Antoine and Pigalle

Tags

Antoine, barbe à papa, Haussmann, Haussmann buildings, Le Barbe à Papa, Marais, Montmartre, Pigalle, Place Saint George, Place St George, rue Condorcet, sex clubs, SoPi, straight sex clubs

Wednesday, after Omar left, I had lunch on my own at one of my favorite neighborhood places. Then I did grocery shopping and a stint at the laundromat (for sheets and towels), and finished with a quiet dinner at home.

Lunch at Pur

On Thursday I had a cozy lunch with my French friend Antoine, who is working at an art conservation organization south of Pigalle (which he tells me is now going by the moniker SoPi). He has recently moved to a larger place in the 17ème, near Batignolles. Métro line 13 is sub-optimal but he loves his immediate neighborhood, which is a gated courtyard.

Antoine and me at lunch near Pigalle

At first look “South Pigalle” and “SoPi” sound fine. Until you realize that “South” is English — it should be « Sud Pigalle » and « SuPi », but I guess they just don’t have the same cachet.

I’ve mostly avoided the Pigalle area in prior years because it’s tacky and has a sketchy reputation after dark.

Former beautiful woman on formerly beautiful building, rue Pigalle

Honestly, though, most of the straight sex clubs here are no worse than the gay clubs that one frequents in the Marais.

Sex club near Pigalle

Pigalle is just below the tourist mecca of Montmartre, so parts of it are trampled by that tourist horde.

Tourist street below Montmartre

Clever underground bottle disposal system either full or being ignored, near Pigalle

I did run across a cool bunch of decorated posts in the heart of Pigalle. I posted a video clip on Instagram.

The farther south you go from Pigalle the nicer things get, however.

Panorama, Place St Georges

These Haussmann buildings on or near rue Condorcet are downright gorgeous.

Lovely Haussmann building near rue Condorcet

Le Barbe à Papa is a subtle play on words, since the French for cotton candy is the same, except feminine. On rue Condorcet

Sherard at one point tasked me with a dislike of Haussmann areas. After thinking it over I admitted a taste for twisty little medieval streets, but I claimed that I also have no problem with wide, straight avenues or boulevards, or with Haussmann-style buildings, so long as they offer restaurants and shops on the ground level and aren’t trampled to death by tourists.

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Paris Sacred and Profane

Tags

Arc de Triomphe, Chez Ginette, Experimental Cocktail Club, France, meals, Montmartre, Parc Monceau, Paris, Sacre Coeur, Sherard, St-Pierre-de-Montmartre

Tuesday was a bit brighter so we set off to see the view from the base of Sacré-Coeur, the white-domed church on the top of Montmartre. Rue Montmartre starts near my place, at the foot of Saint Eustache, so we followed it through the faubourg, then took rue des Martyrs and many flights of stairs up to the top. The view was panoramic but too hazy for my postcard aesthetic.

We both found the tourist crush around Sacré-Coeur off-putting, but we enjoyed the much calmer and much older St-Pierre-de-Montmartre that shares the summit.

Peaceful alcove in St-Pierre-de-Montmartre

We had a late lunch at Chez Ginette, a modest but pleasant restaurant just above the Lamarck-Caulaincourt métro station. The food was fine and the view was unbeatable. After eating we strolled over to posh Parc Monceau. It was later than I usually see the park and there was a steady stream of joggers. We read our books for a while, trying not to let ourselves be distracted by the passing parade.

Gilded entrance to posh Parc Monceau

Then we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe. I made the classic error of mistaking the métro entrance for the underpass beneath the traffic mayhem of the Étoile, but after a brief diversion we found the correct entrance and explored the base of the monument.

Tricolor flying beneath the Arc de Triomphe

We had passed an attractive restaurant on our way up to the Arc de Triomphe so we backtracked a couple of blocks and had a good meal at Le Beaucour, in one of the posher neighborhoods of Paris.

