Paris Quick View (Number Five)

After months without a Paris post, I thought it was time to break up the winter blues with a few shots of that lovely city.  And this time around, there is no particular theme, though all of the pictures are from the Left Bank.  I just wanted to share a few of them with you today.  Be sure to click on them to see a more detailed view.

To begin we'll take a look across the pool in the Luxembourg gardens, towards the Pantheon.  This is one of my favorite spots in Paris.  There isn't a  square inch of this park that isn't beautiful.  People come here to read, jog, watch puppet shows, play with toy boats, and walk hand in hand, among other activities.  

At the southern end of the gardens you find this amazing fountain, the Fountaine de l'Observatoire.  Critic Jules Claretie complained that the women lacked grace, had wasted flanks, and wondered why anyone would compose such a collection of "wild, vulgar and wrinkled dancers."

Here, at La Boulangerie de Papa, on Rue de la Huchette, we found out why everyone loves crepes.  They were fantastic, and this guy here turned crepes into a work of art.  The street is one of the oldest on the Left Bank.

An exterior detail from Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Pres, the burial place of Merovingian Kings.  The Abbey was founded by Childebert, the son of Clovis the First in 542 AD.  This is one of the older churches in the city.

I can't take credit for this shot.  My wife Jennifer snapped this shot, and a great shot it is.  This is just across the Seine from the main police headquarters on the Ile de la Cite.  This little alley connects the main drag to the Rue de la Huchette, which is full of clubs, trinket shops, and eateries.  Rue du Chat Quie Peche means "Street of the Fishing Cat" and is considered one of the narrowest streets in Paris.

I'll add in a few street scenes from Paris as well.  Just to give this a little more flavor.  All three of them were taken by Jennifer.

Rue Cortot, on Montmartre

On the Quai Malaquais, facing the Pont du Carrousel and the Louvre

On the Quai Voltaire, facing the Pont Royal,
the Louvre Museum and Tulieries Gardens