Canal saint martin au parc de la Villette

Thursday's walk took us from the Place de la Republic, at the intersection of the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, and 11th arrondissements, all the way out to the end of the 19th, at the Parc de la Villette, much of it along the Canal St. Martin and its assorted quays, basins, tributaries, off-shoots, and extensions. Although its first few kilometers are largely underground, the Canal emerges near the Place de la Republic and then continues on several more out in the open, becoming Paris's other waterfront. Although it was a seriously commercial enterprise when it first opened, in the 19th century, it is now largely scenic and recreational in nature. Along the way were also the 17th century Hospital Saint-Louis, the Hotel du Nord, La Rotonde, and much more. The huge Parc de la Villette was fairly stunning, visually and intellectually--Jacques ("Jackie") Derrida was consulted for its design, and it is an exemplar of Deconstructivist architecture--and I am pretty sure we'll be returning to it.

The canal shortly after it emerges from under ground; low tide

For the next several kilometers, it's surrounded by parks, gardens, recreational areas,
beautiful Art Nouveau bridges and grill work, etc.; high tide

Entrance to Paris' second hospital, Saint-Louis

One of its older bits; of course there are much newer bits too, but that's not
what you come to see

Hotel du Nord, setting of an extremely famous movie I have not seen
and probably will never see... (look it up)

Thus

La Rotonde de la Villette--a late 18th century entry to the city where taxes on
goods were to be paid; now, of course, a restaurant; sic transit, Gloria 

From here, roughly, Place de la Stalingrad Metro station, the canal opens out
to become the Bassin de la Villette, with assorted water sports, rides, etc.

And swans; and at length you get to the Parc de la Villette

If you visit the Parc Villette, be prepared to dispense with any notions you may
have about what a park should be; also to reflect on what a "park" should be in
a 21st century hyper-urban setting

On the left, the humongous Center for Science and Industry, Europe's largest such
museum; and the Geode, the world's largest screen and IMAX theater

Yes, there are some conventional kiddie rides

And acres of less conventional kiddie rides

Along one of main boulevards

The park encompasses a great variety of cultural institutions,
not least France's Conservatory of Music and Dance

The Grand Hall; la Villette was Paris' stockyards and abbatoir in earlier times;
the main hall has bee re-done, but is still a vast industrial sort of thing; the Parc
de la Villette warrants a closer look and a separate post later on; was it Derrida
who said the only real place in the US was Disneyworld? Well, no, I think
it was Baudrillard, but that's close enough...

Promenade plantée

Our Wednesday afternoon constitutional took us from our apartment to Pere Lachaise, then to the Place de la Bastille and then along the Promenade Plantee to Boulevard Diderot, then back to Place de la Nation, and finally back home. The new part of this, for us, was the Promenade Plantee, in the 12th, a beautifully-landscaped elevated path along a no-longer-used railway. Smack in the middle of the city. The Promenade goes on for nearly 5k, from the Bastille to the Parc Vincennes on the eastern periphery. It is wonderfully free of traffic and tourists, except us, and has some great urban views.

Beth ne Paris

Vicki's brother Bob and his wife Beth were with us for more than a week. On Thursday and Friday, Beth and Vicki undertook a whirl-wind Paris Card tour of the place, visiting the Louvre, the Orangerie, the D'Orsay, Versailles, St.-Chapelle, and other assorted sights. Below are just a few of the pix Vicki took these two days. Bob--"seen one palace/museum/cathedral/etc., seen them all"--and I stayed a bit closer to home, chronicled in an earlier post.

Another ugly, pointy thing

Nicely framed though

Beth in the hall du pique-poches

La Seine

In Saint-Chapelle

Christian massacre du jour

Outside Versailles

Music room, somewhere on the grounds

Lemon was the new lime

In the chapel

Nice place, despite the pointy things

Paris la nuit

Nobody does illumination better, nor more, than the French. On her last night here, I took Stacey out to see some of the illuminations. I'm sure I'll be adding to this collection over the next 7 weeks.

We took the Metro out to Trocadero, then walked under and
beyond the big ugly pointy thing, along the Champ du Mars,
over past Napoleon's tomb, then Metro'd again to Chatelet,
looking at the Ile du Cite, then taking the bus from there back
to the apartment

Napoleon's Tomb; too early for the lights to come on or,
perhaps, like the San Antonio Spurs, they didn't pay the
electricity bill last month

Twinkling and sparkling

My personal favorite, among illuminated pointy things, is
the Tower of St. Jacques, St. Jacques of the (wealthy, Les Halles)
Butchers; all that remains of a 16th century Flamboyant, a
notable departure point for pilgrims marching off to Santiago
de Compostuela in Spain (otherwise known in this blog as St.
Jimmie of the Compost-pile); this one tower is all that remains
from the Revolution...

Thus, again

Hotel de Ville

And Notre-Dame; FWIW, there were merely hundreds of people
here; thousands out at the Trocadero

Le marche d'Aligre

Thursdsay, while Vicki and Beth did the Louvre, Bob and I walked over to the marche d'Aligre, said by some to be Paris' favorite market. I was not so impressed. Bob was game to keep going, so we then walked on to the Bastille Market, did it twice (stimulating the local economy), then, after resting in a cafe, walked on to the Quai de la Rapee, then the Pont d'Austerlitz, and then back via Avenue Ledru Rollin to Rue de Charonne and our apartment. 13,000 steps, much of it new to me and fun for all.

In this amazing sequence, a delivery is made to the boucher, 
that is, the personne qui abat certains animaux pour leur 
viande

Thus

And thus

And thus

Flowers at marche d'Aligre

Ditto

At marche d'Aligre

Biggest artichokes ever, so far

Porte de Arsenal, a marina where the St. Martin canal comes into the Seine

Ile St. Louis and Notre Dame de Paris, just a few hundred meters down
the river

Shopping avec Bob et Beth

Tuesday we visited the Opera district, again, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette and more, for Bob and Beth to see.

A plus size store on Blvd. Haussman

I really like this place; aesthetically

Bob and Beth on the roof of Galeries Lafayette

Fashion

Don't laugh

Nice chandelier at GL

Child's tea set; OK, it's sort of an up-scale place

Down the road a bit, at Printemps, the Laduree shoppe; finest macaroons in Paris,
we were told; must be an acquired taste...

Way down the road, and across the river, at the shrine of St. Catherine
Laboure; perhaps we were doing penance for spending so much time
at Galaries Lafayette