We've had a busy few days with friends and appointments, and it was nice to wake up this morning to good weather and a free day.
We bought breakfast at Blé Sucré and took it to the neighbourhood park, Square Trousseau...where we were joined by two pigeons and one wasp! Coffee and pastries...a kouign amann for moi, a pain au chocolat aux amandes for monsieur...my favourite start to the Parisien day.
A wander through the tiny passages and back streets to Avenue Daumesnil, where we followed the giant arches that once supported a railway line and which now house ateliers as diverse as a puppet maker, a window restorer, a gin distiller...all of which make for creative window displays giving views of the workshop and machinery inside. On such a gorgeous day, many of the ateliers had chairs and tables outside in the street where they gathered for coffee and lunch (very misleading when you're in search of a café!).
We walked some distance along the Coulée Verte René-Dumont, the planted walkway along the disused railway line above the ateliers, and then picked up some lunch from an Italian traiteur and headed back to the Place de la Bastille to find a seat and watch the non-stop action that is the Bastille...a tattooed roller blader, sans shirt, practised moves in and out the traffic...a cat in a harness stood like a figurehead in a basket on a bicycle, while the rider navigated the traffic...a chihuahua wearing heart-shaped sunglasses like swimming goggles, allowed himself to be settled in the basket of one of the free bicycles and away they went! Never dull in the Bastille!
2 comments:
A most unwelcome wasp I should think. The photos of the back street and walkway are quite lovely.
Lils
How strange that you were following a disused railway line as we were doing exactly the same thing at Fish Creek. We headed out along the track in search of butterflies instead of ateliers.
Love Fi and Paul
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