Sherard enjoying his café gourmand a few blocks from the tourist crush around the Arc de Triomphe

After regrouping at home we started our evening with cocktails at Experimental Cocktail Club — where I’m becoming a regular — then beers at our neighborhood bar Hoppy, then a special birthday visit to a gay bar that I had avoided all these years: Le Depot. Sherard had enjoyed the upstairs bar at Total Beur the previous Friday, but on Tuesday only the downstairs was open. It was just as sketchy as my friends had said! The physical space was clean enough but the few other patrons had a zombie quality that we put down to a single-minded obsession about hooking up. After finishing our beers we fled, sadder but wiser!

The Seven Hills of Paris

Tags

Arc de Triomphe, Belleville, Butte-aux-Cailles, Ménilmontant, Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Montmartre, Montparnasse, Panthéon, Paris, seven hills of Paris, topography of Paris, Vélib, Vélib' Plus

You always hear about the seven hills of Rome but what about the seven hills of Paris? This reports on my scientific study of the Parisian hills, based on the Vélib’ bicycle sharing system. High-elevation Vélib’ stations are designated with a “+” sign, indicating that you will get a credit if you ride a bicycle up there from a lower-elevation station. This is important because the natural tendancy is to coast down but not struggle back up. The Vélib’ iOS app shows the location of all stations, et voila !

Montmartre: 130 m (425 ft), north. Notice all the empty “+” stations. Maybe they need a “++” category for this steep hill.

Belleville: 128 m (420 ft), northeast. (Overlaps with Ménilmontant.)

Ménilmontant: 108 m (354 ft), east. (Overlaps with Belleville.)

Montagne Sainte-Geneviève: 61 m (200 ft), south, around the Panthéon.

Butte-aux-Cailles: 62 m (203 ft), south, near Place d’Italie.

Montparnasse: 66 m (217 ft), southwest.

The Arc de Triomphe is on a little hill, though I couldn’t find its name; west.

There are, of course, less rigorously scientific ways of categorizing the Paris hills, such as this Wikipedia item: Topography of Paris.

Paris – After the Top Ten Sights

Tags

Alcohol, An Hour from Paris, Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, Bercy Village, Bois de Vincennes, Canal Saint-Martin, Catacombs of Paris, Château de Vincennes, crime, day trips, drinking, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, Institut du monde arabe, Jardin de Luxembourg, Jardin de Reuilly, l'Oasis d'Aboukir, Latin Quarter, L’Étoile Manquante, l’officiel des spectacles, LB Café, le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, le musée du quai Branly, le Musée Jaquemart-André, Marais, Metro, Montmartre, Montorgueil, mugging, Musée Carnavalet, Musée d’art moderne, Musée des Arts et Métiers, Musée Rodin, Musee d'Orsay, museums, Opéra Garnier, Open Café, Palais de Tokyo, Palais Royal, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Parc Floral, Parc Monceau, Parc Montsouris, Paris, Pariscope, Passy-Auteuil, Petit Palais, pickpockets, Place des Vosges, Pompidou, Pompidou Center, Promenade plantée, Public Drinking, Rosa Bonheur, rue de Charonne, rue Montorgueil, safety, Seine

The Top Ten Sights

[If you just want to see what my life in Paris has been like you can skip this post.]

On your first visit to Paris, like everyone else, you will go up the Eiffel Tower.

Iconic!

You will go to the Louvre and take a snapshot of the Mona Lisa.  You will gaze in awe at the facade of Notre-Dame. You will have an ice cream made by Berthillon on l’Île Saint-Louis. You will take a Bateau Mouche tour of the Seine. You will stroll along the Champs-Elysée up to the Arc de Triomphe.

Arc de Triomphe

You will eat a soggy crêpe at a stand in the Latin Quarter. You will climb the south slope of Montmartre up to Sacré Coeur and be dazzled by the view.

In all of those places you will be surrounded by other tourists doing exactly the same things, clutching their maps and mobile phones to ensure that they never stray from the well-worn Tourist Track.

