Une promenade dans le 13ème et 14ème arrondissements, avec un arrêt à la bibliothèque nationale

Our Friday walk had some obscure goals: the purchase of an obscure souvenir and the finding of an obscure, not to say, unique, sight. The former took us into the 13th, with an enjoyable side-trip to the impressive national library, and the latter further into the 14th, through more areas not likely seen by tourists.

Our first stop was at one of the offices of the Paris water works, where they sell
marvelous carafes for each of the 20 arrondissements; we thought an 11th
arrondissement carafe would be cool...

Alas, the boutique was closed ("c'est exceptionnel!"), but we did get to look
at an interesting display of cartoonists' takes on water pollution

Thus; flippable art; most of it not very kind to the US, but
then, what did you expect?

We moved on to the vast Bibliotheque Nationale Francois
Mitterand, another exemplar of new architecture and new
Paris, where we hoped to reconnoiter the Ete 14 exhibit for
future visitors

In the bookstore, the audio version of Proust's In Search of  Lost Time has been
marked down

Does the Library of Congress have an espace pique-nique?

Raisinettes, anyone? In the concession area of one of the mega-theaters adjoined
to the library; note the neon display, unthinkable in the US

Outside view; the whole area has been raised 3-4 stories above the original ground

The entire complex consists of 4 sky-scrapers (here are two
them), with connecting multi-level buildings, all surrounding
a sizable little forest

Another of the BNF towers

On the plaza, looking at more of the amazing architecture

Walking further on, under an elevated Metro we later took
from Denfert Rocherau back to Nation

And the 19th century Ionic capitals on its piers 

They love jazz here, always have

And Satchmo gets a very nice little park among the high-rises

Now walking on the beautiful Boulevard Arago

By all manner of interesting shoppes...here The Little Prince
boutique

And past the vast, historic La Sante prison 

Finally reaching our goal--"our quest is at an end"--the last,
the very last, of Paris' famous pissoirs, or Vespaciennes, as
they are more properly called; dating from 1841; we think
this is not Art Nouveau; someone else characterized it as
the Smell Epoche