Paris III: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
Jun 8th, 2015, 10:23 AM
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Paris III: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
We come from New England where we have lived since 1977, though we are native Southerners. Currently, we divide our time between Nantucket, MA (home), Richmond, VA (Jan-April), and Brookline, MA.
What Are We? We are a retired couple who have been together for 50 years and married for 48. We were both from military families and moved frequently when we were growing up, a pattern we continued for the first fifteen years of our marriage. I spent part of my childhood in England, and my wife had extensive business relationships in the UK, so we have spent enough time there that it does not feel like being abroad. We have made trips to France every other year since the mid 1990's. We always spend time in Paris but have also spent time in Perigord and in Aix en Provence.
Where Are We Going? We are in Paris again this time for two weeks. Because we have seen most of the tourist sites, our trips have a different theme. For several years, we have worked on seeing gardens, and there are a lot of them. Wednesday, we are going to the Jardin Albert Kahn in Boulogne -Billancourt, a new one for us. Another ongoing theme is visiting markets. We have been to the covered market at Enfants Rouge, the Sunday Bio Market on Blvd Raspail, and a bunch of daily street Markets like Rue Cler and Rue Mouffetard.
This past Saturday, we went to the Marche d 'Aligre in the 11th because it combines a covered market, open market stalls, and a flea market. It is not simple to find from where we are staying, either on the map or from the bus, but it was fun, I resisted the junk, and the strawberries are delicious. Sunday, we went to the Marche Richard Lenoir, which is vast. I am 6'3" and still had trouble looking over the heads of the shoppers to see what was on offer. Among those things: three kinds of salt cod, horse meat, vegetables, fruits and cheeses of every sort. Eggs, chickens, chicken hearts by the kilo. Bread. Pastry. Candy. Clothing and scarves and gloves. Like Haymarket in Boston, these are not farmers markets. Though there is plenty of local produce and much of the best is seasonal, these are not farmers but retailers who go from market to market and buy in turn from wholesalers as well as (sometimes) suppliers. More markets!
Our final theme is that we try to stay in a different part of Paris every time. We started in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, then rented a couple times in the Marais near the Place des Vosges. Last time we stayed on the Rue Daguerre near Denfert Rochereau in the 14th. Why? Because we love the woman film director Agnes Varda, and she made two films about the street, where she still lives. Her films were set twenty years apart, and we came twenty years after the last one, so we were able to view the development of the street over 30 years.
This time we are spending two weeks in an ungentrified building on an ungentrified block in a rapidly gentrifying area in the 10th.. We can look out the window at the Quai Valmy and the Canal St Martin across the street and watch the incredible human parade up and down the Quai and into and out of the boulangerie across the corner or the bar beneath us. The 46 bus runs under our window, three Metro stations and the Gare de l'Est are only minutes away. There is a small Franprix at the top of the street and a bigger one two streets away. There are lots of places to eat, traditional and trendy, but the only chains are the Franprix, the banks and a Picard. The green grocers and butchers and fishmongers and hardware sellers are all local. The neighborhood is a mix of Bo-Bo's, students, computer jocks and lots of people living in public housing.
Over the next couple of posts, I will try to share some of the things we do, especially those that might
be useful to you. In no way do we think you should travel like us or live like us, nor do we think our neighborhood is more authentic than the 6th or that we are seeing "the real France." We are just going to share what we see in "the Brooklyn of Paris." It is starting, as London has for a long time, not to feel all that different from home. and we want to capture that while we can. But tomorrow, we are going to be tourists in Chartres, which our fixation on Paris has prevented us from seeing. Au revoir!
What Are We? We are a retired couple who have been together for 50 years and married for 48. We were both from military families and moved frequently when we were growing up, a pattern we continued for the first fifteen years of our marriage. I spent part of my childhood in England, and my wife had extensive business relationships in the UK, so we have spent enough time there that it does not feel like being abroad. We have made trips to France every other year since the mid 1990's. We always spend time in Paris but have also spent time in Perigord and in Aix en Provence.
