Things Parisienne

In 2009 Marcia had read that the oldest house in Paris was located in the 3rd arrondissment near the Musee Arts et Metiers so, since this was not far from a beautiful Metro entrance at Temple which I wanted to photograph (near Place de la Republique) we decided we would make the effort this time (there is also a magnificent building by Paul Auscher for the businesman Felix Potin nearby (which is now a Monoprix store). The house was built in 1407 for Nicolas Flamel (some may remember the name from the first Harry Potter) a scrivener and manuscript maker (and reputed alchemist). It is very hard to get a decent photograph as the building is in a very narrow street and we were surprised to discover that the whole area was full of Chinese shops and businesses. We remarked that the house was very similar to a couple just near the Cite and have since discovered that they do indeed date from the same period but cannot be definitely dated. There are quite a number of remnants of this early period in Paris in the 3rd and 4th arrondissments because these areas were not considered fashionable and thus escaped the wreckers ball.
Did not visit the Musee des Arts et Metiers this time but have done so before to see Foucault's famous pendulum (which was damaged when the cable snapped in 2010 - an exact copy has now been moved back to the Pantheon on the left bank).
The Potin store was still as beautiful as we remembered and we actually did some shopping in the Monoprix store before heading home. Potin was a forunner of the Woolworths "five and dime" chain store business model who opened his first store in Paris in 1844 at the age of 24. It was obviously a good business model because the business continued in it's same form until 1956 when they were converted into mini-markets.
We discovered that the Marche des Enfants Rouge (the oldest surviving market in Paris) which we had set out to discover the previous Sunday was only a short walk from this area in the Marais (it's actually now mainly filled with cafes and exotic food stalls although a few market stall like the flower seller still exist). As we walk around we are constantly surprised at how close the various sights of Paris are. Although it seems to take a long while to get from place to place by Metro or on the buses which twist and turn their way through the narrow streets many places in central Paris are within easy walking distance of each other. For convenience we have basically divided the city up into four areas - two on the left bank and two on this side of the river. This means that we can catch a bus or train to an area then walk around discovering each section.
Also on our Sunday walk around the Marais we came across a group of baltic singers whom we had last heard in 2009 in the metro tunnels - as well as a hat for donations they also have a lady who goes among the crowd selling CDs (they have three for sale but we were resistant to her charms). They must be doing ok with this communal busking to still be going and doing the same stuff.
On our way home we were stopped at the traffic lights as a very large group of roller skaters came racing down the road on their way to central Paris. Roller blades seem to be a popular means of transport here and, although they occasionally race along on the road amongst the traffic they generally share the bike paths with the cyclists. As you are probably aware cycling is a way of life here and many areas have cycle tracks built into the footpaths. There are "Velib" self service cycle hire stations all over Paris. For between 29-39 Euro per year people can pick up a bike at one point and drop of at another anywhere in Paris. It's a great system and makes life much easier for people who generally live in small apartments with very little spare space to store bicycles.

On another occasion we set off to reconoitre the developments of the "Paris Plage" which is a seaside set up for about two kilometres along the banks of the Seine just opposite the Cite. This has been happening since 2002 and includes sandy beaches, deck chairs, beach umbrellas, sand sculptures, swimming pool, boules, beach volley ball, dance stages, rock concerts and of course cafes and ice cream sellers. We had earlier visited an exhibition in the Hotel de Ville about the history of water activities along the Seine so were interested to see how this would turn out. We were fortunate to visit during an hour of sunshine and so could really get the feel of the place and enjoy the spectacle of people doing seaside things (although we didn't see anyone in swimmers - perhaps if we had gone the other way to the swimming pool). It's a pity that it has been mostly rainy since they opened on the 21st but we can still hear the noise of people playing there from our studio window so perhaps they take it all in their stride.

Another thing we discovered walking around the back streets to Bastille was the home of the horses who woke us up  that Sunday morning. We had thought that their home was at Invalides up near the Eiffel Tower and were curious as to why they would come riding past the Cite. We have discovered that they are in fact the Republican Guard (part of the Gendarmerie) and are housed in a very large structure called the Caserne des Célestins built in 1895-1901 on the Boulevarde Henry IV. These are the elite forces who guard the President's Elysee Palace and all other major government buildings. At least now we know where they were going that Sunday and why some of them seemed a little frisky (looking forward to getting home to their stables).