Paris FR 14-26 April 2024 We kept deferring our departure to wait for lower water and slower currents, so we had some more time to see some of the sights of Paris that we had missed so far. There is always something more to see in Paris. Effiel Tower seen from the Trocadéro We did get to see the Rodin Museum, which has a garden as well as the house. After our visit we had a lovely meal at a brasserie tucked in behind the Assemblée Nationale. And then we had a short walk through the Tuilieries on our way home. Howard saw some information about Hanami (Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival), which was being celebrated at Parc de Seaux. We decided we would head down there on Saturday even though it was about an hour ride. Google took us a very roundabout route - we assume to put us on cycle paths as much as possible. When we eventually found the Parc we found that it was huge and beautiful. They are actually the grounds of a chateau, and had been designed by La Notre who also designed the gardens at Versailles, Vaux le Vicomte, and Chantilly. We were able to cycle around and have a good look. We did find the Hanami, but most of the Cherry Blossom display was already finished which was disappointing. But the gardens themselves were worth the trip. As we left the gardens, I had a flat tyre. Luckily we found a bike shop only 9 minutes walk away, and we had 30 minutes before it closed for lunch. They were very helpful and fixed my tyre immediately. Then, as we were about to head home, we realised that I had forgotten to charge my bike's battery and I was going to be short of power on the way home. We headed home initially along the Coulée Vert (an old railway line converted into a linear park), which went right near where we were just outside the parc. It was a lovely ride, and reminded us of linear parks back home in Melbourne. It took us a couple of tries to cross the peripheric but eventually we found a road that went under it. Then it looked like it was going to rain so we stopped for lunch near the International Univerity of Paris. After that we headed straight home, and I made it to the corner before the turn off to the Port before my battery went completely dead. I managed to push manually enough to get to the entrance, and then the downhill slope got me all the way to our boat. 2 close calls in one day. On Monday we decided to go the Bagatelle, a garden on the other side of the Bois de Bologne, on the far side of Paris. Unfortunately when we got there, no bikes were allowed in, and they even banned jogging. So we had a ride around the Bois de Boulogne which in most places really is a wood. We had a short walk thrugh the Pré-Catelan Garden, which also didn't allow bikes and had a look at the lake. Finally we rode home via the Statue of Liberty and the left bank. On Wednesday we made a final trip to the Louvre Museum. This time we visited the Islamic Art section, which is in a fairly new structure built in one of the courtyards. On the lower floor there were some mosaics laid out on the floor and walls and you could look down on them from above. After visiting the museum we visited a courtyard which was surrounded by the Louvre museum. Then cycled home. Thursday was such a lovely day we decided to go for a bike ride to Buttes Chaumont Park, which I'd heard about. Again Google was incorrect and we weren't able to ride in the park, so we did a lap around the outside and stepped inside a few times, including to climb one of the hills. Part of the park is a former limestone and gypsum quarry. After that we decided to go to the Park de la Villette where we knew we could ride around. We were surprised to see lines of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the canal. After a nice ride around the park, we headed home along the Canal du Saint Martin. In the evening we went to the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimone (City of Architecture and Heritage). This had a small exhibition about the builders and renovaters of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and also had many reproductions of amazing statues and decoration from churches and other buildings around France. We chose to not see the rest of the standard exhibition, instead visiting the special exhibition : Métro! Le Grand Paris en Mouvement which had a lot of history, including some great photos of the development of the metro, the RER and the Grand Paris Express which they have started building as an extension to the Metro into the suburbs, and looks very impressive. The museum was right at the Trocadéro, so when we finished at about 9pm, we stepped out to see the views of the Eiffel Tower in the twilight. We dedicated Friday to our final preparations for cruising, which involved moving furniture and items around, and setting up and checking our equipment. In the evening we were able to catch up with Bruce and Penny who had just arrived from Melbourne. We went out for dinner at one of our favourite local restaurants for our last night and their first night in Paris. We had been waiting for the debits (flow) to be below 400 cubic m/sec and this did happen on Friday, so we committed to leaving on Saturday, even though the debits had increased again by Saturday morning. There will be a Paris - Round Up blog post if you are interested. It is a summary of our winter, but feel free to skip it.
Our cruising adventures will be coming up soon. Stay tuned.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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