Morning Magnificence

July 13, 2018 --  My morning walks begin while I'm waking up.  I think about where I haven't been for a while.  I think about where I could go.  I think about what is happening where on this day of the week.  Which street markets are open?  What church or museum or park might I visit on this day?

Walking along the banks of the Seine in the early morning.

On a beautiful morning, when cool breezes prevail, I think about walking through the grand spaces, like the Tuileries.  I think about walking along the Seine.  This morning, I did both.

As I crossed the Champ de Mars, I noticed that all the structures for the equestrian event (Longines) are now gone.  The park is almost ready for tomorrow's Bastille Day concert, light show, and fireworks like you've never seen.

Russian Orthodox Church on the Avenue Rapp

I hadn't been on the Avenue Rapp yet this summer, so I selected that route from the Champ to the river.  Along the way, I noticed more and more Velib stations with bicycles in them.  Velib is slowly being resurrected!

When I was almost at the end of the avenue by the river, I paused across the street from the relatively new Russian Orthodox Church to photograph the morning sun upon its shining domes.

The walkway along the riverbank was uncrowded and clean.  The occasional runner or jogger passed me.  A few people were walking to work.  And there were four tall soldiers in camouflage uniforms carrying automatic rifles.   Security.

The walkway on the riverbank has many amenities.  I stopped to use the ladies' restroom but observed, after I opened the door, that the doorknob on the inside had been removed.  I would have been trapped if I'd gone in and let the door shut behind me.  Thank goodness I'm observant.

So I just used the handicapped restroom instead.

Chalk and paint have been used to color the pavement on the riverbank.
The fabulous Pont Alexandre III in the background.

The views along the Seine riverbank are extensive, and the steep angle of morning light illuminated the scene in a way I'd never seen before.  The archipelago barges were not open.  The gangways to them are lowered at 10AM.  Morning Seine walkers know this.  Now I know it.

Sections of the blacktop had been painted the colors of the rainbow.  In other places, swirly, colorful designs decorated the dull surface. 

As I walked, I grew thirsty.  I saw one of the City of Paris water dispensers.  For those who have their own water bottle, these dispensers offer a choice of flat water on one side, and sparkling water on the other.  I pulled my empty bottle from my bag and selected the sparkling water.  Mmmm.  Nice and cold it was. 

City of Paris water dispenser on the riverbank
offers flat and sparkling water for free --
if you have a bottle.

Off to the side, where weeds and wildflowers are allowed to grow at will, I saw a man harvesting herbs and greens.  He'll have a nice salad today.

When I reached the pedestrian bridge at Solferino, I climbed its center steps and began to cross the river.  I stopped to look at the view in the middle, and noticed the plague of love locks there.  Oh, how I wish people would stop defacing Paris in this way!

At last, at the Tuileries, I noticed the grand park's terrain was sharply divided between brilliant sun and deep shade.  Contrasts!

The ubiquitous green metal chairs, which would all be occupied this afternoon, were mostly empty.  I paused to sit in several as I wandered through the Tuileries this morning.

As I sat in one by the big pond with a fountain in the middle, in the midst of the sculpture garden, I heard a distant crowd roaring and cheering.  The sound came from the area around the Musée D'Orsay, across the river.  I imagined a bunch of French soccer fans having a pep rally in that outdoor space on the west side of the museum.

France plays against Croatia in the final game of the World Cup, on Sunday.   We three Cooleys plan to watch at least part of the game.

Love locks defacing a pedestrian bridge over the Seine.

When I almost reached the crowd of people lined up to enter the Louvre at the I. M. Pei pyramid, I turned around to begin the trek home.

Off to the right, I veered to admire a beautiful statue called Méditeranée (1905), by Aristide Maillol.

Méditeranée, by Aristide Maillol, in the Tuileries Garden.

Walking straight down the middle of the Tuileries, Louvre palace behind me and the Place de la Concorde's ancient Luxor Obelisk in front of me, I felt like a queen.  No, an Empress.  In Chico's T-shirt and jeans?  I do have an imagination.

The white dot at the far left is the hot air balloon at the Parc Andre Citroen, miles away.  On the right, the smaller
white dot is the top of the Luxor Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.

