And since even an ordinary walk around Paris is sightseeing, we saw a few iconic places throughout our day in the city.
Our day in Paris started in the Bastille area. Below is the monument (called the July Column) at Place de la Bastille which marks the spot where the famous prison once stood. The prison was destroyed during the French revolution and nothing of it remains today.
The Bastille area is also a thriving neighborhood with a Sunday market that spans blocks. The market is much busier and much more cramped than the one at Garches. And while you can find the same vegetables, meats, and cheeses in both markets, you can also buy a fur coat at the Bastille market. That is one stand that I have yet to see in our Sunday market.
We finally arrived at Chez Janou. We stepped into this bistro and immediately thought of spring despite the winter chill that was still in the air. Spring yellow is the color schemes, and sprigs of dried lavender and pussy-willows are found throughout the cozy (think small) neighborhood restaurant. Chez Janou has been written up in several travel sites and even the NY Times travel section, so don't be surprised to see more tourists than locals here. Their menu is not extensive, but what they offer is consistently good. I've had a crevette salad, and the tastes of the crevette, avocado, and lemon vinagrette was a delightful blend of flavors. Today I had an entrecote (steak). A simple meal meat and potatoes meal, but the creme fraîche and chives sauce made it interesting. Next time, I will have the rosemary duck dish that Thomas had. The duck looked delicious, but the potatoes and mushroom (two variety) sauté that accompanied his dish is what I was after. Luckily, Thomas' distaste for mushrooms, meant I got to sample his dish. Come to Chez Janou hungry, and expect that to be the only meal of the day, because you will leave full.
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| Don't let the empty seats fool you. In twenty minutes, the place was packed. |
After dinner we walked through the Place de Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris. Meandering through the park lead us through a corner entry way that opened into a secret garden. I call it secret because from where we were two seconds before, you would not have known it was there. It was probably a quarter of an acre with a small formal garden (low bushes planted in a geometric pattern). The high walls of the buildings that surrounded the garden blocked all the noise from the streets just meters away.
The garden turned out to be part of the Hotel de Sully an 17th century aristocratic mansion (photo of one of the façades below).
Walking on the Rue de Rivoli (the same street the Louvre is on) you pass the striking Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church. The size of the church, the red doors, or the grand clock on its facade will certainly distract you as you cross the streets of the Marais.
Our final destination today was Sainte-Chapelle. A Gothic, medieval cathedral located on the Ile de la Cité (a few blocks from Notre Dame Cathedral). Louis IX commissioned the building of Sainte-Chapelle to house holy relics that once belonged to the emperor of Constantinople. The upper chapel contains one of the most extraordinary sets of stain glass (1,113 scenes among the 15 windows) that depict stories from the bible (from Genesis through the resurrection) as well as the story of how the relics came to France.
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| Part of the bolt and lock system of the terrace door in the upper chapel of Sainte-Chapelle |
Let me also add that except for lunch and the metro ride to and from Paris, everything we did today was free thanks in in part to it being the first Sunday of the month. First Sunday, meant the entrance fee to Sainte-Chapelle was waived. But, city parks and walking the neighborhoods are always free. There are ways to enjoy Paris without spending much money.