Thursday, August 9
After having lunch in a very
pleasant bistrot on avenue de la Tour Maubourg in the 7th arrondissement, we decided to
walk all the way through the 7th to a particular neighborhood on the edge of the 6th.
Starting out, we captured this pretty view of the side of the building
that houses the Army Museum at Invalides. There are some pleasant little parks
between the grand formal park (esplanade) that goes to the Seine and Invalides.
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| So we took some
pics of the golden Invalides dome through the trees and some flowerbeds in the
parks. One hosts a bust of Antoine St. Exupery, author of "The Little
Prince," who was also a pilot in World War II -- he died in 1944. |
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| Another
flowerbed was curiously shaped and decked out like a guitar. |
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| And
we saw this sign on one of the park's gates -- very unusual because it has the English
translation on it. That reminds me, yesterday in the news there was an
interesting story about how the Paris Bourse (stock exchange) is losing a lot of bond sale
business because of cumbersome French language regulations that were put into place last
year. Even France Telecom decided the new restrictions were just too much, and they
took their bond sale business to Luxembourg. The amount of bond business the Paris
Bourse has lost this year is roughly equivalent to what Luxembourg has gained.
We continued our walk along rue de Grenelle which is lined with massive
and attractive government buildings, very exclusive but not ostentatious apartment
buildings, and then finally this last stretch that has shops. Notice the very
curious sign made up of tangled wires and hangers. |
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| Rue de Grenelle
terminates at a place called Carrefour de Croix Rouge. It is believed to be the site
of a pagan temple, long ago. The church placed red crosses on such sites to
hopefully guard against their being used any longer for pagan ceremonies.
Nevertheless, this pagan symbol -- a dragon -- exists on the carrefour. It marks the
intersection of rue Dragon, which led us into a very charming neighborhood just south of
St. Germain des Prés. |
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| A charming,
old, narrow street in this neighborhood on the edge of the 6th arrondissement. |
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| Tom is standing
in front of a shop in a building that appears to be very old. Notice the rough
wooden beam over the window & door. |
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| The French have
a really curious way of using a bit of English here and there. For example, in
McDonalds, the meal combos are not called "meal deals" or whatever it is that we
call them -- they are called "maxi best of." Where do they get the idea
that it is okay to end with prepositions? Here is another example, a trendy
shop called Loft design by. It sells clothes, not things for your loft. |
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| Another rare
example of English used on the main sign for a resto. Usually, one sees just
"air climatisé" on such establishments. But this one uses the English
version, "air conditioned," right up front and center. |
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| I was charmed
by these rug making tools in an oriental rug shop window in this cute area. |
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| This looks like
a nice place to live, on a narrow street in this ancient part of Paris. Notice the
flower pots tucked into a little niche under the window. |
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