Une promenade dans les 8e et 17e arrondissements

Wednesday's walk, a reconnaissance really, was mostly in the 17th and 8th arrondissements, starting at the Arc de Triomphe, twisting and turning and ending after the Parc Monceau.

On Avenue de Wagram, the beautiful old Hotel Ceramic

Thus; belongs in Barcelona

On Avenue des Ternes, the FNAC now occupies a late 19th century department
store

With a beautiful glass ceiling way up there

Never miss an opportunity to visit a patisserie, Vicki says

The Alexander Nevsky Russian Church--open only on
Tuesdays and Fridays

At the Russian restaurant across the street, also closed, you and your friend
can try the caviar and vodka sampler for only 390 euros (you can just round
that off at $500, tax and tip included); such a deal

45 Boulevard de Courcelles, Proust family dwelling during
Marcel's years as a prig/fop/twit; no signage; now an embassy

Nearly across the street, the Pagoda (available for weddings,
funerals, bar mitzvahs...)

Now in Parc Monceau; the reconnaissance part

It is an old park, with many follies, etc.

Thus

Thus

And thus; despite the pix, the place was packed, especially with kids and nannies

And is not without historical interest

Thus, the first parachuting; the first lighter-than-air flight 
took place not far from here, in 1757, with the royals
looking on; I wonder whether the first parachuting was a
related event... 

The park is on the one-time periphery of Paris, and so here is the inevitable
rotunda, for collecting taxes on goods brought into the city

Le marché de Belleville

Our two days at the Louvre were pretty intense, so we decided to have a more relaxing day Tuesday, with just a visit to a market. A couple weeks ago one of our walks had taken us through Belleville and the aftermath of its Saturday market. The area is as ethnically diverse as any place in Paris, and we figured this would make for an especially interesting market. The Belleville market is indeed interesting, and very large and crowded. The cheap stuff is very cheap, the produce not as fresh as other markets we have seen, nor the variety as interesting. The aroma of the fish markets suggested maybe these fish had been to other markets before Belleville. The narrow aisle, the mass of humanity, etc., made for some interesting jostling and groping, but only three times was I run over by a shopping cart (one even produced a muted "desole"). Well, anyhow, this is real Paris, not tourist Paris, and we were glad to have had, and ended, the experience.

Google Earth view; the market runs the length of the diagonal, center left; it's
big, really big

This is the only photo I got inside the market

Happily, very happily, at the end of the market, there was a superb Asian grocery,
and we decided on Beijing duck for the next couple nights' dinners

Poulet noire (in case you've never seen such a thing; we hadn't)

Durian popsicles; OMG; in Paris!

This is what the back-side of a market looks like

Ditto

The only thing we bought at the market were these salicornes, something I'd
not seen since the south of England, last summer

Peking duck in Paris

Vicki made a brief video of the market, which you can view at http://youtu.be/a4hUAUCFbDI. Her second attempt was blocked by a fellow market-goer, who explained, we think, that this was a non-non. Lots of people here who maybe don't have papers, I surmise. Anyhow, this was another of those one-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Plus out-takes du musée du Louvre

Prolonged museum visits require preparation, both intellectual and aesthetic, sturdy and comfortable shoes, good health generally, adequate hydration and caffeination, regular rest and restoration (food) breaks, and an ample sense of humor. Warning: this post may contain material offensive to your religious/sexual/political/other orientation, if any.

Have you ever wondered what putti wear in funeral processions? Of course you
have...and here is the answer

Far, far from the madding tour bus crowds, a fun display on the Mona Lisa
(who'd have thought the Louvre had a sense of humor?)

"Don't make my butt too big!"

"Don't make my butt too big"

"Don't make my butt too big"

"And don't make my dick too small!"

We've seen all kinds of Janus figures from the classical world, but this is the first
multi-racial one...Hellenistic...

Hula-hooping was a major Olympic event

More male humor

Jesus calls in an air strike

Paul preaching at Ephesus...and burning books

"Oh, no!"

A popular theme in 18th century French art

Out-takes du musée du Louvre

Prolonged museum visits require preparation, both intellectual and aesthetic, sturdy and comfortable shoes, good health generally, adequate hydration and caffeination, regular rest and restoration (food) breaks, and an ample sense of humor. Warning: this post may contain material offensive to your religious/sexual/political/other orientation, if any.

"Oh, no, not another set of museum out-takes!"

Jesus strafing St. Francis

Unidentified saint puts on after-burners while freeing
prisoners from a jail

Always playing second lute while the other putti is a model
at the bosom of Mary...

One of Leonardo's weirder compositions; Mother of God
sitting on the lap of the Mother of the Mother of God

Same model who posed for the Giaconda; am I wrong?

Speaking of which; half the crowd is focused on the Mona

The other half is focused on the Lisa (it cracks me up that Proust's housekeeper
thought that Napoleon and Bonaparte were two different (but very similar)
persons)

"Phew...your turn!"

Baby Jesus' first Easter (important foreshadowing...)

Looking down at the wedding at Cana

Dante and Vergil doing their voyeur thing

"Next time we cross the Alps, I wear pants!"

David's colossal Coronation of the Empress Josephine

Key to the important players on the Coronation of Empress Josephine