23 May 2015 - Discoveries along the Seine

Tim had booked a walk with just me, early before the others woke up.  We enjoy our walks together.  It is great to be able to walk with my nearly adult son!  He has had quite a few opportunities to go for runs through Paris on his own and has made some great discoveries.  He was keen to show me the right bank of the Seine beyond the Eiffel Tower heading towards Musee D'Orsay (for the sake of future reference!).

Gustav himself!

 We know the way to the Eiffel Tower now (and what a crowd was gathering this morning!) and Tim's route went past the Musee du Quai Branly which houses African and indigenous art.  What strikes the passer by is the greenery and foliage growing up the walls.  From the outside, the museum looks cool and green like a rain forest.  Passing this we crossed the road and went down the pavement to the lower walk way along the Seine.  There are many randomly organised rail sleepers and wooden pieces of exercise equipment which make the path a bit of fun and then there is a chicken cage complete with lovely brown hens and also lots of board game boards making up tabletops for those who want to play or use the tables for picnic, etc.  We had so much fun running and jumping along the path with some other morning joggers and walkers. 

Possibilities along the Seine

Street art

The green wall on the Musee du Quai Branly

Why not cheer up the streets with coloured bollards?

Piano accordian adding to the atmosphere

 Back home and the next little trip was to the supermarket and bakery, this time with Luke who is nice company on walks and enjoys the fresh air (despite protests about not wanting to go!)

Baguette boy!

Note big tennis ball - preparing for the French Open

 Then after a bit of school time, we all went to our local street market, knowing we couldn't buy much but wanting to just be part of before we leave Paris.  We did buy some petits pois in their pods and some haricot beans (I remember French language books ALWAYS mentioned "haricots") and some pears.  The apricots looked amazing but we wouldn't be able to eat them all.  Oh yes, we bought a tiny cantelope, a rouge gorge (I think) which seem to be in season in France.  It is waiting to be consumed!

Eiffel Tower reflections

Random exercise equipment

Survival capsule...converted to a rest area!

Inside one of the pods - the other is more furnished with couches and books and can be hired out for an hour to relax in!

Kids on a pod

Soft archery

Ropes course along the wall!

 We topped up our tummies with food and drinks before heading out on a walk.  Destination : Pompidou Centre.  As I had enjoyed the walk with Tim so much we  decided to follow that trail to show the others and then we kept walking for several kms in and out of temporary and permanent exhibitions.  There was "Camping in the city" innovations, and fun sport like soft archery and soccer.  My favourite exhibition was "Libraries without borders" which service refugee camps with books and crafts and games and culture, which all pack up into neat little storage containers to pack and go as needed.  The librarian I spoke to there said refugees stay in camps for an average of 17 years which is an unimaginably long time.  What a great service!  I know a few librarians who would be interested in what these folk are doing!

Karl and me by the Seine

Pont du Alexandre

Anything goes for gym equipment!

Fun display with fun ideas

Black board

Librarians without borders

All their portable library is transported in these.

More love locks

Love lock!

 But still we were a long way from the Pompidou Centre!  Over the Seine we walked, then showed Luke Cleopatra's Needle as he hadn't seen it, and walked through the gardens near the Louvre.  It was a warm afternoon and we opted for a pack of ice creams (from the supermarket - cheap but nice!) as we were flagging a little. 

Karl and Luke discussing Cleopatra's Needle

Parisian streets are never uninteresting.  We were walking along when we heard some music and we crossed the road to see and hear Metropolitan Musique playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons, beautifully. I could have  listened to them play a year's worth of seasons but the kids were restless.  I enjoyed two of the seasons today and that was a privilege.  I first heard the Four Seasons played by a string quartet on my first visit to Paris in the late 1980's in Saint Chapelle and have thought of Paris every time I have heard the familiar composition.  Where have those 25 plus years gone? Today it was a string orchestra of at least 11 players.  I could feel my eyes watering as I listened to and enjoyed the music again IN PARIS!  When we had walked past Saint Chapelle the other day, I saw that music concerts are still being held there but didn't dare to entertain the thought of going there to hear the music, and yet, today on the streets, I felt ever so blessed to listen to Vivaldi in Paris again!

Metropolitan Musique playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons

We actually walked quite a bit further than we had predicted and Tim announced that he wanted to run home (at least 8 kms we estimated!)  Annika and Luke had had enough also and they were happy to take the Metro back to our apartment so we saw them to the nearest Metro and off they went!  Both the big kids have great sense of orientation so we knew they'd be fine.  Karl and I finally found the Pompidou Centre and sat down to listen to buskers and enjoy the interesting architecture. We also then took the Metro home feeling pretty tired.

This fountain reminded us of Pamukkale

The Pompidou Centre - didn't go in but admired the exterior

Karl and the Pompidou vents

The bird man of Paris - the birds flocked in their hundreds to him...frightening!

As per tradition of pizza for Saturday night we found some frozen French ones, heated them (in the oven where you have to open the fridge door to access the oven but it works well!) and ate them.  They were nice but not quite the usual homemade Hawaiian pizza that the kids and Karl enjoy.  As promised, we sat down to watch Ratatouille, a cute family movie about a little rat in Paris.  It was one of the movies displayed up the Eiffel Tower so we had been wanting to watch it while we were still in Paris.