After coffee and breakfast we headed off for one of our favorite destinations, at least in this part of Paris, the rue Mouffetard. Known affectionately as simply "the Mouff," it is a long narrow street that winds down from Place Contrescarpe in the Latin Quarter and ends in a maze of streets next to SaintMedard church and becomes Av. des Gobelins leading up to Place d'Italie. Lots of funky shops and food venues, both sit down as well as street vendors. We've been coming here since 2006 and it never disappoints.
Even though today was the tail end of a five-day religious holiday here in Paris (Pentecost weekend), a number of places were open for business. Naturally the Franprix grocery was one of those and we popped in to pick up a few basic necessities for home.
Leaving the Mouff we headed back home. After stopping at a Nicolas for wines for the week we also picked up a baguette and Paris-Brest pastry at the boulangerie Maison Landemaine, both located at the junction of rue Monge, rue Mouffetard and rue du Fer da Moulin.
along our way home, the French have a way with the news
You will note the teddy bears -- this particular style of TB has found its way into many of the shops and businesses in Paris. In fact, we came across a man walking down a street near our apartment in the 13th holding one of these waving at everyone with one its paws. Naturally we waved back. I asked one restaurant worker why they had several seated at tables visible from the street and was told "to make people smile." Pretty good reason.
Once the groceries were put away it was time to head back out into the sunshine. Our main objective was to test out our newly charged Navigo public transport passes on our way to the Pont Neuf where we hoped to catch a river cruise. The passes are good for any public transport in zones 1-5.
(It should be noted that we still had our updated Navigo passes from four years ago that we were able to recharge this go around; our original versions were first used by us in 2006-07!)
So with our passes in hand we headed for the no. 7 line at Les Gobelins station. From there we rode the Metro to the Pont Neuf. Exiting up the stairs we found ourselves back in that magical maze of tourists pointing their phones in every direction trying to capture just that right moment of being in Paris.
Crossing the Pont Neuf, in fact the oldest bridge in Paris, we made our way to the Isle de la Cité and down to the Square du Vert Galant where we found our the ticket office for Vedettes du Pont Neuf.
At a little before 15:00 (3pm) we boarded the boat and joined in the fun game of scrambling for the seats. Truth be told we thought this boat's seating configuration to be strangely dumb. Clearly the business hoped to maximize profits while trading away any consideration for the comfort of the passengers.
Once packed in off we went for a short, sunny tour of Paris as seen from the water. . . So many people out enjoying being close to the river. In some ways human nature hasn't changed in millennia.
Square du Vert Galant, tip of the Isle de la Cité
on the Isle Saint-Louis, note the roof garden with trees
the tango class is still on the left bank after all these years
Note the dancers in the center of the frame right along the embankment . . . I first saw them dancing in this same place some years ago.
passing around the tip of the Isle Saint-Louis
the Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette was held prisoner before her execution
lots of greenery on the boats along the quai
this is where our river adventure began
the Musée d'Orsay
we could actually see the people climbing the stairs
turning around
the Zouave, how the locals check the floodwaters of the Seine
more boat gardens
a very small part of the Louvre
looking at the newly refurbished Samaritaine
yes, there are still working barges on the river
If you haven't seen enough and would like a brief video tour of our 50-minute trip (in about 10 minutes) check out the video:
Once off the boat we peeked down the long green stretch of the Square du Vert Galant toward the tip of the Isle de la Cité before climbing the stairs back up to street level.
You'll note all the wooden boards affixed to the railings. Over the years Paris has struggled with tourists and locals alike placing their "locks of love" on nearby bridge railings as well as anyplace they could gain access. It was decided to place clear plastic windows inside the metal frames where necessary and in others, like this place, to use wooden boards. Not attractive but apparently effective.
looking over to the left bank and to Place Dauphine
statue dedicated to Henry IV, keeping an eye on the Isle de la Cité
We walked back to the right bank and headed for the newly remodeled Samaritaine where we planned to have an aperitif before heading home.
the Samaritaine far left
rue de la Monniae to the left and rue du Pont Neuf to the right
between the two streets
While the store is architecturally stunning and its painted murals and open atrium breathtaking, it is a space dedicated to obscene ostentation and conspicuous consumption. In fact, this building is but an indoor mall of overpriced and overrated designer brands (Prada, Gucci, etc.).