So when I turned at the Place de la Concorde, I wished to cross the Seine on the Pont Alexandre III rather than the plainer Pont de la Concorde.  Naturally, I walked along the Cours de la Reine (Queen's Way) to reach the preferred bridge, with its fabulous golden statues against the French blue sky.

The way home from there was simple -- the Esplanade des Invalides, a little knot of streets in the 7th arrondissement, then the Avenue de la Motte Picquet and the Rue du Commerce to home.  Sweet home, where I could finally break my 12 hour fast by having some vegetable juice and café au lait.

Enjoy more of today's photos, below.  You can get a better look at any photo by double-clicking on it.

Wildflowers and weeds allowed to grow along the Berges de Seine.

Morning sun in the Tuileries.

Cozy Bollards and the Punjab Palace

August 21, 2016 -- The walk was aimless at first, then somewhere on the Champ de Mars, I said, “Let’s walk up the Avenue Rapp.”  It happened like this:

We’d paused on a bench in a quiet nook of the Champ, surrounded by shrubbery, trees, and flowerbeds.  As we rose to walk again, we could not take our normal route straight through the park because the lawn was being re-seeded in that section; it was fenced off.

View from the bench where we paused in the Champ de Mars.

That directed us up closer to the round Place Jacques Rueff, in the middle of the Champ.  That reminded me of how the angled Avenue de Barbey-d’Aurevilly in the park lines up with the angled Avenue Rapp to the northeast of the park.  Then I recalled that the Avenue Rapp has the incomparably beautiful Art Nouveau building designed by Jules Lavirotte and built at number 29 in 1901 – something we must see every summer.  (See photos below.)

We sauntered up the avenue until we saw it, the gorgeous façade designed for the residence of ceramics manufacturer Alexandre Bigot by Jules Lavirotte.  Bigot manufactured many beautiful Art Nouveau ceramics designed by people like Lavirotte.  But Bigot didn’t diversify, so when Art Nouveau faded from style, his company went out of business.

We crossed to the other side of the avenue and continued toward the Seine when suddenly Tom stopped me and said, “Look!”

Bollards with cute hats on the Avenue Rapp.

He was pointing to the bollards that keep cars from parking on the sidewalk.  Tom always notices bollards for some reason, but this time, I agree, they were something to see.  Here someone had crocheted colorful hats for several of the bollards.  Cute!  Colorful!

Next we noticed the boutique hotel Le Derby Alma at the corner of avenues Rapp and Franco-Russe. I love the pretty glass awning over its entry.

Le Derby Alma on the Avenue Rapp

We spotted the gracious Italian restaurant Dell Angelo, where we dined once, years ago.  It was good, and the service was great.  But for some reason we never returned.  The food wasn’t memorable.

Then we were delighted to see that the Cité de l’Alma – a gated lane – was open to pedestrians.  We crossed the avenue and slipped through the gate to admire this quaint residential lane that led us over to the Avenue Bosquet – another avenue we have not yet walked along this summer.

By the time we had ambled down Bosquet and gazed in many shop windows – particularly the antique stores – the sky was threatening to rain and the wind had picked up.  We quickened our pace across the Champ de Mars and along the avenue de la Motte Picquet until we were in front of Monoprix.

Tom wanted to shop for men’s clothes.  After several minutes inside, we found that Monoprix didn’t have what he wanted, so we exited just as the rain started up.  Fortunately, I had my little flowered umbrella.  We squeezed together under it and managed not to be terribly soaked by the time we reached home.

The Punjab Palace on rue Lecourbe.

In the evening, we went out again, in the opposite direction.  Dinner was at the Punjab Palace on the rue LeCourbe.  We’d noticed this Indian resto when we walked to Le Beurre Noisette the other night.  After checking out the reviews on TripAdvisor and Lafourchette, I decided we had to give it a try.  We are needing to find a new favorite Indian restaurant in Paris.  The two we used to like just aren’t good enough anymore.

So we dined on pakora, lamb korma, lamb hadrabadi, and cheese nan.  Service was kind and thorough, and the food was all delicious.  The ambiance was gorgeous.  Well-capitalized Indian restaurants are the best.  And so the Punjab Palace at 299 rue Lecourbe is now our Indian place.

Lavirotte building on the Avenue Rapp.