Paris: A few photos from Day 1
One of my favorite things about my recent trip to Paris was the way the street cafes make absolutely no pretense about blatantly facilitating people watching. I wish New York cafes would take note.
On our first day we covered about 6 miles as the crow flies. I felt as if we walked much further, but all in all not bad considering we were sleep deprived after taking the red eye from New York.
I suspect we realistically walked a couple of miles more than that as we got lost once - took a wrong turn out of Jardin Du Luxembourg and ended up back in the vicinity of our Montparnasse hotel instead of by the Seine - and retrod our ground a few times. We didn't really have a destination in mind, beyond our curiosity concerning the Paris Plages, or beaches, and my curiosity about a public pool on a barge in the Seine named for Josephine Baker.
It wasn't the most picturesque route, although initially it did take us past Notre Dame.
Before all that though we headed for Montparnasse Tower, which is a great spot for taking in an amazing view of Paris that includes the Eiffel Tower.
During our walk we saw this amazing public art on the quai d'austerlitz. Apparently it's the work of street artist IDEM who was looking to give the impression of a giant over flowing paint pot.
After crossing the Pont de Bercy we walked up the Qual de la Rapee to Avenue Ledru Rollin and headed to Le Bistrot du Peintre for an early dinner, which I'd read about in Eloisa James's Paris In Love. I think I ordered badly. I was a bit over faced by the circular cake of salmon in fromage frais topped with layers of smoked salmon served with a side salad. Not that it was bad, not in the least; it was just too much salmon for me, but Melissa loved her dish of roast chicken on a bed of ratatouille.
We took the metro back to the hotel after dinner and I was snoozing by 8pm, 2pm New York time. Come to think of it we never did see Paris Plages!!
I suspect we realistically walked a couple of miles more than that as we got lost once - took a wrong turn out of Jardin Du Luxembourg and ended up back in the vicinity of our Montparnasse hotel instead of by the Seine - and retrod our ground a few times. We didn't really have a destination in mind, beyond our curiosity concerning the Paris Plages, or beaches, and my curiosity about a public pool on a barge in the Seine named for Josephine Baker.
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| Photo by Alexandrealari http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6913931 |
It wasn't the most picturesque route, although initially it did take us past Notre Dame.
Before all that though we headed for Montparnasse Tower, which is a great spot for taking in an amazing view of Paris that includes the Eiffel Tower.
During our walk we saw this amazing public art on the quai d'austerlitz. Apparently it's the work of street artist IDEM who was looking to give the impression of a giant over flowing paint pot.
After crossing the Pont de Bercy we walked up the Qual de la Rapee to Avenue Ledru Rollin and headed to Le Bistrot du Peintre for an early dinner, which I'd read about in Eloisa James's Paris In Love. I think I ordered badly. I was a bit over faced by the circular cake of salmon in fromage frais topped with layers of smoked salmon served with a side salad. Not that it was bad, not in the least; it was just too much salmon for me, but Melissa loved her dish of roast chicken on a bed of ratatouille.
We took the metro back to the hotel after dinner and I was snoozing by 8pm, 2pm New York time. Come to think of it we never did see Paris Plages!!
3 comments:
Ohhhhh...interesting photos. I'll remember it when/if we ever visit Paris - that it's available to see Paris from Montparnasse Tower. :-) Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Hi Amel, you should definitely check it out, it's a great view. We stayed within walking distance of the tour at the Hotel de la Paix (http://www.hoteldelapaix.com/) on Boulevard Raspail. It was a great and inexpensive option in a great location.
THANKS for the hotel info. Appreciate it and gonna bookmark it for future reference! :-D
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