Not only will you do these things, you must do them, and you should do them. Why? Because these places are iconic, and your friends would never forgive you if you didn’t. Because that’s what it means to go to Paris for the first time. And, last but not least, because they’re fabulous. It is not tragic that everywhere you go those first few days will be excruciatingly touristy. It’s normal.

Every travel book will tell you how to see the top ten tourist spots over your first few days, and I leave this task to them. But when you have gotten this out of your system — after your first few days, or on your second visit — read on. This post is about what to do after you’ve seen the top sights.

Getting Ready for More

First off you will need some technology. Get the RATP app, the Métro app and the TripAdvisor City Guide app that I describe in my Getting Into Paris post. These will help you get around and enable you to stray as far as you like from the beaten path without anxiety. And if your battery runs out just stroll for a bit until you run across a métro station. They all have detailed maps with a red dot labelled « Vous Etes Ici » (You Are Here). While you may have to change lines once or twice there will always be a station within a few blocks of your hotel.

Next, find out what’s happening in Paris. One excellent resource is the City of Paris English web site at this link (and there’s lots more on the French language site). For under a euro you can pick up a copy of Pariscope or l’officiel des spectacles at any newsstand (they come out on Wednesday). The text is in French but you should be able to puzzle out most of the listings even if you don’t read the language. Look in particular for exhibitions at the Grand Palais and Petit Palais.

Last but not least, shift gears. You are no longer checking off “must-see” sights. It is not important that you see the eleventh through twentieth best things in Paris. What you want now is to have some personally rewarding experiences, connecting in one way or other with this big, complex and fascinating city. Slow down, let your blood pressure drop a few points, and look up from your maps! What aspects of the city do you want to explore over these next few days?

Indoor or Outdoor?

The first big question is whether you’ll be exploring outdoors or looking for something under a roof. This obviously depends on weather as well as your own preferences. My one additional observation is that Paris can be lovely in the rain if you have the right gear to keep warm and dry, and you’ll want that gear anyway to get to an indoor destination if it’s raining.

Indoor Options

These are just a few suggestions out of a myriad of wonderful indoor options. Do two things in each case on line before you set out: Check the opening days and hours, and see what special exhibitions are on offer.

• Musée d’Orsay
  This wonderful museum is on many top-ten lists, but if not it certainly deserves top consideration as your next indoor destination. Buy your tickets on line or at a travel agent to avoid the ticket line, which can be more than an hour long. When you enter go left and take the elevator or escalators up to the fifth floor, to start with the Impressionist masterpieces. There’s plenty more on lower floors but you don’t want to risk getting tired before you reach the top.
• Pompidou Center
  The Pompidou is fun to look at since its structural elements and mechanical systems are on the outside, color coded. But it also has a great collection of modern art, an ok collection of contemporary art, and interesting rotating exhibitions. Your ticket also lets you see whatever is going on an the French first floor, opposite the escalators to the main floors. And whatever you do, check out the view from the top floor.
• Musée des Arts et Métiers
  If you like machines and technology allow a half-day for this enormous grab-bag of mechanical stuff, ranging from tiny scientific instruments to giant steam engines.

Musée Carnavalet

1. This is the museum of the history of Paris. It’s also a marvelous grab-bag — of art, furnishings and memorabilia. Like all the City of Paris museums, it’s free, and closed on Mondays. But note that until the end of 2019 collections from the French Revolution, 19th century and the Belle Époque are closed for renovation.

