Second Day in Paris

We had a relaxing morning with coffee and muffins in the apartment.
Then we headed out of the apartment into the morning sunshine on a spectacular Spring Paris day. The first thing we noticed was the hundreds of people running along Rue de Rivoli just 30m from our apartment. The Paris marathon was taking place and thousands of people were involved. They were running past our accommodation and we had not heard a thing. The apartment is very peaceful and we had enjoyed a much more restful morning than those several thousand who were running 42km through the Paris streets.

We took our lives into our hands as we ran across Rue de Rivoli trying to avoid the stream of runners that filled the entire street. We descended the steps to Tuileries Metro Station and caught the train on line 1 towards Chateau de Vincennes, our destination this morning. It probably only took 15 minutes to arrive at the end of the line, alight from the train and climb the steps to the street above to find ourselves right out the front of a magnificent castle with a huge moat around it.

Chateau Vincennes is a Royal Castle that has a keep built in the 13th century by Charles V of France. The entire castle was spectacular, but the keep (castle within a castle) was the real highlight. This was a medieval castle with everything a medieval king could wish for. Charles V used it as one of his main castles and later the Louis’s built more modern 18th century palaces within the confines of the castle. It was the hunting lodge in the midst of the Forest in

Vincennes. The keep was also used as a prison throughout its history and was even used in that way by the Nazis in WW2.

We caught the train back to Bastille station and climbed the steps to find ourselves at Place de Bastille where the famous prison Bastille stood until it was demolished on 14 July 1789 by the revolutionary mob that commenced the French Revolution. Nothing of the prison remains, however there is a large pillar to mark the spot. The location is still used for political protests when Parisians feel the need to let their opinions be heard by those in power.

The Bastille market is held on Sundays from 9:00am-2:30pm. It is said to be Paris’s best outdoor market. I believe them. The stalls sell quality food and gourmet delicacies, baguettes, cheeses (fromage), meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, flowers and all kinds of clothing and accessories. It was a fantastic market on such a sunny day.

After having some lunch at the market we walked into the Marais district and first went to Place des Voges, an amazing square with Parisian houses around the outside. This square and these houses are centuries old. Victor Hugo lived in No 6 and his house is now a museum to his life and work. There are other famous occupants over the years, including Cardinal Richelieu from the times of the Three Musketeers. One of the houses was a Jewish school which hid children during WW2. La Marais is a Jewish district and it suffered greatly from Nazi occupation.

We had afternoon tea in a very nice little teahouse called Carette in Place des Voges. They made great coffee and delicious patisseries.

Following afternoon tea we went to the Picasso Museum and then the Jewish Museum. We also walked past two Synagogues, one of which was dynamited by the Nazis in WW2 and restored after the war. We listened to a great jazz band busking in front of Musee de Carvalet, the museum of Paris, which is unfortunately closed for renovations until 2019. We then wandered through the Pletzl, the Jewish district, and stopped for a Schwarma at the famous L’ad du Fallafel. After that we caught the train from St Paul Station back to

Tuileries Station and walked back to our apartment, tired after a big day.

Priscilla went to bed and I ventured out to visit Notre Dame at sunset. The Seine looked spectacular as the sun set over the Eiffel Tower. Notre Dame looked beautiful in the evening light with the moon appearing behind its northern tower. After visiting Notre Dame I walked to the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop which was just over the bridge on the left bank. I also saw St Michel's fountain which is a famous landmark on the left bank, returning to the apartment about 10:00pm.