Take a hike

Wildflowers on the Petite Ceinture

July 13, 2017 – In spite of the slightly rainy weather, we decided to take a hike through nature, along the Petite Ceinture: a long section of what was once a beltway train around Paris.  The train was abandoned years ago, but the tracks and the banks of thick vegetation remained.  Under the green guidance of the Bertrand Delanoe administration, the City of Paris turned this neglected resource into a walker’s wonderland.

A couple beetles doing their thing

The gritty sandy mix used to fill and level the space between and beside the rails blends beautifully with the chunky gravel and stone mix that remains along the tracks.  That sandy mix is easy on feet that grow weary of walking on urban pavement.

To help the environment and to keep maintenance costs down, the gardeners have turned most of the work over to Mother Nature.  The native wildflowers that she fosters there are becoming more beautiful every year that we walk along the Petite Ceinture.  Surely the gardeners must pass through occasionally to remove noxious plants (does poison ivy grow in Paris?), but we’ve never seen them there. 

Like on the Ile aux Cygnes, there is no water supply along the Petite Ceinture, so the wildflowers and other vegetation must be tough; they have to make it on their own.

This year, Queen Ann’s Lace rules the Petite Ceinture, but there are plenty of other wildflowers adding spots of color everywhere.  I particularly love the orange-red poppies.  Can you identify some of the other flowers?

When we reached the end of the trail at the rue Olivier de Serres, we climbed steps to reach the street level.  Where we’d started our walk along the railway, at the foot of the Avenue Felix Faure, we were in former swamp land, so we had to climb a few flights of steps to get up to the trail.  Here, at the end, we were on the land that rises up to become Montparnasse, so we had to climb many steps again to reach the street.  The left bank of Paris seems fairly flat until you experience these steps (as well as those around the Pantheon area in the 5^th arrondissement).

On the rue Olivier de Serres, we located a doorway leading to one of the Russian Orthodox churches that Dimitry Vicheney mentioned in his interview (see yesterday’s journal entry).  Beyond the mysterious doorway were steps leading up to a courtyard, but because all the lettering on the bulletin posted at the door was Russian, we did not feel welcome to visit as we do the other churches in Paris.  Also, a school is associated with the church there, and we did not wish to be a distraction to the kids.  I wonder if the kids speak Russian in that school?  I suppose they do.

Bulletin, all in Russian.

Stairs leading to Russian Orthodox church and school

Continuing our trek down the rue Olivier de Serres, Tom was becoming footsore, so I suggested that we have refreshments at La Source again, at the intersection of the rues Alain Chartier and Vaugirard.  After a café gourmand which included a little ice cream, Tom was renewed and we walked home in the most direct way possible (rue Alain Chartier and rue de Javel to the Place Etienne Pernet and rue du Commerce) because of the rain. 

Axuria's incomparable souffle au Grand Marnier

At home we did the usual: relax while watching the end of the day’s stage of the Tour de France.  Earlier, as we’d started our walk, I’d ducked into Axuria to make a dinner reservation.  So in the evening, we dressed up a little and walked back down the Avenue Felix Faure for a fine dinner at 8.  It was a thick, juicy veal chop for Tom, sea bass with peas and risotto for me, and then soufflé au Grand Marnier for each of us.  That soufflé is heavenly, and it is cooked perfectly every time. 

By the time we walked home, we’d logged almost 25,000 steps for the day. 

The back of the dining room at Axuria.

Sunday dinner at Axuria is tempting.

Tom's veal chop was more like a slice of a roast.