• Opéra Garnier
  Strangely, I’ve never taken the tour of this utterly gorgeous building, but friends tell me it’s excellent. (I have been to several performances in the new opera building at Bastille. It’s a great space but you must reserve in the first few days tickets go on sale to get affordable tickets.)
• Catacombs of Paris
  These vast underground tunnels are where the bones are stashed when construction work wipes out a cemetery, most notably by Haussmann’s renovation of Paris in the mid 19th century. It’s ghoulish but fascinating. I’ve described the experience thusly: Ten minutes of “When do we get to the bones?” Ten minutes of silence. Then half an hour of “When do we get to the end of the bones?”
• Other Museums
  There are a hundred museums in Paris!  Among those I’ve enjoyed are le Musée Rodin (which needs good weather because at least half the masterpieces are in the extensive gardens), the odd and wonderful le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, the informative Institut du monde arabe (which offers a great view from the roof even if you don’t want to buy a ticket to the museum), the primitive-art-museum-that-dare-not-speak-its-name le musée du quai Branly, one of several house-museums, le Musée Jaquemart-André, the city’s answer to the Pompidou, the Musée d’art moderne, and the adjacent — wild and wooly — contemporary art museum, the  Palais de Tokyo (but confirm first that the exhibitions are open). Some are quite obscure, but nearly all will reward your time. How about trying a museum that isn’t in the guidebook, or even in this post??  A full list is at this link.

Outdoor Options

• People-Watching from a Café
  This is one of the most delightful things you can do in Paris. You can do it almost anywhere, but here are some of my favorite spots.
  • My favorite street for people watching is rue Montorgueil in the 2e, and my very favorite table is at the LB Café with a view down rue Tiquetonne as well as up and down Montorgueil. You will see all sorts of people, from stylish youths to women pushing baby carriages, to still-elegant retirees. Some foreign tourists — increasing every year — but still mostly French. Order an expensive coffee or kir and nurse it for an hour or two as you take in the passing parade!  Then become part of the parade yourself as you stroll up to the top of the street, beyond the arch, to check out the L’Oasis d’Aboukir.
  • A close second, though much more touristy, is L’Étoile Manquante on rue Vielle du Temple in the Marais, at the intersection with rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie. Or if you want a stronger gay flavor, the classic Open Café on rue des Archives.
  • Another busy and stylish place is Bercy Village, a posh shopping area at the Cour Saint-Émilion métro stop.
•  Stroll Along the Promenade Plantée
  This is a linear park along the top of a disused railway viaduct – the (earlier) Parisian version of New York’s High Line. Depending on the season it has beautiful flowers, and always offers commanding city views. The elevated portion ends with a pedestrian bridge over the green center of the Jardin de Reuilly, a favorite sunbathing spot. You can plan lunch at le Janissaire, then continue another mile or so along a portion of the tracks that ran through a depressed cut. Or you can window shop your way back to Bastille by dozens of artist studios and art-related stores that have been created in the arches of the viaduct.
• Have a Picnic
  There are so many great parks to choose from!  A few of my favorites are:
  • the lovely little Place des Vosges and the similar garden of the Palais Royal
  • the big and beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg
  • posh little Parc Monceau
  • large and hilly and un-touristy Parc Montsouris
  • spectacular though somewhat remote Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, which has the wonderful ginguette Rosa Bonheur in the top corner (near métro Botzaris), and the delightful little Temple de la Sibylle overlooking its man-made lake.
  • The Bois de Vincennes on the east side of Paris (like the Bois de Boulougne on the west) is dauntingly enormous, but there are great things to do there: rent a boat on the lake, visit the gorgeous Parc Floral, go to the brand-new zoo, tour the Château de Vincennes, etc. Just make sure the métro stop you go to is within walking distance of the part of the park you’re aiming for!

  But don’t limit yourself to parks. There are other lovely spots to picnic.

  • The banks of the Seine are classic spots for a picnic, especially around or in the vicinity of the two islands at the city’s center. Just go down one of the flights of steps and find your perfect spot.
  • Another favorite place to picnic is along the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin in the 10e. Most charming is the section from rue du Faubourg du Temple (where it emerges from its long tunnel) up to the bend when it turns towards the east.

