Paris Scenes, 1

As I wrote earlier, our first several days here were mostly about errands and chores, setting up housekeeping, and then some minor walks to check on our old neighborhood in the 11th. Here are some pix from those days...

Paris has been taking great strides in greening itself up, especially
during COVID

Thus, the Oasis of Aboukir, whole side of a
building, a few blocks from us

But we really think it has gone far enough in some cases

Speaking of COVID, every pharmacy in the city has a little tent
outside for testing and vaccination

In France, there's a $160 fine for being an asshole; nose and mouth;
the US could pay off the national debt and all future national debt by
so fining the assholes

Can't remember where we were going (Decathlon?), but somehow
we wandered into the Printemps and got to see its rotunda

Now in the Champs Elysees area, to see our landlord...at a glass
store, Daum, Vicki liked

Interesting stuff they're doing with glass nowadays

Another day, walking over to the 11th, where we had apartments
in 2014 and 2019, to see how it was doing; passing by the Place
de la Republic

A shop filled with antiques caught our eye...turns out it was a
store for decorators, selling to the trade only

At the corner of Ledru Rollin and Charonne, my favorite, Le Bistrot
du Peintre, appears to be doing just fine

So also our favorite crepes joint, Creperie Bretonne

Lunch that day

Septime was packed; as always

Our 2019 apartment on Rue Faidherbe appeared

unchanged

The Bastille Market was there as usual (Thursday, it was); somewhat
fewer stalls, and many fewer customers--the tourists are pretty much
gone; it was weird being able to step right up to the counter, not being
elbowed and bruised nor run over by carts and carriages; but otherwise
pretty much as always

I was particularly relieved to see the fridge magnet guy still there...

Waiting for the bus, outside one of the beautiful shops beneath
the Promenade Plantee and Viaduct des Artes

Rue Saint-Denis: Our Block

From where we are, just down from the Porte Saint-Denis, inside the once Medieval wall, the Rue Saint-Denis runs all the way down to the river Seine, and, I assume, back the other way up to the old abbey of Saint Denis, ground-zero for all things Gothic. We've been there, and we'll get there again. Anyhow, I thought I'd post some pix of the street we're living on now, just this one block or so.

Saint Denis, you'll recall, is the one who got his head chopped off,
then picked it up and walked it to the site he wanted his abbey to
be located on; same story in Florence, too, and God knows where else

Arch at Porte Saint-Denis, Louis XIV, a block or so away

Jules Michelet, author of the first history of France,
19th century, 19 volumes, lived just down the street;
never let the facts get in the way of his Republican
sympathies (not those Republicans!); to his credit,
did advocate that history focus on the Little People,
not just kings and generals 

Brasserie at the end of the block

The one at the other end, Le Select, is less photogenic

Our building; entry on the right; on the left is the popular 
Les Boudeuses, a feminine concept store I am afraid to go into

Elevation; nothing spectacular; nor even of interest;
but it's home

Down the street and around the corner is the 
closest Metro station, Reamur-Sebastopol; one
of the few remaining original Hector Guimard
art nouveau Metro entries (he designed them all,
way back when); to my extreme delight

Mostly, however, the block is shop after shop of womens' apparel,
mostly wholesale, some retail, as well as garment fabricants and
suppliers to the trade...

As I said, mostly wholesale...

This is the part of Paris where every block has a
Passage, or two; that is, a covered arcade, mostly
shops and offices; Rue Saint-Denis here has the
Passage Caire (as in Cairo); mostly more wholesale
women's apparel, fabricants, suppliers, etc., and a
restaurant or two

But it's the history that is of interest: Passage
Caire dates to and is named for Napoleon's (brief)
incursion into Egypt (1799)

Note the Egyptian sculpture and the faux hieroglyphs way up
high

Our Monoprix (supermarket) at Reamur and
Sebastopol

Arrival In Paris

The Eurostar got us to the Gare du Nord on time, 3:52PM, Tuesday, August 31st, and, after the usual Paris taxi scam, Uber got us to our apartment, on Rue Saint-Denis. Waiting for us there was a staffer from the rental agency, who let us in, gave us the keys and the briefest of introductions (et en Anglais aussi) to the apartment, appliances, etc., and then left us to to breathe sighs of relief, to unpack, and to get oriented to our new world. Our first several days were administrative in nature: where is the nearest supermarche? Monoprix, 2 blocks away. Where is the nearest Metro? Reamur-Sebastopol, also two blocks away. Where is the nearest Marks and Spencer? On Boulevard Poissonniere, about 500 meters. Where can we get SodaStream? At any FNAC, the closest being at Les Halles, 550 meters. How can we get the agency to put the payment on the right credit card? Have to visit them in person, on Champs Elysees. And so on. We undertook a few exploratory excursions, but the administrivia, and other matters occupied us until Sunday. The nice thing about Paris is that doing even the most mundane of chores is both an adventure and a delight--you get to travel around in the most beautiful and most interesting city in the world. I'll blog first about the apartment, then the neighborhood, then some of the preliminary excursions.

Fasten seat belts, stow tray table, bring seat to full upright...wait...no

Google Earth view; we're at the red dot

Five minute walking map; Sebastopol and Reamur is the major
intersection we're closets to

Entry hall and elevator...we are on the 4eme etage

Looking from the cuisine to the salon

Salon to cuisine

Chambre

Salle de bains

Among the wall decor is this architectural sketch of the place;
small, sparsely furnished, but a brand new reno of an 1890s
building; we are comfortable, safe, and happy, and very close
to everything of interest

Looking north on the Rue Saint-Denis; that's the Porte Saint-
Denis, the first of Paris' four triumphal arches, dating from 1672;
it was built over the portal in the old Medieval wall, dating from
1356; just FYI; 2 blocks from our building; many more pix of
Rue Saint-Denis and environs to follow