We did break down and stop at the cafe on the 5th floor to have a drink, a concoction of strawberry puree and champagne. It was very good.
Eventually it was time to leave and make our way back to metro and home for the evening.
This morning I awoke after a wonderful night's sleep. It seems my body is at long last trying to find some degree of normalcy.
After a very leisurely morning, it was such a nice Sunday we had to get outside. I suggested we take the metro to the Bois de Vincennes east of Paris and focus on seeing the Chateau de Vincennes, an enormous pile that has played a very large role in the history of France and a large green space we have never visited.
It took us just a few minutes to walk to our Metro stop, Campo Formio. As you can see, the station entrance is a superb example of the classic Hector Guimard art nouveau designs for which this city is so famous:
That said, the Guimard design comes at a price: age. Most of the metro stations are quite antiquated, certainly by the standards we've seen elsewhere in Europe so far. They generally lack elevators, only a handful have escalators and many of the cars are in sore need of updating as well. Also, virtually no public facilities are available. Some lines, such as no. 1, which we switched to at Bastille, have been updated but even that line is starting to show some age. The Parisians have A LOT to do before the 2024 Olympics!
line 1 at Bastille heading to Chateau de Vincennes
We got off at the Chateau de Vincennes stop since it was both our objective and the end of the line. On the way out we caught sight of this memorial to the local Metro workers shot by the Germans on 22 August 1944 during the liberation of Paris. It would not be the last memorial sighting today. . .
Once outside the Metro we found ourselves at the north entrance to the Chateau, which is actually a fort as well. Allegedly part of the French military system we could see no evidence of that. There was a car barrier across the entrance, and we had to go through what one might laughably call a security inspection by someone not in uniform but seemingly happy in his work and very easygoing.
The entire space is surrounded by a dry moat, which in past times has been used as a place of execution (more of that later).
Once inside the visitor is struck by the open barrenness of the space, although of course it hasn't always been like that. Only the chapel and the donjon, the large four-sided tower, are original to the middle ages while nearly all the other buildings, most dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, appear abandoned or at the very least unused. Supposedly they were once part of the French Army Historical services but it's unclear if they are used at all today.
buildings across from the ticket office
There is a ticket office and gift shop in what was once the harnachement (harness) building close to the old officer quarters. Otherwise the place seemed unoccupied.
officer quarters on the right followed by the harnachement building
the end of the harnachment building
The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes was begun in the 14th century and is modeled on its big sister on the Île de la Cité in Paris.
Built in the 14th century as a fortress and royal palace it reportedly had the tallest donjon in Europe.
the famous donjon
As you can see there were few visitors that day, although the park surrounding the chateau was packed with walkers, young people, families and many others out for a Sunday afternoon.
looking toward the southern entrance, which faces the park proper
looking back toward the northern entrance
looking back north from the south entrance
The chateau has been used for executions, all reportedly taking place in the dry moat.
Perhaps the most famous execution took place in 1804. Fearing a monarchist coup Napoléon I arranged for the abduction and assassination of Louis Antoine de Bourbon, ducd'Enghien. He was summarily shot in the moat on 21 March 1804. Initially buried in the moat, his body was eventually removed and reinterred in the Sainte Chapelle de Vincennes.
memorial to the Duc d'Enghien is barely visible to the far left of the moat
In 1917 convicted German spy Margarethe Zelle Macleod, better known by her stage name Mata Hari, was shot by firing squad. The spot where she was executed is unlisted and her grave, if there is one, is unknown.
The Germans also executed 29 French policemen and civilians at the chateau between 20 and 22 August 1944. Sadly, their memorial is a bit off the beaten tourist track -- and no sign directed the visitor to its location either. I happened to catch a glimpse of red, white and blue at the base and walked over to it.
memorial to those killed 20-22 August 1944
Besides the donjon and the chapel the only other bit of medieval history excavated is the fountain used for the manor house that once stood on this spot:
We had hoped to exit by the south entrance and thus make our way into the park. That exit was closed, however, and so we went out the way we came. Trying to skirt the park we were overwhelmed by literally hundreds of young people.
leaving the chateau
the east entrance and the old walls of the fort
Sensing something afoot we decided to turn around and made our way across the street to a lovely park where we sat to plan our next move.