  Everyone seems to have wine or beer with their picnics, except in parks where a sign specifically prohibits alcohol, but the legal picture in theory appears to be quite complex. My thought is that if others are drinking in the same area and you aren’t rowdy you are unlikely to get more than a warning. In particular there doesn’t seem to be an “open container” law like in the U.S., just prohibitions on actually drinking in public.

• Take a Walking Tour
  Strangely, I’ve never taken an organized tour, but it should be worthwhile. There are good self-guided walking tours in the TripAdvisor City Guide app mentioned above, and if you speak French and have data on your mobile there are fascinating (albeit uneven) self-guided tours at ParisInconnu.com that I enjoyed in 2014.
• Get Lost on Your Own!
  This is my favorite thing to do in Paris. You always find something interesting, especially if you’re willing to divert from your original plan to do down a curious alley or investigate an attractive patch of greenery. Here are some possible areas to try, but don’t let this list limit you. In each case zig-zag through the area, exploring side streets, arcades (passages) and alleys as well as the main street.
  • Le Marais, 4e
    The lower Marais, the 4e arrondissement, is a classic area for strolling — and getting lost. There are plenty of restaurants and shops, open even on Sunday. The busiest and most touristy area is north of rue de Rivoli but I recommend a quieter stroll also on the other side of rue de Rivoli, including the little pedestrian area called Village Saint-Paul.
  • Montorgueil, 2e
    This is a nest of narrow pedestrianized streets chock full of shops, restaurants and bars.
  • Latin Quarter, 5e and 6e
    There are curious walking areas in every direction from the fountain of Saint Michel. Notice the throngs of tourists to the east. Check out the many bookstores downhill from Odéon. Stroll up past the Sorbonne to the Panthéon, then continue down to the charming old market street rue Mouffetard.
  • rue de Charonne, 11e
    This is a hip and slightly edgy area. Be sure to go up and down the side streets!
  • Montmartre, 18e
    Lots of tourists, but also lots of fun windy streets. Be sure to explore the north side of the hill as well as the busier south side.
  • Passy-Auteuil, 16e
    Yes, this is where the rich people live. And indeed there are sterile canyons of wealthy apartments. But some of those buildings are gorgeous, and there are some nice restaurants and bars there if you can put up with locals dripping with money and privilege (and English). Start at with a coffee at posh La Gare, at métro La Muette.

  I never worry much about safety in the daytime – you can basically go anywhere within the Peripherique highway (which you can’t cross without noticing!) At night you might want to ask your hotel if you plan to stray far from the touristy zones, but even in the dark much of the city feels quite safe. The type of crime you’re more likely to encounter is a pickpocket or mobile-snatcher on the métro, at a railroad station or in a crowded museum or other tourist area, though kids from the rougher suburbs are reputed to go in for street robberies now and then. There are also scams such as petitions, shell games, gold rings, etc. that you should just ignore. Paris is beefing up its police presence to reduce crime against tourists.

Day Trips Outside of Paris

In the unlikely event that you run out of things to do in Paris proper I am a big fan of the guidebook, An Hour From Paris. I’ve done a dozen day trips from it over my years in Paris, each accessible by train:

• Chantilly
• Château d’Écouen – Musée national de la Renaissance
• La Ferté-Milon and a 4-1/2 mile walk along the Canal de l’Ourcq (wonderful)
• The Jean-Jacques Rousseau museum in Montmorency
• Parc de Sceaux (only 15 minutes from Paris)
• Crécy-la-Chapelle (wonderful tho requires a train change)
• Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and Andrésy (wonderful)
• Champs-sur-Marne (where the château has now reopened)

Eating!

Last but not least, Paris is a paradise for food. My own forays have only scratched the surface but you can check out Dining Off (and On) the Beaten Path if you like. The TripAdvisor City Guide has suggestions and reviews. You might also like the The Fork site or app, which allows online reservations and also offers discounts.

