it is quite amazing how these buildings were built so many years ago, some of them in this area dating back to the 1600s.
After that happy diversion we walk to the Seine and follow the Right Bank along, past the many beautiful and famous bridges, such as the amazing Pont Alexandre III with its gold decorations.
The view of the tower from the right bank of the Seine is really lovely, with the deciduous trees and the river providing a lovely frame for many photos of this iconic landmark.
Part-way along, we're approached by a young man. We see him coming, and he bends down a little way in front of us and appears to pick something up from the ground. He holds his hand out towards us and there's a gold ring in his palm. But thanks to a friend back home who was recently in Paris, I'm already alert to this particular scam and I quickly say "it's a scam" before my kind and interactive husband engages with him. We avert eyes and walk on by, but it would be so easy to be drawn in by this sort of thing. They approach you with an authentic looking item of jewellery and ask if it's yours. If they manage to engage you, then either they or their accomplice quickly pick your pockets. So I appreciate being given the heads-up on that one!!
La Tour Eiffel really is a beautiful sight, despite the hordes of tourists (among which, of course, we don't count ourselves - temporary residents, remember......?) ;-) We decide against joining the long, long queue waiting for the lift to the top, and opt instead to join the much shorter queue at the south pillar where we begin the climb to the second level. We don't count, but it's at least 300 steps to each level, so we figure it's somewhere between 600 and 700 steps up - great for the legs (as if we needed more exercise today......)!! There is a series of boards on the first level with information and photos from the building of the tower in the late 1800s, and it truly was an impressive undertaking.
At the second level the wind is icy on the east side of the tower and unfortunately the view isn't as good as it could be because of the grey and hazy day but it's the Eiffel Tower - it's just lovely to be here with my new husband :-) We head to the other side of the tower where it's still and less cold and enjoy the view from here - still amazing even though the visibility isn't what it could be.
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