Sometimes, before we go out walking to a particular area, we refer to the book Paris Walks by Fiona Duncan and Leonie Glass. Geoffrey used to borrow it from the Melbourne City Library, however, we have now bought a copy and I highly recommend it. The aerial-view-isometric-mapping used to illustrate the walks make it very easy to follow.
I get a bit behind with the "blog". This particular walk was on Monday 7 March.
It was a day of following your nose and seeing where you end up, although we knew where we wanted to end up. From our place, we walked along back streets that run parallel with rue de Rivoli and close to the Seine.
We were in the Marais district. Le marais - marsh. I like this area of Paris. It is crammed with ancient buildings, beautiful mansions.You can take a side step and find yourself in a narrow laneway or in a courtyard. In rue François-Miron, you pass two medieval, narrow, crooked half timbered houses.
Along rue Saint-Antoine, past l'Eglise Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis and through the narrow cobbled passage de St-Paul and into rue Saint-Paul.
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| Geoffrey and Penelope |
We never go anywhere without revisiting a bookshop that Geoffrey already knows about and frequents.
The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore is in 22 rue Saint-Paul. This is him with Penelope, the owner of the shop.
Then, down rue des Jardins St Paul, through a courtyard, you find yourself on the far side of a school playground, enclosed by a 70m stretch of ancient wall, the most substantial relic of Philip Augustus' 1190 fortifications. In the background is l'Eglise Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
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| part of the Roman wall |
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Went into Village Saint-Paul, a series of interconnecting cobbled courtyards surrounded by workshops, galleries, antique and craft shops.
We then reached the Seine at the narrow point of Île Saint-Louis, square Barye at Pont de Sully and Boulevarde Henri IV. Pont de Sully is a bridge across the River Seine. In reality, two separate bridges meeting on the eastern tip of Île Saint Louis, it links the 4e and 5e arrondissements along the line of the Boulevard Henri IV and connects to the eastern end of Boulevard Saint-Germain.
We continued along Quai Henri IV.
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| a sit down in the sun along Quai Henri IV |
Then to Pont Morland which is a bridge located between the 4e and the 12e arrondissiments of Paris. The bridge crosses at the lock of of the Arsenal at the confluence of the Port de Plaisance de l'Arsenal and de la Seine, between the Boulevard Morland in the 4e arrondissiment and the Quai de Rappée in the 5e arrondissiment.
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| on Pont Morland with Quai Henri IV in the background |
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| on Pont Morland with Pont de Sully in the background |
Then when you go to the other side of the bridge,
you are looking at Port de Plaisance de l'Arsenal
(Port of Pleasure),with La Colonne de Juillet à la Place de la Bastille in the background.
This is at the confluence of the Port de Plaisance de l'Arsenal and de la Seine.
If you take a canal boat trip from le Musée d' Orsay, this is where you come from la Seine, under the Pont Morland, via the lock of the Arsenal.
La Colonne de Juillet à la Place de la Bastille
Le Port de Plaisance de l'Arsenal leads to la Colonne de Juillet à la Place de la Bastille.
The Column of July is in commemoration of des "Trois Glorieuses". These "Three Days" of the revolution of the 27, 28, 29 July 1830 led to the fall of Charles X and the absolute monarchy and the establishment of the constitutional monarchy with the reign of Louis-Philippe 1er, duc d'Orléans, became King of the French (July Monarchy).
The shaft of the column bears the names of the victims of the revolutionary days of July 1830. At the summit is the ball which flies le"Genié de la Liberté", (Genius of Liberty). A sculpture in gilded bronze of Auguste Dumont. He is naked, left foot on the sphere, lifted right leg, wings, a star on the front. The left hand supports the broken chains of depotism, while his right hand brandishes the torch of civilisation.
The Bastille, or more exactly, the Bastille Saint-Antoine, was a fortress at the location of the current Place de la Bastille. It was completely destroyed after the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.
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la Colonne de Juillet à la Place de la Bastille
Revolutionaries from the uprising of 1830 are buried underneath. |
L' Opéra Bastille is located in the 12e arrondissiment à la place de la Bastille.
We continued our walk into la Place des Vosges and then meandered home.
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| la place des Vosges in front of statue of Louis XIII |
à bientôt
Footnote from Le Copilote
I have had a quick look over what Elizabeth has said about today. Yes, that is pretty much as it happened. There are a few pictures of me too. One as part of a wall and the others puzzling over what the word confluence means.
The picture with the caption "a sit down in the sun along Quai Henri IV" is special to me because Henry IV was the one who said "A kingdom is worth a Mass" and because he was murdered just here on the street in front of our appartment by a catholic person.
Leaves are starting to appear on trees. The types of flowers that come up from bulbs are starting to appear. It seems that Paris will soon be prettier than Melbourne can ever be. The changes in the gardens force me to understand that we don't really have seasons in our part of Australia. Not like European ones anyway.
