We are staying in a little hotel in Montparnasse, close to Raspail station and the Montparnasse Cemetery, called Hotel de la Paix in the 14th Arrondisement. It is hard to believe that this area was frequented by artists like Picasso,Chagall, Modigliani, and political types like Lenin and Trotsky in the past, for today it is a fairly quiet area, even though it still has plenty of cafes and restaurants and has easy access to transportation.
We arrived in the morning after a very long trip from Melbourne via Abu Dhabi, and after a much needed shower and a change of clothes decided to explore as much as possible before our bodies collapsed.
We found a local restaurant, with warm friendly staff who proceeded to destroy the reputation of Parisians as being snooty and arrogant. Our half Russian waitress spoke to us in French, English and Spanish and was very helpful in helping us improve our French and understand what we were eating. How lovely to be in a country which values the importance of fresh vegetables and well cooked food. So often, when we travel, we miss the presence of vegetables in a meal. We can tell that this will not be the case in Paris.
Following our custom of exploring a new city by foot and meandering without a plan, following our noses, so to speak, we walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg.
The 23 hectare gardens were full of people sun-bathing, eating ice-creams and strolling under the shade of the trees. The day was so hot that many were cooling their feet in the water features. We decided to stick to routes under the trees to avoid expiring. I'm not really a fan of baking in the sun.
The central focus of the gardens, the Palais du Luxembourg, which was built in the 1620s for Marie de Medici was fenced in for renovation and patrolled by heavily armed, very hot looking police, but was still very impressive.
We then wandered through the back streets of St. Gemain until we found ourselves on the banks of the Seine. Strolling along this famous walk, so much of it seems familiar: the book stalls my father used to frequent,
the Ile de la Cite
and the bridges.
I think I was most surprised at how completely the river has been civilised by being lined and sealed off. I was most delighted at the presence of barges used as homes, restaurants and cargo transport.
Heat stroke, exhaustion and jet lag hit us and we decided to use our weekly transport card to return home. Unfortunately, fried brains combined with unfamiliarity with the metro system had us wandering round St. Michel for ages, but we finally figured it out and returned, hot, red, sunburned and sticky to drop into a deep sleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.
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