Where Are We Going? We are in Paris again this time for two weeks. Because we have seen most of the tourist sites, our trips have a different theme. For several years, we have worked on seeing gardens, and there are a lot of them. Wednesday, we are going to the Jardin Albert Kahn in Boulogne -Billancourt, a new one for us. Another ongoing theme is visiting markets. We have been to the covered market at Enfants Rouge, the Sunday Bio Market on Blvd Raspail, and a bunch of daily street Markets like Rue Cler and Rue Mouffetard.
This past Saturday, we went to the Marche d 'Aligre in the 11th because it combines a covered market, open market stalls, and a flea market. It is not simple to find from where we are staying, either on the map or from the bus, but it was fun, I resisted the junk, and the strawberries are delicious. Sunday, we went to the Marche Richard Lenoir, which is vast. I am 6'3" and still had trouble looking over the heads of the shoppers to see what was on offer. Among those things: three kinds of salt cod, horse meat, vegetables, fruits and cheeses of every sort. Eggs, chickens, chicken hearts by the kilo. Bread. Pastry. Candy. Clothing and scarves and gloves. Like Haymarket in Boston, these are not farmers markets. Though there is plenty of local produce and much of the best is seasonal, these are not farmers but retailers who go from market to market and buy in turn from wholesalers as well as (sometimes) suppliers. More markets!
Our final theme is that we try to stay in a different part of Paris every time. We started in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, then rented a couple times in the Marais near the Place des Vosges. Last time we stayed on the Rue Daguerre near Denfert Rochereau in the 14th. Why? Because we love the woman film director Agnes Varda, and she made two films about the street, where she still lives. Her films were set twenty years apart, and we came twenty years after the last one, so we were able to view the development of the street over 30 years.
This time we are spending two weeks in an ungentrified building on an ungentrified block in a rapidly gentrifying area in the 10th.. We can look out the window at the Quai Valmy and the Canal St Martin across the street and watch the incredible human parade up and down the Quai and into and out of the boulangerie across the corner or the bar beneath us. The 46 bus runs under our window, three Metro stations and the Gare de l'Est are only minutes away. There is a small Franprix at the top of the street and a bigger one two streets away. There are lots of places to eat, traditional and trendy, but the only chains are the Franprix, the banks and a Picard. The green grocers and butchers and fishmongers and hardware sellers are all local. The neighborhood is a mix of Bo-Bo's, students, computer jocks and lots of people living in public housing.
Over the next couple of posts, I will try to share some of the things we do, especially those that might
be useful to you. In no way do we think you should travel like us or live like us, nor do we think our neighborhood is more authentic than the 6th or that we are seeing "the real France." We are just going to share what we see in "the Brooklyn of Paris." It is starting, as London has for a long time, not to feel all that different from home. and we want to capture that while we can. But tomorrow, we are going to be tourists in Chartres, which our fixation on Paris has prevented us from seeing. Au revoir!
Jun 8th, 2015, 10:49 AM
#4
I can only congratulate you for having graduated out of the tourist ghetto and must disagree with certain elements of your evaluation. Obviously all of Paris used to be <b>authentic</b> but the phenomenal crush of visitors has completely denatured certain areas, such as the 6th and 7th, albeit in different ways. In the 6th, the tourists practically trample each other. In the 7th, most of the area is a ghost town due to so many absentee owners who only occupy their apartments one or two months every year. In spite of the current Airbnb controversy, most of these apartments stay empty and are not rented out to vacationers.
In spite of the gentrification of parts of the 10th and 11th (just to name those), they remain authentic because the people gentrifying the area are Parisians who have been obliged to seek cheaper rents or real estate prices rather than tourists. (You are the exception.
)
I hope you continue to appreciate the area and become even more adventurous in future trips. There are so many amazing places to discover that tourists have never seen.
Have you seen my report about the Albert Kahn gardens? It is a spectacular place. The photo collection in the museum is even more astounding, but nobody ever has the time to look at it properly, including me.
In spite of the gentrification of parts of the 10th and 11th (just to name those), they remain authentic because the people gentrifying the area are Parisians who have been obliged to seek cheaper rents or real estate prices rather than tourists. (You are the exception.
)I hope you continue to appreciate the area and become even more adventurous in future trips. There are so many amazing places to discover that tourists have never seen.
