Paris at the gentle speed of walking

Paris is still the territory of flaneurs like us -- people who love to walk.  We have the time to walk.  We let the city soak in at that gentle speed of walking.

For those who need to move faster and who want to stay above ground, out of the subway, bicycles and scooters are available everywhere for a minimal rental fee.

Walking home along the Rue Mademoiselle last night, toward the church of St. John the Baptist of Grenelle.

The City of Paris has been making improvements to bicycle lanes and paths at almost every opportunity.  This morning, I noticed the bike lane on the broad Quai André Citroen, which is said to be representative of the City's currently favored type of bike-way.  It is part of a network that includes bike-ways paralleling the full, parabolic length of the Seine in the city, connecting the suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux on the west to Ivry-sur-Seine on the east. 

Bi-directional bike lane on the Quai André Citroen.  The
same type of lane was created this year on the Quai de Grenelle.

Many narrower one-way streets in Paris have bike lanes that go in the opposite direction -- the contre sens.  The Rue du Commerce, where we walk most often, is one of those streets.  As pedestrians, we must always remember to look both ways when crossing this street since this contre-sens bike lane was painted.  That's easy to forget.  A number of serious accidents have resulted from these opposite-direction bike lanes.  So the elected officials of the 15th arrondissement have "denounced the quality of the implementation of the opposite-direction bike lanes."  Subsequently, the Paris City Council has recommended improvements to be made.  We shall see . . . .

Foot-operated bike tire pump in the Place St. Charles.

This year, we have noticed that City has installed bike tire pumps in many public squares.  How nice!

Tom and I think bicycling in the city is still too dangerous for us, and we do not own bike helmets.  One should never bicycle without a helmet when surrounded by concrete, metal, and stone!

We walk.  Our goal is about 5 miles a day.  If we walk much more than that, we risk damaging Tom's hip and my knee.  But I consider 5 miles of walking to be a minimum amount of daily exercise. 

Parisian women are increasingly wearing sneakers instead of stylish shoes.  I do have sneakers that I wear here sometimes -- but they have a floral pattern, so I think they're acceptable.  I bought them last year, right here on the Rue du Commerce.

Yesterday, we made the mistake of putting our walk off until evening.  Then it rained enough to nix the long walk after dinner that we'd planned.  Even so, we walked over a mile just to go to dinner and back.

Dinner was at Bacco, and French-Italian restaurant on the Rue Mademoiselle, near the old center of the former village of Grenelle.  We began by sharing a Burratina (Italian cheese that's better than mozzarella), and then proceeded with milk-fed pork and risotto for Tom and prawns with risotto for me.  It was all very good, if a bit too salty, and the service was warm and professional.

Bacco, a French-Italian restaurant on the Rue Mademoiselle.

I like the modern decor of Bacco, plus the fact that the old wood beams of the old village-y building are still visible on the ceiling.

Cochon de lait (milk fed pork) and risotto cubes at Bacco.

Prawns with risotto at Bacco.

The welcome rain intensified as we walked home, hugging each other under my little umbrella. 

This morning, I walked the full length of the Rue Saint Charles outdoor market (Tuesdays and Fridays).  Then I strolled up to the Beaugrenelle shopping area, and down the ramp to the Port de Javel to get a look at the Statue of Liberty's face before I went home; I usually see her back, from the Allée des Cygnes.

There she is, lighting up the world with the promise of welcome to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.