Out and about in Paris

9 June 2022.

While we continued to talk about the short-term future -- mostly through discussion of how little we could do until we tested next Monday and then how much would need to be done if I tested positive -- we decided to go for a walk in Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

Always masking on the metro, from the Campo Formio stop we rode the no. 5 to Republique and changed to the no. 3 getting off at the Père-Lachaise stop. It was such a gorgeous day it was easy to just wander around this wonderful green space, taking in the history of Paris and France in tiny increments. For me it was also an opportunity to document  a handful of the many graves I still needed to locate. 

Susie admiring Chopin while Dominique Denon admires her 

the cemetery chapel, standing on the spot where the Jesuit retreat stood some three centuries ago

On leaving the cemetery I suggested we expand our Navigos' range and take a bus to our next objective, the Les Halles area. Failing to find the right bus stop we walked a few blocks to a stop that included the number 69, our bus for the day. After waiting nearly 20 minutes the bus arrived and we stopped and started our way across Paris. Reaching the Bastille nexus of roads, the traffic was a snarled mess and we soon came to regret (my) suggestion of bus over Metro.

But even traffic eventually moves in Paris and we finally left the bus at the Châtelet stop. From there we walked to Les Halles passing the Holy Innocents' fountain. 

Once the location of the largest cemetery in Paris, the fountain is all that remains of the church and burial ground that eventually became the famous city market of Les Halles. In the lat 1960s the market was moved to Rungis, in the Paris suburbs and the space became rather desolate with developers pushing for an underground indoor mall. The area has recently undergone another makeover and is a magnet for tourists and locals alike (to what end is open to question). 

There was a street market going on next to the Saint Eustache church and we strolled through that to Boulevard Etienne Marcel where we sat outside at a familiar cafe to have lunch.

Cafes are wonderful places to just sit and watch people while sipping a glass of chilled white wine, which is what I did while Susie checked out her favorite baking supply shop, Mora, located just across the street. If you'd like to pull up a up a chair and join me for a couple of minutes, here's your chance:

v

After lunch we strolled back through the market and down a side street to Saint Eustache.

the side entrance

Back outside the church we crossed the grounds once occupied by a dozen or more steel and glass buildings that housed the culinary heart of the city of Paris. Now a park full of fun and whimsy. . .

the old Bourse

We made our way back to the metro and back home.