A Few Times

Paris could be described as a pedestrian paradise. From Montemarte to the Left Bank, it’s historical contortions of streets has resulted in the most pleasant walking of all the major cities of the world. I apologize to Rome but there are many places there where a walk of many kilometers actually returns very little. There is only a kind of historical sprawl in Rome. In Paris the attempts by the Prussians and the orderists that followed to facilitate troop movement and destroy the twisting warrens where le miserable dwelled added balance and a unique depth and variety to the city. Venice with it’s multitude of piazza runs a close second, but the mix of small alleys, wide boulevards, open markets, formalistic parks and great houses and churches all combine in Paris to provide a series of phenomenal walks

I have to say our first walk in Paris was somewhat … er … pedestrian. WE took the RER B in from Charles De Gaulle and got out as Les Halle. I will explain somewhere else or even later here why I had a particular set of landmarks in my head and how my fear of gypsies had lead me to extensive map study. All I know is that we emerge onto Rue des Halles, I looked northwest up the street and southeast down the street, trying to take it all in. I was in another city, older then my beloved New York. Way down the street I saw the Tour St. Jacques. AND I KNEW WHERE I WAS!!!! I am sorry I didn’t really mean to shout but the utter shock and relief of knowing where I was in a place I had never been deserved a shout. I immediately set off in the direction of the Tour, with the intention I guess of walking all the way to our hotel. Which I know knew was only 10 blocks or so away. Even with the luggage, and the fatigue from the plan ride, I felt emboldened and wanting to see the streets right away.

After we checked into the hotel and took a long nap, we set out for the kind of meander, almost a stumble, that has discovery and surprise and doubling back and check-marks and souvenirs and shopping and parks and I guess I was trying to do everything at once. The signature memory from this first walk was the late afternoon sun as we rested on the grounds of the Hotel De Sully at the southwest corner of the Place Des Vosges.