May seems the perfect time of the year to visit Paris. If you are lucky, you might enjoy great weather, and if you are a photographer, you might come home with more shots featuring Parisians than tourists. Go in July or August, and all bets are off.
That peculiar afternoon, after splurging on a whole box of Pepitos (French cookies most excellent), I atoned for my gluttony by taking a vigorous walk on the “Quais de la Seine.”
The bicycle you see on the photograph is a Velib. In July 2007, the City of Paris for ecological and health reasons inaugurated a new service of bike self-service. It offers stations located about every .2 miles and more than 20,000 bikes. The service is free for the first 30 minutes, then you pay a modest fee. Owning a bike in Paris exposes you to the following hazard:
Unfortunately a very common scene in Paris: the remains of a bicycle dutifully chained to a sturdy structure. Renting a bike seems more reasonable now, doesn’t it? Tourists may also use the service under the form of short-term subscriptions. I, myself, had to walk to expiate the Pepitos but the whole idea seemed lovely anyway.
Why on earth would you read the paper at the office when you can do so Quai du Louvre? Really.
A musician Pont du Carroussel. Notice the couple in the background. The beer in the foreground.
Why restrict your knitting activities to the fireside when you can produce a Seine-inspired sock?
And why wouldn’t you convert your barge into a beautiful two masted sailboat?
A timeless sight
The flower market on Ile de la Cite
Impossible to circumvent: Notredame
The attention to detail in Paris is fascinating.
Nothing better in the world than to make out behind the Cathedral
By this time, I am so pooped from atoning for my sins that I allow myself to take the metro. There is just about enough time to go buy another box of cookies…