All Around the Town

Tags

Black Spoon, contemporary art, Elliot, Final Destination, flower shop, Geoff, jardin du Luxembourg, Marais, Michael C. McMillen, Montmartre, Open Café, Palais de Tokyo, Port-Royal, rue de Chaillot, street art, Sylvain, The Entropic Taxi, The Eternal Flame, Vineyard

At this point there aren’t too many areas of Paris that I haven’t explored, at least to some extent. I always see more, however, when I revisit even a familiar area. These are some sights that caught my eye over the past few days, as I ranged across the city.

Gorgeous flower shop on rue de Chaillot in the 8e.

Food truck parked outside Parc Monceau.

Vineyard on the north slope of Montmartre.

Street art in the Marais.

Yesterday I had a look at the contemporary art on display at the enormous and strange Palais de Tokyo. I’ve had interesting experiences there before, and I’m now reaching the conclusion that it can be relied on to surprise, even if it doesn’t always please. The single most remarkable installation — among many — was “The Entropic Taxi, Final Destination” by Michael C. McMillen. In a dim gallery I noticed a strange old door, under a sign reading, “Elsewhere.”

Mysterious doorway in the “All That Falls” group show at the Palais de Tokyo.

I looked through the dusty window but wasn’t sure one was allowed to actually open the door. Finally I nerved myself to “touch the art” by testing the handle, and went inside. If there’s any chance you’ll be able to see this in person by the first week of September I recommend that you do so. If not, I posted a photo set: Elsewhere.

Even more unusual was a gigantic area called “The Eternal Flame” devoted to participatory artistic creation — the brainstorm of contemporary artist Thomas Hirschhorn. It was divided into rooms and aisles by stacks of discarded tires. Visitors were invited to add their own creations, including styrofoam sculptures and printouts from banks of public computers. There was also a bar and lots of hangout areas, and a corner where someone was reading out loud. And, of course, an eternal flame (two actually), watched over by a team of firefighters. Access is free and the space is open from noon to midnight every day, until it closes on June 23. No one photograph can afford any idea of how peculiar this space is so I made a video of a walk-through: The Eternal Flame.

At the end of the afternoon I headed home to host Sylvain, a friend of Chuck Latovich, for an apéro. He proved to be charming and handsome, and we plan to have dinner with Jaime later in the month. (We enjoyed a chilled bottle of rosé but Sylvain observed that when there are three people one should have two bottles on hand. Noted!)

Sylvain and Bob selfie with a refreshing rosé.

Today I took a walk in the Port-Royal area from a web site that I have been following on Facebook, ParisInconnu.com (Unknown Paris). Although they got one street name slightly wrong I was impressed with the site’s choice of tiny roads — even a passage that at first seemed barred — to afford an interesting perspective. These  photos, however, were both taken in the main square.

RER (suburban rail) station at Port-Royal.

View toward the Jardin du Luxembourg from Port-Royal.

This afternoon I caught up again with Elliot Marks, to show him my apartment and to see the studio, a few blocks away, that he makes available from time to time to friends. (He and his partner used to live there but they moved several years ago to a new place.) Another year I might stay there instead of doing a commercial rental, although I would miss the clothes washers I have had in all my rental places here.

After visiting Elliot’s place I had a little beer at the Open Café and was pleasantly surprised when Lisa’s friend Geoff said hello. (He had noticed me from a café across the street.) We had an interesting albeit too-short conversation concerning language competence before he had to head off. After finishing my beer I returned home to satisfy your curiosity, gentle reader.

La Ferté-Milon, Canal de l’Ourcq and Dinner on Montmartre

Tags

An Hour from Paris, Canal de l'Ourcq, La Ferté-Milon, language, Le Relais, meals, Montmartre, Racine

Saturday morning I set off on another day trip from An Hour From Paris: to La Ferté-Milon in the Aisne, followed by a 4-1/2 mile walk along the Canal de l’Ourcq. I bought my tickets from a human being at the Ile-de-France ticket office, which worked beautifully except for a tiny flaw: I would have had to go the Grandes Lignes office to get the 25% senior discount for destinations outside of Ile-de-France. Since the train was about to leave I paid about six euros to save waiting for the next one. Will I ever get train travel completely sorted out? Probably not!

