Hiking? in Paris?

[balzaccom]

We're just back from two weeks in France, mainly in Bordeaux, but with a few days in Paris at the end of the trip. And since our flight got into Paris at 8:20 in the morning, we were at our hotel by nine....and our room wouldn't be ready until 1 p.m. or so.

What to do? We'll, we had on some walking shoes, so that's what we did. We trooped down to the Seine, where we got a great view from the bridge on the way to Ile de la Cite. Then wandered around that island past Ste. Chapelle and the flower market to Notre Dame. We felt a little more at home when we noticed a pigeon raising a young family in her nest in the crown of the Virgin Mary on the main façade...and then really enjoyed the amazing gargoyles there.



You just don't see those in the Sierra

inside the cathedral we spent as much time looking up at the towering vaulted ceilings as anything else.

Then across to Ile St. Louis, where we loved the little cafes and food shops. From there we walked over to the Places des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris, built around 1600, and still looking fresh as a daisy. Ate way too much food at a Corsican restaurant nearby...much to the delight of the owner.



Fruit for sale in a produce stand

We finally staggered back to our hotel at about 3 p.m. The room was ready, and we were ready for it. Hotel Chopin is an old hotel, continuously operated since 1844, in the Passage Jouffroy. These old passages connect the Grands Boulevards that we rebuilt in the early 1800s. It's not luxurious---doesn't have a pool or a fitness center, and the elevator is tiny at best--but it has great charm and a really fun and helpful staff.



The Passage Jouffroy from near our hotel

All in all, not a bad hike. And we did it with an ultralight daypack...just to keep in style! The rest of the photos....captions to come soon...are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YhN2CD1SU4CP1XSO2

[Tom_H]

The wife and I took L.L. Bean rucksacks with one spare change of clothes and athletic walking shoes for an 8 week treck through Europe in the summer of '89. The rucksacks had small zip on/off daypacks that were quite useful. I rotated my convertible pants and shirts. We took a lightweight clothes line, washed clothes in lavatories and hung them to dry at night. We had a voltage converter and a small electric hot pot, but ate mostly street food, while staying in pensiones and hostels. We bought rail passes for each nation separately and used busses, subways, etc. in the cities, but walked 8-10 miles a day sightseeing. We both lost about 30 lb. that summer, coming back quite thin. Including air fare, the whole 8 weeks cost $5k. It was a wonderful adventure.