Paris interlude inspiration

I have been in Paris following my time in Burkina Faso, and have been reminded of my need of preparation as I have seen several blazes for the Grandes Randonnées and other trails throughout the city. Unfortunately the GRs all use the red and white trail markers and often don't have the number so it is hard to tell exactly what trail it actually refers to.

a GR blaze indicating to turn right

 
 Here's a red and yellow GRP (Grande Randonnées de Pays) blaze which is indicating a major trail of local importance.

The lack of activity one afternoon made me antsy, so the following day I decided to walk the beginning of the Via Turonesis, starting at Notre Dame and walking as far at the metro at Porte d'Orleans. 


Many start the Via Turonensis from the Tour St. Jacques, [or even Chartres or Orleans], but Notre Dame was convenient, and the GPS route I had downloaded started from there.  From Notre Dame I proceeded down the rue Saint Jacques...

As I walked walked along I passed the 13th century St. Séverin church and noted that spring was in the air...

St. Séverin

church courtyard

signs of spring

I passed the Vieux Camper shop [actually 4 shops on both sides of the street], strategically placed to catch those who might be starting off their walk along the pilgrim path...

This plaque reassured me that I was on the right path... The church on which it is placed, the Church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut is a historic landmark along the Way of Saint James from Paris. 

After the Latin quarter, the interesting buildings petered out, though.

One of the most striking landmarks was the Church of the Val-de-Grâce, the church of a former royal abbey in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, now in what is now the Val-de-Grâce Hospital. 


I continued down the rue du Faubourg St. Jacques and then down the rue de la Tombe Issoire after which it then took a turn that I didn't notice...

my path above tracked in blue

I had planned to walk as far as the Mairie de Montrouge, but it started sprinkling ever so slightly and I was without an umbrella.  I had been trying out the GPS tracking on my phone, which did help when I must have missed a trail marker along the way, and stopping at Porte d'Orleans seemed a good option at the time.  It was therefore only about a 5 kilometre walk, but satisfied my need for exercise. 

The following day I enjoyed the lovely spring weather and walked the Coulée Verte [ancienne Promenade Plantée], covering nearly 10 km [6 miles] total. There were many joggers, and the forsythia, jonquils, daffodils, grape hyacinths, even a few brave tulips and other late bloomers were in evidence.





















But the good weather has continued!  Someone left a box of City Walks Paris: 50 Adventures on Foot cards in my apartment, so two days later I decided to try them out and walked from the Balard metro to the one in Passy (card #43). I started at the Parc André Citroën, built on the site of the former automobile manufacturing plant, walked along the quai also bearing his name (and not that nice as it was being torn up for some construction project), past the miniature Statue of Liberty (off the Pont de Grenelle), and along the small island there as far as the Bir Hakeim Bridge.  There are prettier parks, and more interesting walks but it was enjoyable as I was blessed with such sunny, unusually balmy weather for late March.

Parc André Citroën

greenhouses

as it was still off-season the fountains were not playing

the hot air balloon did not appear to be giving rides either

but the tulips were out

As I exited the park, the quai was not particularly attractive because of the construction, but eventually the Seine became visible, along with the péniches, and there were a number of restaurant boats lining the banks of the river... 

Replica of the Statue of Liberty

 

péniche

As I mentioned elsewhere, I took my second walk of the day (card #44) between the Passy metro station and La Muette, considered a very huppé (upscale) neighborhood with its Jardin du Ranelagh, the Musée Marmottan, the Maison de Balzac and the Musée du Vin, plus some very high-end shopping along the rue du Passy, but I wasn't impressed.

Statue of La Fontaine with the crow and fox from his Fables

 

I also mentioned that I did hear a fair amount of English spoken there, some of it with a distinct upper class English accent. The houses nearby were exceptionally beautiful, often with wide spaces between the buildings, but the gardens and shopping were nothing special. My favorite image was the statue of La Fontaine in the Jardin du Ranelagh as some clever wag had draped a McDonald's Chicken McNuggets bag over the fox's  muzzle.

And then the following morning I walked through the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (card #33), another very large, but less formal place.  In the center of this park, built in the 1860s, is a replica of an ancient Roman temple in Italy, and and artificial waterfall.  I noticed a number of Asian visitors as well, perhaps attracted by its vaguely oriental feeling given the graceful trees and bridges.  I understand that this was a former gypsum and limestone quarry, which may explain some of the unusual land formations.

As in most public parks there were people of all ages. I encountered  walking groups of older people, some with hiking poles, as I saw markings for a walking trail, and the ubiquitous joggers. There were people exercising their dogs, young women with baby strollers, even a sizeable group practicing tai-chi, and of course, a couple or two smooching discretely behind the foliage. One Chinese woman was filling a napkin with pine nuts from a tree.

 The Temple de la Sibylle provides a lovely panoramic view and is modeled after the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy.
 

That's one thing I love about this city--the wonderful parks.  Some are large like the ones I'm visiting, but every neighborhood has its little public space with greenery and benches to enjoy it.