Like almost everywhere around Paris there’s tons of strange history in La Ferté-Milon: It’s dominated by the ruins of a 13th century castle that would — had it ever been completed — have been the largest in France. Construction was interrupted in 1407, however, when Jean Sans Peur‘s henchmen assassinated the Duc d’Orléans; what remained was ordered demolished by Henry IV in 1594, but the imposing facade was preserved.

Ruined château at La Ferté-Milon, from the banks of the Canal de l’Ourcq

As far I could see I was the only foreign tourist in town; the only other prospect appeared later walking very slowly with an elderly woman, no doubt his aged mother. Avoiding the “tourist track” was a pleasure but the fact that everything revolved around the locals had a downside: The barber shop was completely booked, the restaurant recommended in the guidebook was filled with a wedding party, and even the bakery had no lettuce or tomato (crudités), just chicken, mayo and bread. All three women I interacted with were «désolé» that they couldn’t give me what I wanted, but that was cold comfort.

Racine was born there, and there’s a little museum that you should certainly visit if you’re ever in town. The stained glass windows in one of the churches are curious, and the other church, while almost in ruins itself, is impressive.

Eglise Nôtre Dâme, La Ferté-Milon

Last but not least, the town boasts a tiny footbridge, built by a then-unknown engineer named Gustave Eiffel.

Footbridge built by Gustave Eiffel.

From tiny acorns!

After exhausting the town’s quirky points of interest I ate my just-ok lunch and headed off for a 4-1/2 mile walk along the tow path of the Canal de l’Ourcq. I did not see another human being for the first half of the walk.

Canal de l’Ourcq between La Ferté-Milon and Mareuil.

The second half was equally beautiful but dozens of cyclists — obviously a French outing club of some kind — inflected the bucolic charm. Still a great place to further stretch my already-pretty-well-stretched legs. The walk passes several bucolic locks but the most photogenic was the one at the end, with a castle in the background.

Château of Mareuil-sur-Ourcq from the lock.

Here’s a link to the full photo set.

Saturday night I had dinner with a new friend (found, I blush to confess, through a sketchy web site). Kevin is from Normandy and works on the TGV fast trains. He loves America, and Americans, but speaks limited English. I was delighted to make another friend who speaks French with me, not as a favor, but because it’s our best way to communicate. We ate at a nice neighborhood café on Montmartre, Le Relais. The service was a bit frazzled but the food was good and it’s on a lovely shady courtyard running between rue Lamarck and a stone stairway.

Kevin and me at dinner, at Le Relais on Montmartre.

I think it’s fair to say that I have solved the mystery of why I lose weight on my stays in France, despite eating up a storm: 12 miles on Friday; 13 miles on Saturday; only 7-1/2 miles on Sunday, true, but still the equivalent of 60 flights of stairs.

Mot du jour: «désolé»   The English cognate is misleading; the three women in La Ferté-Milon were each “sorry,” but nothing like “desolate.”

Montmartre

Tags

Montmartre, Sacre Coeur

Another perfect day, and the forecast is for more of the same. My first rainy week is now forgotten as well as forgiven.

Today we did a couple of the Montmartre walks in CityWalks Deck: Paris. Each walk is on a separate card with a map on one side and a description on the other. Despite the fact that the cards contain only so much information we’ve found it a good way to identify interesting walks and a convenient way to follow them. City Walks Decks are also available for other major cities, such as New York and London. I find Sacre Coeur somewhat kitschy and its environs maddeningly touristy, but the slopes of “la Butte Montmartre” get more interesting the farther you get from the church.

Jason on the slopes of Montmartre.

It looks as though an agreement has been reached to ease the European travel ban, so we now expect that Jason will get home on Friday.