PARIS ON FOOT

A trip to Paris is not complete without a walk or two along The Seine.  Monday night on Le rive gauche we drank spritzers with young Parisians while listening to a cool jazz combo.  On Tuesday (or any day), you can ride a variety of craft along the walkways, indulge in community zumba, climb along the ancient walls via foot and hand holds or play table soccer gratis in addition to disporting yourself on the grass or deckchairs.  Tres fantastique!

Riding the Metro is the way to get around rapidly, but nothing beats Paris on foot, just be sure your soles are thick.  Our apartment on Rue de Lyonaise in the 5th arrondissement is quiet and only two street away from our favourite Rue Mouffetard.  A good place to commence a traverse of Paris. A mixed market was being held at St Germain where hand tooled leather covered books were on sale ~ "Completely hand made, no mechanical, only €10." No thanks, nes pas.

The crowds around Notre Dame were too much and we paused only long enough to be frightened by it's gargoyles, buy postcards and listen to a jazz quintet.  That double bass had the best tone ever!  The space in front of the imposing Town Hall was filling with office workers and their sandwiches as we crossed Rue de Rivoli and plunged into Le Marais.

Unsurprisingly, the pedestrian crossing at Rue de Archives is a painted rainbow as is the street sign adjacent to the John Galliano store.  Gay bars are prolific throughout the Marais, as are vintage clothes stores.  It is where old denim goes to be resurrected.

No matter how you approach Sacre Coeur you are in for a lot of steps.  We amplified the experience by alighting at Metro station Chateau Rouge resulting in a number of steep hills followed by many flights of stairs before reaching the Cathedral.  Confronted by another 300 stairs to the dome, I piked out with the excuse being six years of morning Mass and nightly rosary had rended my knees inoperable.

The Sacre Coeur is in the 18th arrondissement which is the place to go if you are in the market for some vivid fabric or a head full of corn rows a la afrique.  It is definitely not the place to take Pauline Hanson or her ilk.  "OMG the country is being overun by black people!"  Well yeah, when you consider how much of Africa and the Caribbean the French colonised and exploited, it's hardly surprising their citizens want to live in mother France.