By Niel Muller
17/09/2022 – 18/09/2022
We were always apprehensive of Paris. Firstly, we were going to say goodbye to our trusted Fiat 500 that accompanied us for over 2800 kms through mainly the backroads of France – including some stunning destinations. Wesmè however coped well with the city traffic and we even managed to catch the Metro (underground) train back to our accommodation – which was unexpectedly far from the nearest station ☹
What we were not mentally prepared for, is how busy Paris was. It was a weekend, so roads were probably not that busy. But all of Paris, together with thousands of tourists, seemed to be everywhere. The Metro underground works very well and you never wait more than say 4 minutes for the next train. We used the trains quite a lot, and on most it was crowded standing room only. More than once we simply did not get onto overfilled trains.
We planned the less touristy things like visiting the Latin Quarter and Montmartre in the early evenings. We might have visited the worse areas of the Latin quarter, but ended Saturday evening with a very average meal. The next day we actually succeeded in doing everything we planned to do. Most importantly, we firstly booked our bus to Brugge and then, walking through a park (Paris has many!) we came across some themed fancy dress gathering.
We visited the huge Saint-Ouen Flea Market where more than a 1000 antique and second hand goods dealers offer their items across 15 market areas! Quite interesting, but you need a bakkie or a container to shop there – not just the suitcase for your flight home!
Many of the sights in Paris are quite far apart so in stead of train hopping amongst the crowds, we did a Seine cruise covering the area from the Eifel Tower in the west to the more centrally located Notre Dame where restoration work after the fire of 15 April 2019 seems to be well underway. I personally regard the Eifel Tower as a bit of a monstrosity. The construction might have been an engineering feat at the time, but it contrasts strongly with the aesthetic and architectural beauty of the city.
Besides these two landmarks of Paris, only the Pont Neuf, the Conciergerie and the D’Orsay Museum provided photographs for this blog. We realised that, excluding drones, the best photographs are taken from ground level by an agile photographer!
Wesmè felt that Montmartre must provide something special, so we used the rail funicular up the hill to reach the Sacrè-Coeur Basilica from which a fantastic view of the city is also available. The area downtown of the hill is a much more pleasant part of Montmartre and this time we enjoyed a lovely Sunday evening meal – quality food at reasonable prices.
Unusual architecture, but engineer’s nightmare?
