A scene whilst walking along the Seine
[This is a continuation of my Paris posts on our recent trip at the end of May]
Do you like walking? I love walking, and was very pleased that we managed to walk up to 17,000 steps each day without any difficulty. It was very easy to achieve these levels as this included walking around museums, up and down métro stations (there are hardly any escalators on the Paris Métro network, and some of the changes between different lines can be very long) and of course walking in search of good things to eat. I will cover the latter in a post about eating out in Paris.
The wonderful thing about central Paris is that it is crammed full of grand buildings and monuments, all juxtaposed with the most functional and ordinary of neighbourhood streets. One minute you are in a crowd with tout le monde and just around the corner you discover a noodle shop that only Parisians seem to know about.
Paris streets are very well signposted and all the signs are similar, making it very pleasing to the eye
In order to keep our packing simple, we wore one pair of walking shoes for the entire trip, and packed dress-up shoes for the formal dinner we had to attend. I still ask myself what my mother wore on all her overseas trips, since she detested sneakers/ trainers/ walking shoes her entire life. She seemed to manage with her elegant leather shoes, which is very admirable. Or maybe she was smarter and took taxis everywhere to avoid walking and taking public transport.
But walking allows you to see la vie quotidienne up close: locals going about their daily life buying provisions, walking their dogs, attending work lunches, sipping coffee, visiting their neighbourhood pharmacy/ florist/ bookstore.
My pet hate when walking around town was people smoking on every doorway at every hour of the day. From my observations there is definitely more smoking than vaping in Paris compared to London, although both are bad for your health. However there is more cannabis smoking in London than on the streets of Paris. A tip when dining in Paris – do not ask for a window seat (as I did) as many diners nip out for a smoke in between courses. Despite the glass separating interior and exterior, you can still smell the cigarette smoke.
Besides the museums we visited, we walked to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in Île de la Cité and the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre. We timed the visits for the evenings when there would be less of a crowd. Both are definitely worth a visit to view the magnificent interiors.
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris
The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur
If you have the patience and interest, a fun activity would be to choose a painting at one of the museums you visit, then look for the same view on a walk.
The Seine and Notre-Dame de Paris by Johan Barthold Jongkind (Musée d’Orsay)
This is La Seine et le Louvre by Camille Pissarro (Musée d’Orsay), however my photo was taken from the other side of the bridge
When walking around the streets of Paris, two films came to mind: Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie) and Before Sunset. I loved these films when they were first released but hesitated to watch them again before this trip. I wanted to experience Paris again in real life first. I think I would still enjoy the films, so this is on my summer To Do List.
Shakespeare and Company, the bookshop featured in Before Sunset
In the next post I will share some thoughts and photos on eating out in Paris.