Paris Journal 2001 - Page 5

When Tom finished working yesterday, we walked over to the Musée Rodin, which is much closer than we originally thought.   There we paid just for entrance to the garden because we've seen the museum before, and because it was such a perfectly lovely day that we did not want to be inside.

On the way over there, we saw something we've never seen on the streets of Paris before:  a stripped car.

Invalides was glistening in the sun.

On the other side of Invalides (below), lots of people were using the grand park there.   The gold figures you see on stanchions are on my favorite bridge, Alexandre III.   The large glass building beyond that is the Grand Palais, used for special exhibitions only.

When Tom finished working yesterday we went to the part of the 19th arrondissement where it joins with the 20th arrondissement.   In prior years, we have not been terribly impressed with these two arrondissements, but I was encouraged by what I read in two of our guidebooks -- this particular area, Belleville, supposedly had retained some of its old village charm.  The only good thing I can say about Belleville is that it is on a hill, and on a day like yesterday, with lots of air pollution, you can go there and be above the worst of it.  The thing that bothered me the most about Belleville is how dirty the streets are.  I don't know if it is because they don't wash the streets and sidewalks every morning (as they do in the 15th and probably every other arrondissement) or if it is because its people just make them so dirty & littered every day.  I think it must be the former.

Belleville has some terrific views (if the air is clear) but some of the spots mentioned in the guidebooks no longer have views because weed trees (ailanthus -sp?) have been allowed to grow to the point where they totally obscure the view.  I even saw an alanthus tree growing out of a windowbox in Belleville -- such is the level of neglect!

When we came down from the steps of one of the places where there should have been a view, we rounded the corner and heard a cat calling to us.  There she was; she popped right out of the bushes at face level (because of a retaining wall).  She talked and talked, and she pressed her face against my face several times.  We attempted to catch her on the camera, which was difficult because she moved around a lot.  Here she is -- Miss Belleville:

The 19th and 20th, we note from our various visits there over the past few years, have lots of ugly modern architecture.  This is because the area was so incredibly blighted in the 19th century (a slaughterhouse was there, as well as an extensive seedy section with lots of people of ill repute) that there simply wasn't much good architecture to preserve.  The need for housing in the past century got the better of the architects and planners, and they put in some very ugly, high-density, unimaginative structures.  For centuries, the area has been home to immigrants of all origins.   The ethnic variety is astounding to this day.  But I think this is an area people leave as soon as they can.  We did see enough in the way of construction work (i.e., "investment") going on that we think perhaps this is the next area ripe for "gentrification" in Paris.

The entire day was unremarkable -- we returned home, and because we'd had lunch at an okay Italian restaurant in Belleville, we weren't particularly hungry so we just did a little shopping in the neighborhood and had bread, cheese and fruit on the balcony for a light dinner.  We love these informal evenings on the balcony, where we can watch the life of the neighborhood down in the streets, the life of the chimney swifts circling the buildings, and the evening sky, with the sun glowing red from the air pollution.

When we arrived back in Paris at the Gare du Nord on Sunday evening, we immediately boarded the Métro, line 4, on our way home to the apartment.  It was very crowded.   I was surprised about that, because this was at almost 8pm.  But we squeezed into the back of a subway car, and Tom had control of our suitcase.  Then two guys tried to squeeze in behind him.  One was perfectly honest, the other was a pickpocket.  Tom instinctively felt for his wallet in his back pocket.  (He keeps two separate wallets now, so pickpockets can't get everything.)  Sure enough, there was a hand in his back pocket, with fingers on either side of the pocket's button.   Tom just grasped the bad fingers, removed them from his pocket, and shook them loose in front of their owner.  The pickpocket said nothing, and he disembarked at the next stop.  A couple people around us knew what had happened.  The pickpocket was empty-handed, and we felt victorious.  What a welcome home!

On Monday, Tom worked at the computer.  Then we went out at about 5:30 and took the number 10 line to Sèvres-Babylone.   We discovered how pleasant the Square Boucicaut is -- when we've gone to that stop before, it was always because we were going to Bon Marché to shop, and I guess we hadn't noticed this nice little park.  The weather was finally beautiful, and lots of people were using the park as a place to unwind after work.

It's a short walk from there to St. Sulpice, our friend Bob E's favorite church in Paris (it was Hemingway's, too).  The left steeple was engulfed in scaffolding, so the pic only shows the right one.  This church has a large square in front of it, with a big fountain with lions.  On some day of the week (Wednesday?), there is a market for antique dealers in front of this church.

Then it was another short walk to the Luxembourg Gardens, and the pictures tell the story there.  After our visit there, we walked back to St. Sulpice and then across the 7th arrondissement via the rue Babylone, the most direct route back to the 15th.   Don't miss the Jardin C. Lebouré on this street -- it isn't in the guidebooks, and it is a park that is used by the well-to-do families of the 7th and their children.   A very shady arbor covers one side of the park -- an excellent place to rest on a warm day.

We walked down to the little neighborhood that we have selected for our imaginary future Parisian home.  It is in the 15th, but a piece of the 15th that juts into the 7th, and it looks like the 7th (which is a plus).  It consists of a small collection of streets, at the center of which is Square Georges Mulot -- not really a square, but a larger than average intersection with a monument in the middle.  There is a restaurant there (l'Antre Amis, 9, rue Bouchut) that we'd been meaning to try, and since it was 9pm, we went in.  It was entirely occupied by locals, and the food was terrific.  At 10:30, we walked on home in the fading light.  We went by the Hotel de L'Avre, a two-star hotel recommended to us by Dean and Alvi.  This is where we may put up visitors when we feel that the apartment is just too crowded.  The hotel is on a narrow street by the same name, very close to the apartment.

Last night (Tues.), we ate at Le Tire Bouchon (the corkscrew) -- one of our favorite neighborhood restos from last year.   It was better than ever -- and a terrific value.  One of the owners, Isabelle, waited on our table.  She knows English!  We still spoke to her in French, but she gave us some lovely descriptions of dishes in an exotic lilting English.  We wonder who taught her.  And she spoke so quickly -- amazing.