I have walked past rue Richelieu many many times, and yet I missed this door! The carvings cover some parts of the door, like it’s eating it but not greedy enough that it leaves behind a red trail. This door is just next to Tunisian shop which also has beautiful grey door, and not far from it there’s a sky blue door covered with some … Continue reading Beauty is in detail
Have the habit to walk across the Seine river in Paris, I walked across Garonne River in Bordeaux through Pont de Pierre (Pierre Bridge) that connects the left bank to the right bank (Bastide area). Summer heat and almost 500 meter long bridge was out of my calculation. The sun reflection made it look like longer and the hustle drivers made it worse to cross … Continue reading Pont de Pierre, Bordeaux
Paris is not all Haussmanian buildings or same type of bourgeois type of balconies. Colors are also allowed in the city! Take this rue Crémieux, one of the colorful streets inside Paris, in the 12th arrondissement. It was named Avenue Millaud in 1865, but renamed in 1897 to honor Gaston Crémieux, the labor cause defender in Paris back then. With its rather short buildings and the … Continue reading Promenade in colors : rue Crémieux
After a disappointing job interview back in 2012, I called a friend and walked my way out of the office located in the the periphery of 17th arrondissement. I talked and talked, and walked and walked, and before I knew it, I arrived just 5 minutes walk from my area in the 13th arrondissement, almost 2 hours later. I concentrated so much on my stories on the phone that I didn’t notice that I had walked across north western Paris to the southern part of the city, crossed two bridges (the right bank and the left bank bridges). That, opened up my eyes that Paris is a not just walkable for its great trottoirs, but also for its large but compact size!
I have been a huge fans of walk since (Parisians are considered as the biggest number of walkers in the country), so to beat the cold in December, I decided to walk the longest street – Rue Vaugirard.
Rue Vaugirard, situated in the left bank, stretches across 6th arrondissement to the 15th, to the edge of Paris intra muros (inside city). I started walking from the big numbers area (in the 15th), and went up (literally going up if you see the city map) to the 6th.
I took the wrong turn from Rue Convention, the intersection with the Vaugirard, and I ended up to Porte de Versailles (the limit of the intra muros). But along the way, I discovered Petite Ceinture of the 15th (the old unused railway, transformed into hung garden and pedestrian of 1.5 km above the street). Continue reading “Rue Vaugirard : longest street in Paris”
single or not single, is not a question. this place up on the hill in Montmartre is must visit for you in love or out of love. Spend the late afternoon ascending the stairs, or you can just take the metro right to Lamarck or Abbesses (embrace yourself in the elevator, smells like ..yucks) and down the butte or take the furniculaire if you want … Continue reading le butte montmartre
il faut cultiver notre jardin! – Voltaire Not that I love cultivating plants, but yes, i do love colorful flowers (just to see them), but what Voltaire said meant more than that. Literally means “let’s cultivate our garden”, but in spirit refers to hard work, and consistent hard work, that in the end it will yield the way you want it to be (or not), … Continue reading il faut cultiver notre jardin!
Used to be the place and routes for transporting commercial goods in the 19th century, Paris so far has not less than 150 Passages Couverts where they have already transformed into galleries, boutiques, café, second hand bookshops. If you have at least one day, spend it by walking down the beautiful streets that goes across from 2eme arrondissement to 9eme arrondissement. Some Passage are open for public and some are not, and before going there please note the opening hour for each place. Here are some passage couverts that I like, where I took a liberty to just walk slowly on a moody yet sunny and rainy day.
Passage Moliere : 157, rue saint martin/82 rue quincampoix 75002, it’s where they keep Théatrê Moliere and Maison de la poesie. Nice surroundings and so quite place, hidden behind the animated Rambuteau and Centre de George Pompidou, where the crowd get to hang out.
Passage Panorama: 11 Bv. Montmartre/10 rue st.marc/38 rue vivienne/151 rue montmartre (Gallery Vivienne). I like it better than Passage Moliere, it got restaurants and hip cafés, galleries, and you can find carte postale anciennes, and timbres anciennes (old stamps), and old letters.
Passage Juffroy : just across to Passage Panorama, from bv. Montmartre,a lot of Epices store (spices), bijouteries (jewelries), libraires (bookshops), Hotel Chopin, and Musee Grevin.
Passage Verdeau : a lot of boutiques and small shops from clothing, to everything, resto/cafés, libraires, and second hand shops, if you like Tintin, they sell only for 6 euros! Stroll across, you’d find Galerie Phantasm alias sex fantasy, where they displayed nude photos, nude paintings, all poses men (or women) could only imagine…
Passage Princesse : for children, its got Lego store and all knick knack toys for kids. So cute. So not me. :p
Keep walking to Place de Victoires, where it stood the
statue of King Louis XIV with the horse in the middle of the place (la propre style de lui), you’d discover the beautiful Galerie Vivienne. Continue reading “les Passages Parisiens”