We sat and enjoyed the peace of the moment. Noting the statue behind us our curiosity got the better of us. It was a nicely executed memorial to the men from Vincennes who died in the First World War. Another memorial, another remembrance of lives lost.
We popped back onto the no. 1 by the entrance to the chateau, again noting the seemingly unending stream of young folks coming off the metro, joining the hundreds of others we passed earlier. We came to find out later that today was the last day of a three-day concert series in the nearby Bois de Vincennes. While we missed Massive Attack it was OK to be heading in the other direction. . .
Back at the Bastille metro we switched to the no. 5. One of our very first experiences on the system back in 2006, we've ridden this line many times and always enjoy this stretch above ground between the Gare d'Austerlitz and Saint Marcel stops:
Back home once again we stayed in for a supper of baked vegetables with cheese.
After an early breakfast Wednesday 1 June, we checked out of the hotel and walked the short 15 minutes or so to the Gouda train station. We only had a few minutes' wait before the next train to Rotterdam Centraal and we hopped aboard. Once at Rotterdam we looked for the lounge so we could hang out for the next couple of hours.
At a little before noon we made our way to the platform and had to wait just a few minutes before our train arrived from Amsterdam. The cars were already quite full but we had reservations so we found seats, shoved our luggage into the overhead bins and settled in for the 2-and-a-half hours.
It was a gorgeous day for a train trip and we lapped up the scenery as we passed from the Netherlands on into Belgium. We both agreed that the Antwerp and Brussels trains stations were exceedingly unimpressive. Soon we were speeding through northern France -- and I mean speeding; the Thalys is a high-speed train reaching a top-speed of 186 mph. It shares the same track with the Eurostar.
We had a pleasant if uneventful trip to Paris Gare de Nord. Once there we made our way to the Metro line 5, which would take us right to our drop-off point, close to our apartment. We had a short wait to buy a carnet of 10 tickets (single trip) before boarding the 5.
Fortunately, we had very little shlepping down stairs to do but the Metro was crowded and we had a large number of stops ahead of us. Bu the time we were halfway through our journey most passengers had gotten off and we could sit in peace.
Once we reached the Campo Formio metro stop we got off, hauled our bags up two sets of stairs and then made our way down rue Pinel to our apartment.
Our Air BnB hostess was waiting for us and after a tour of the apartment she said au revoir and is off to Greece for a month! Afterwards we walked down to the nearby Place Pinel and picked up a few basic groceries.
view of the 13th arrondissement from our terrace
Since arriving in Paris I have slipped increasingly under the weather and thus for obvious reasons have decided to self-isolate for five days. Which means we have done very little and what has been done has been taken on by the French Tarte!
Two days in a row she went out for some groceries and then on 3 June she went to the Metro kiosk at Placed'Italie, just a short walk from here, and recharged our Metro Navigo passes that we haven't used in four years! Even though hesitant about her rusty French, she was able to communicate our needs to the Metro personnel pretty darn well.
On 4 June I finally got outside and it felt wonderful. After showering and getting dressed we headed out for Place d'Italie to pick up some more groceries. Susie had picked up food-to-go last evening from Tang Gourmet, just off the Place and we had lots of leftover rice and meat so I thought I'd make fried rice. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the stroll of Boulevard l'Hopital to the Place.
Afterwards we strolled back home and I crashed for about an hour or so. We had talked about going out for an aperitif at a nearby cafe but the rain came which pretty much quashed those plans.
Place d'Italie, this multi-floor indoor mall stretches beyond the frame to the left
Now that I'm on the road to recovery, we'll see what tomorrow brings. . .
Accommodation - hotel. The Weeshuis (orphanage) Relais & Chateaux. Reasonably priced, lovely location. Breakfasts were so-so, tending to overwhelm with appearance rather than substance. The room itself was nice but had an odd layout with the commode separate from the shower area, which was in itself not unusual, but the commode room was smaller than an airplane toilet. Oddly enough there was no storage at all, except a rack for hanging clothes. No closet, no drawers, niente.
Food. The food in Gouda was outstanding. Ate twice at Chaplin's located very close to the hotel; highly recommended.
Attractions. Churches and canal cruising.
Public transportation. Typically we went by intercity trains, which was superb. Plenty of available trains, on time and the stations in Delft, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Gouda were very modern, user-friendly.
