Paris, August 12, 2014: Galerie Vivienne and a long walk

I took a very long walk in Paris today.  I looked up at rooflines and down at paving stones, into shop windows, at the statues on the Louvre, at birds, at bushes, at windowboxes, at homeless people, at graffiti, at houseboats, and then I inspected the edges of the Seine to see if they could be beachcombed. (Sort of, but it would be seriously gross and would mostly yield cigarette butts.) If you had been here I would have driven you nuts. I’m totally beat, but wanted to share the day with you, so forgive me if it’s a little short on information.

This is roughly the path I walked:

The thin, squiggly lines are areas of tiny streets and alleys where I wandered without checking the map.

Our apartment (just above the black canopy in the photo) is in the Marais district, which is old, charming and full of interesting shops. The forecast was for thunderstorms, so I didn’t bring my big camera, just the iPhone. As it turned out, no thunder, just a few prolonged periods of drizzle. I got damp but not soaked, and the sun came out in between.

I eventually stumbled across the Galerie Vivienne, a neoclassical shopping arcade built in 1823.

 The Galerie is a bit worn, but still elegant, with wrought iron, glass, mosaics, and carved stone everywhere.

My favorite was the bookshop tucked away in the back:

I also walked through the courtyard of the Louvre:

 And back along the Quai de Conti:

There’s a chart of river floods inscribed on a building – you can’t see it in this photo, but 1910 is written at the very top of the building.

The flood of 1910 must have been extraordinary, because it is carved in stone at several points along the quai:

You’ve probably heard of the bridge that lovers attach locks to and throw the key in the river? Here it is, the poor old Pont des Arts, groaning under the weight of all that extra metal. A section of the railing collapsed earlier this year.

This is the Pont Saint Louis, which connects the Île de la Cité (where Nôtre Dame is) to the Île Saint Louis. The bridge is closed to cars and even on a drizzly day in August is a stage for street performers. Yes, he somehow got an actual piano out into the middle of the bridge.

I’m going to leave you with this image of a photography installation at the Sakura Gallery. Because even in Paris I’m not sure you can top that.