Oct 17, Part 8 - Paris: Quai St-Michel

After crossing the Ile de la Cite, we arrived back on the Left Bank at Place St-Michel. We were enjoying the cool, sunny weather so much, it seemed that a stroll along the quai was just the thing. There's Notre Dame Cathedral in the background, a stunning view from any angle. Sorry the picture is a little crooked.

Here's Place St-Michel on the right, filled with traffic as always. We're headed along the quai to the left.

Beautiful . . .

The stalls along the river were all open today, so we did some browsing. It's fun to see what they have, although I'm surprised there are any old books and prints left to sell after all these years of hawking them. Some are old and some are reprints. It's usually very easy to find a vendor with tastes similar to mine. Some are not, but many are.

On the side of the street away from the river is one of the entrances to Gilbert Jeune, one of, if not THE landmark bookstore in Paris, or at least on the Left Bank. It was founded right here on the Quai St-Michel in 1886 (the same year as my home town of Corona, California was founded, for what that's worth). The store takes up many separate lots in this area, and has numerous entrances on various streets. If you ever want to be surrounded by the feel of information and learning potential, or you just love books and esoteric subjects (besides the regular ones) or want to feel like an intellectual par excellence, just open the door and wander the aisles and levels of this establishment!

Moving along, we passed the narrowest street in Paris (about 1.8 metres wide), the block-long (very short block) Rue du Chat Qui Peche, "Street of the Fishing Cat." It appears in all the guidebooks now, I expect. It's famous for that niche in the fact-list of Paris. The street dates from 1540, and was named for the picture on a shop sign. The poster is for the Hotel Les Argonautes, in which I've stayed three times. It's a funky, small hotel (rooms, tubs, showers, halls, everything very small), but the location is outstanding, the hotel is charming, and the price has been extremely affordable. My only complaint has been that the noise in the lower and outer rooms keeps up most of the night with the Greek restaurants across the street smashing plates and shouting like barkers for a carnival, and the dance music very loud in the restaurant below. It's sometimes not possible to change rooms. If you are getting a single room, you can have one in the middle above the first floor, which I found very quiet. The two times I stayed in double rooms, the noise was hard to sleep through. I don't know if you can get a quiet room on the river side of the hotel, but the one we had on the Rue de la Huchette side was very noisy. Still, I love the place.

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Oct 16, Part 3 - Along the Seine at Quai des Orfevres

From Notre Dame, we walked along the Seine, continuing on the Ile de la Cite (such an historic and ancient heart of the city) toward the "prow" of the island. This empty tour boat came past just as we approached the Pont St-Michel.

There is Place St-Michel, storied hub of the Left Bank with its unmistakable pink marble columns. For once I didn't spend much time in that vicinity, as we were staying further along the river and usually chose another access. Do you see the small dark spot under the bridge on the stones that looks like a black grain of rice? It isn't.

A homeless man thought this would be a good place for some undisturbed sleep. Before the sight became so common, Paris is actually where I first saw someone sleeping on the street. It was cold, and he had a piece of cardboard for shelter. Later, it became a common site almost anywhere.

I thought he was sleeping soundly, but as a passer-by hustled along the walkway under the bridge, the guy jerked upright.

Further along the quai, I couldn't help taking a photo of this tree chestnut tree with its romantic background.

Across the street at 36 is the Prefecture de Police - the main police station of Paris. The officers seem pretty well-behaved here. There are usually groups standing around chatting. They seem to mind their own business and they smile a lot. I think I would, too, if I lived here. The traffic can be a royal pain, but what a beautiful spot!

We continued along the quai. This is the Pont Neuf coming up. Despite its name, it's the oldest still-standing bridge in Paris. There's a guy out for a walk with his dog.

Pont Neuf. Unlike the tourist boat earlier, the boats tied up beyond this bridge seem to be working boats used to carry supplies and goods. I'd like to learn more about what they do. They're very picturesque and nicely painted. I'll have more pix of them later on the walk.

I turned to look back at the tower on the police building and/or Palais de Justice. The sky is gray and overcast, but I burned it out so the building wasn't so dark.

Moving along a few steps further, we came to the Rue de Harlay, which cuts across the island not far from Pont Neuf and the tip. It's here, just past the Prefecture and the Palais de Justice that you turn right to reach a square I'd wanted to visit again, the Place Dauphine. I snapped the picture of the Rue de Harlay on the fly and I'm glad it came out. I think it looks especially nice, and I don't remember another street sign in Paris made just like this, but I haven't taken an inventory.

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