Have you seen my report about the Albert Kahn gardens? It is a spectacular place. The photo collection in the museum is even more astounding, but nobody ever has the time to look at it properly, including me.
Jun 8th, 2015, 11:03 AM
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We saw Albert Kahn Gardens last month for the first time.....just exquisite! We spent 10 days exploring a different garden or park each day
We really enjoy the 10th but have never stayed there. Like you, we like staying in different locations for the experience. Does your apartment have AC? I am a wuss and require AC if traveling in the summer "just in case I need it"
We really enjoy the 10th but have never stayed there. Like you, we like staying in different locations for the experience. Does your apartment have AC? I am a wuss and require AC if traveling in the summer "just in case I need it"
Jun 8th, 2015, 11:13 AM
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Don Topaz -- I knew one of you Bostonians would get it! I did channel Gaugin: after my second or third visit to Paris, I resigned from my job and became an independent consultant for the next ten years ( but not in Tahiti)
Plumbers -- think Williamsburg ten years ago!
Kerouac -- thank you. My son, who has lived in France, is nervous about where we go in Paris. Today in BHV, a French businessman who went to school in New York told us to stay away from Gare du Nord, a no go area for the police. I look out my window and see people of all races walking their children to school, people who look like computer coders eating in the bar below us.
There are negatives, and I will get to them, but William Butler Yeats wrote "an aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick, unless soul clap hands and sing and louder sing". I am an aged man, and you know, what the hell! Three years from now, all I might be able to do is climb on and off the tour bus. If not now, when? If not us, who? And my wife is a very brave woman to whom I owe everything.
Plumbers -- think Williamsburg ten years ago!
Kerouac -- thank you. My son, who has lived in France, is nervous about where we go in Paris. Today in BHV, a French businessman who went to school in New York told us to stay away from Gare du Nord, a no go area for the police. I look out my window and see people of all races walking their children to school, people who look like computer coders eating in the bar below us.
There are negatives, and I will get to them, but William Butler Yeats wrote "an aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick, unless soul clap hands and sing and louder sing". I am an aged man, and you know, what the hell! Three years from now, all I might be able to do is climb on and off the tour bus. If not now, when? If not us, who? And my wife is a very brave woman to whom I owe everything.
Jun 8th, 2015, 11:32 AM
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GREAT start! Signing on for the ride.
We stayed a bit south of you near the canal on Rue Alibert two years ago, and found the area fascinating. The constant swirl of young Parisians along the canal in good weather is endlessly interesting.
We also found Albert Kahn well worth the trip. Also, we walked for some distance through the neighborhood and were charmed by the area. q
We stayed a bit south of you near the canal on Rue Alibert two years ago, and found the area fascinating. The constant swirl of young Parisians along the canal in good weather is endlessly interesting.
We also found Albert Kahn well worth the trip. Also, we walked for some distance through the neighborhood and were charmed by the area. q
Jun 8th, 2015, 11:34 AM
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Judy, this apartment does not have air conditioning.
I wrote another post called "Paris when it sizzles" about the two hot days last week -- 87 and 92.
In a response, Kerouac mentioned that his building is built of heavy stone and takes a couple of days to heat up. As long as it doesn't stay hot for more than a couple of days, he stays cool.
Same in this apartment. We learned many years ago in Mississippi never to open the windows during the day or let the sun come in. We did have a fan here to move the air around during the day when the windows were closed, but we slept without it at night.
In a newer building in another part of the city and a different sun exposure, it might be different.
It was not humid. And by Saturday it was and remains cool.
I wrote another post called "Paris when it sizzles" about the two hot days last week -- 87 and 92.
In a response, Kerouac mentioned that his building is built of heavy stone and takes a couple of days to heat up. As long as it doesn't stay hot for more than a couple of days, he stays cool.
Same in this apartment. We learned many years ago in Mississippi never to open the windows during the day or let the sun come in. We did have a fan here to move the air around during the day when the windows were closed, but we slept without it at night.
In a newer building in another part of the city and a different sun exposure, it might be different.
It was not humid. And by Saturday it was and remains cool.
