Spring in Paris

~ My sojourns in France, 2010-2019

Spring in Paris

Tag Archives: Place de la Républic

Wading, Walking, Waiting and a Wonderful Soirée

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Robert Mack in Experiences, Photos

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

flâneur, Harvard, Parc de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Place de la Républic, Rosa Bonheur, Vélib

On Sunday morning I grabbed a Vélib bike and had a look at the opening of the Place de la Républic, after a year and a half of renovations.

IMG_8697 MED
Great “place” for a massive demonstration! The most innovative feature of the renovation was circling the grandiose monument with a wading fountain.
IMG_8696 MED

2016 Update: Place de la République is very, very different after the Charlie Hebdo murders and the Nuit Debout demonstrations. This proved to be a brief moment of beauty and tranquility in a troubled world.

I decided then to explore the brand-new 3b tram line that runs from Porte de la Chappelle to Porte de Vincennes. Any line with stops for both Rosa Parks and Ella Fitzgerald is worth a look!  I finally got to see the Canal Saint-Denis, a wide canal branching off the Canal d’Ourcq, with quais similar to those along the Seine. It seems like an under-developed resource, but not something you have to rush over to see. More interesting was the Parc de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge (“Park of the Hill of the Red Hat”) near Porte de Pantin, which I have noticed on the map for years but never quite gotten up to. I entered with some trepidation: Would it be run-down, even dangerous? Would I be menaced by homeless people and/or desperate drug addicts? Um, no and no.

IMG_8716 MED

Sunday afternoon with a magazine in the Parc de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge.

It was a lovely neighborhood place, filled with picnicking families.

I then strolled along rue de Mouzaïa towards Parc des Buttes Chaumont. I couldn’t help noticing a steep little alleyway running up to the left called Villa Félix Faure. As a true flâneur I strolled up it and was delighted by the cute single-family houses, trees and especially flowers. Continuing towards Buttes Chaumont along rue de Bellevue I encountered another Villa running down that was even prettier. A nice guy at the bottom, chatting with a neighbor, smiled and told me to keep going left and right — there were seven Villas in a row, and I now see on the map that there are even more down the hill.
IMG_8729 MED

Here’s a photo set of La Mouzaïa – Villas of the 19th Arrondissement. Whenever I get back there I’ll add a few more since I saw less than half of the villas in the area.

My plan had been to get to Rosa Bonheur before 4:30, which by past experience gets you in before they put up the barriers and force you to wait in line. I hadn’t figured, however, on the fact that this was the first really nice Sunday, so the barriers had already gone up by 4. I was bemused to see that friends kept joining the people ahead of me in line, so one guy quickly became four! I texted Colin to offer him the same courtesy in case he hadn’t gotten there yet, but he and his entourage had arrived at 3 and were happily ensconced inside. Paradoxically, people in line have the power to add as many friends as they wish, but once you’re in all you can do is commiserate. (Colin didn’t actually say this, but I’m sure he was désolé that I was stuck in the line.)

IMG_8731 MED

The line to get into Rosa Bonheur, at 4:30 on the first truly lovely Sunday afternoon. Get there early!

After waiting 45 minutes and seeing the line move only a few feet I abandoned ship and headed home to get ready for the Harvard LGBT alumni dinner that evening, on David Johnson’s fabulous terrace.

IMG_8735 MED
It was a gorgeous evening and it was a great bunch of guys — plus, for the first time ever at a Paris chapter event, a woman!

Archives

  • October 2020 (1)
  • July 2019 (5)
  • June 2019 (31)
  • May 2019 (21)
  • April 2019 (1)
  • June 2018 (15)
  • May 2018 (14)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • June 2016 (21)
  • May 2016 (18)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (20)
  • May 2015 (10)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (15)
  • May 2014 (17)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (16)
  • September 2012 (17)
  • June 2012 (1)
  • July 2011 (1)
  • June 2011 (19)
  • May 2011 (18)
  • April 2011 (1)
  • June 2010 (2)
  • May 2010 (29)
  • April 2010 (31)
  • March 2010 (4)

Categories

  • Art
  • Experiences
  • Musings
  • Photos
  • Practical Information

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Tags

Ali An Hour from Paris Antoine apartment apartments Arc de Triomphe Art Aya Balzac Bastille Belleville Belleville Open Studios Bouillon Chartier Brian Café de l'Industrie Canal Saint-Martin Chris contemporary art Eiffel Tower Elliot Eugène Experimental Cocktail Club flowers flâneur food porn France Fête de la musique Jackie Jacques Jaime Jardin de Luxembourg jardin des plantes Jared jour férié L'Absinthe Café L'Ejumeau l'Oasis d'Aboukir language Le Duplex Lisa Louvre Lézard Café Marais Marché aux Puces Mariage Frères Matt meals Metro Monet Montmartre Montorgueil Musee d'Orsay Musée des Arts et Métiers Nanashi Navigo neighborhoods Open Café Palais de Tokyo Palais Royal Parc des Buttes-Chaumont Parc Monceau Paris Place des Vosges Promenade plantée Rosa Bonheur rue Montorgueil Sacre Coeur Seine Sherard street art swimming temple de la Sibylle Vélib weather Zhizhong

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel