Paris Walking Routes

While in Paris, we sometimes spent two to four hours per day walking. Hannah, in fact, titled one of her journal entries "The 2,000 Mile Walk." (The child is a master of hyperbole at 12.) Here are some of our favorite walking routes from our apartment (penciled in at the top of pg. 40). I still have more pages and more red lines to add; this is just a start. (To view a larger picture of the map, click on the picture.)

St. Germain Des Pres was one of our favorite districts.

Le Tour Eiffel

On our second day in Paris, we took a long walk from our apartment through St. Germain to the Eiffel Tower, which we reached by mid-afternoon. Unfortunately, once we reached the tower, the word for the day became "throng." We decided to come back the next day and avoid waiting many hours in line. This picture was taken from the base of the tower looking northwest. The building in the background is the Place de Varsovie, which is across the Seine from the tower.

Lauren took this picture standing directly below the center of the tower.

The crowd extended from the base of the tower all he way back to Ecole Militaire.

We had to walk waaaay back in order to get the whole thing in a picture.

The next morning, we rode the Metro and arrived just as the tower was opening. We stood in line only a few minutes to buy our tickets and then waited in a slightly longer line at the first level, but we reached the top fairly quickly where I took a picture of Deanna and the girls.

And the girls took a picture of us.

View from the top looking southwest along the Seine.

View from the top looking north toward the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's tribute to his soldiers. The Arc de Triomphe is surrounded by the largest round about in the city--and maybe in the world: six lanes going around the Arc de Triomphe connecting 12 streets. The turn about is so large that pedestrians cross the traffic underground in order to get to the arc.

Time in Saint Germain

One of the areas that Rich and I really wanted to explore was that of Saint Germain des Pres. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir as well as countless intellectuals spent a great deal of time in this district. The Cafe de Flore was known as Jean-Paul's and Simone's "second home," and we were eager to spend some time here as well. (It's a good thing that lunches in Paris take about two hours.) Be sure to ask Rich about the Nicoise salade he ordered for lunch on this day.

Although we decided to eat outside on the sidewalk, we did get inside for a minute--if only to use le toilette. We also tried to snap a picture of the mirrored walls and interesting ceiling; however we were forbidden to do so. Instead, Rich snapped a picture of the cafe's threshold.

Along with un salade verte d'haricot et un sandwich au jambon (a green bean salad and a ham sandwich), Han and Lauren had the "Famous Chocolat Chaud" from Cafe de Fleur. Their hot chocolate is so "famous" that it has even been "preserved" on a postcard. (Lauren bought one for a keepsake.)

We enjoyed a really nice bottle of Bordeaux as we watched the passers by and contemplated what this cafe' might have been like back in the 1940s.

This sign is near Cafe de Flore and marks the area where Jean-Paul and Simone hung out.

Lauren/L'Orange

Although Lauren loves fruit, she isn't as fond of her Parisian nickname, L'Orange.

Fittingly, Hannah's Parisian nickname is Limon. Together, the girls have become "les soeurs de citron" (the sisters of citron)!

Walking Along the Seine

We walked the Seine every day we were in Paris. This picture was taken on one of our walks near Notre Dame Cathedral.

The weather in Paris was temperate and beautiful (low to mid 70s). There were plenty of days we were able to wear long pants, long sleeves, and sweaters. (I heard it was 94 degrees, humid, and rainy at home.) Here we are again on the Seine.

Paris Pigeons

Pigeons are ubiquitous in Paris. They walk into restaurants, fly in people's faces, get chased by kids, refuse to move when people approach, and annoy the heck out of Rich, who thought they were going to fly into our apartment.

Downtown Paris

Our apartment was in the very center of Paris. The view from our north window included the largest RER station in the city and a 4-story, underground mall. The buildings on the right are apartments.

The glass structure is a four-story underground shopping mall. We looked at it for several days before we found out that it was a mall. One of the interesting aspects about European cities is the juxtaposition of old and new--beyond the shopping mall is St. Eustache church, which was completed in 1637.

Lagging at 9:00 a.m.

Before leaving the states, Rich and I discussed the concept of the very powerful jet lag with the girls. After being reassured again and again by Hannah that she would be unaffected by jet lag, we simply nodded, smiled, and said "okay." This picture was taken at our apartment in Paris about an hour after our arrival.

We didn't go out much at night because we were exhausted from walking during the day; however, we did spend some time standing on our balcony after the crowds had cleared.

Looking out over Paris on a sunny morning.

Blogging from Paris

We have been exploring Paris by foot and enjoying our little apartment on the Right Bank of the Seine. Although we would like to put our travel journal on the blog, the French computer keyboard, which is not QWERTY like ours, makes typing slow and laborious. We will post pictures and journal when we return. We have been checking our email, so you can still reach us if you want to.

Bonjour!