Jun 8th, 2015, 09:19 PM
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I wouldn't say that it is my favorite painting, even by Gaugin, but not bad for a banker, and it does have a great title!
I am amazed that the MFA let it travel because it is one of those paintings for which people make special trips to Boston; somebody in Basel will owe them big! I wonder what we will get to see in return?
I am amazed that the MFA let it travel because it is one of those paintings for which people make special trips to Boston; somebody in Basel will owe them big! I wonder what we will get to see in return?
Jun 8th, 2015, 10:37 PM
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kerouac, you are hilarious!!
I am quite happy NOT to have "graduated" out of the central tourist area of Paris.
I have enough "real life" in my real life. I grew up in the Middle East, and before I hit puberty, I was comfortable travelling in the Middle East, in the Far East, as well as in the USA and Europe. In fact, I took an overnight train from Switzerland to Spain in the 1960s, when I was 13 and my sister was 15. I lived in Paris in the 1970s for one year, and I've visited about a dozen times since then (never staying for less than a week).
I am not a neophyte traveller nor a neophyte Paris visitor. And I love the central area of Paris. I go there for the beauty -- the unabashed beauty of the buildings and the streets. I go there for the history, where I can imagine the Parisii hewing out a life.
I find your attitude to be pretty limited -- .
s
I am quite happy NOT to have "graduated" out of the central tourist area of Paris.
I have enough "real life" in my real life. I grew up in the Middle East, and before I hit puberty, I was comfortable travelling in the Middle East, in the Far East, as well as in the USA and Europe. In fact, I took an overnight train from Switzerland to Spain in the 1960s, when I was 13 and my sister was 15. I lived in Paris in the 1970s for one year, and I've visited about a dozen times since then (never staying for less than a week).
I am not a neophyte traveller nor a neophyte Paris visitor. And I love the central area of Paris. I go there for the beauty -- the unabashed beauty of the buildings and the streets. I go there for the history, where I can imagine the Parisii hewing out a life.
I find your attitude to be pretty limited -- .
s
Jun 8th, 2015, 11:00 PM
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Yes, of course it is, kerouac . . . and that's the point!
My attitude is limited by my experiences, my history, my preferences, and my reasons for visiting Paris. My attitude applies only to me and to my visit.
On the other hand, you seem to try to apply your limited attitude to all visitors to Paris regardless of their histories, experiences, preferences, reasons to be there, etc.
I really don't think there is a one-size-fits-all, even from a super knowledgeable travel poster.
s
My attitude is limited by my experiences, my history, my preferences, and my reasons for visiting Paris. My attitude applies only to me and to my visit.
On the other hand, you seem to try to apply your limited attitude to all visitors to Paris regardless of their histories, experiences, preferences, reasons to be there, etc.
I really don't think there is a one-size-fits-all, even from a super knowledgeable travel poster.
s
Jun 9th, 2015, 12:08 AM
#16
Certainly, one size does not fit all. There are people who think it is necessary to pay triple the price for everything or who actually enjoy doing so just so that they can be five minutes closer to the "attractions."
However, some people are limited by finances, not by attitude. By limiting my expenses, I have been able to visit 80 countries in the world while others just feel a need to splurge in a location where they can take prestigious selfies.
However, some people are limited by finances, not by attitude. By limiting my expenses, I have been able to visit 80 countries in the world while others just feel a need to splurge in a location where they can take prestigious selfies.
Jun 9th, 2015, 12:30 AM
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You know, that's their choice. It's their money, their time. Who are we to say their choice is invalid or less worthy than mine or yours? My choice is valid only for me.
Just do what you do, and enjoy the choices you've made. Let others make their own choices, their own mistakes.
s
Just do what you do, and enjoy the choices you've made. Let others make their own choices, their own mistakes.
s
Jun 9th, 2015, 12:51 PM
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I think, Swandav, that Kerouac's advice to visitors to not limit their exploration of Paris to the inner arrondissements is more one of offering alternatives, rather than being judgemental. I, personally, feel I have explored the center quite enough for now and have concentrated on including the wonders of the outer districts to our trips. We have found it very rewarding to do so.
