Monday, February 28, 2011

Afternoon of a flâneuse

On Saturday I went for one of my long, rambling walks. I started at Chateau Rouge where I had an errand to run (not the loveliest area so there are no pictures) and from there I crossed the seedy Boulevard Clichy and walked down into the much classier 9th arrondissement. This square at the top of the rue des Martyres was graced by the French flag...something you don't see too often here.Adorable flower shop on the rue des Martyrs.There were lots of interesting shops in this quartier....and some flowering trees starting to bloom....I found my way to the elegant Place St. Georges. The Musée de la Vie Romantique is nearby but I didn't find it.I took several pictures of these beautiful old buildings in the place.Here is one where a famous courtesan of the early 19th century used to live.This building used to be a hotel and is now a library, apparently...I wandered down the rue de la Victoire...for some strange reason I can't remember what the name of this huge square is, nor can I find it on my map now...This was a very posh street near the Palais de la Bourse...And this was the apartment building where one of the great composers of the French Baroque lived...A very happy discovery: I stumbled upon the Galeries Vivienne, which was essentially the world's first indoor shopping mall, created in the very early 19th century.It has gone in and out of style over the years but today it's a lovely, historic, and yet busy place, with these original mosaic floors and greenhouse style roofs and very cute shops...Next to it was the Bibliotheque Nationale...and just south of that, the Palais Royale...with a couple of modern art installations in the courtyard...
I continued south to the Carrousel du Louvre......walked across the Pont des Arts...and ended up in St. Germain, where I headed over to Odéon to rest my feet at a movie. I walked out of Black Swan after 30 minutes--just couldn't handle the psyschological tension--serves me right for going to see an English movie in Paris! (To my credit, I have watched a ton of classic French films on my computer this week, but that's for another post...)

1 comment:

  1. I love eavesdropping on your Parisian explorings...missing you so much my dear friend...when are you coming back...if at all?

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