Les rues des Paris - I

It is the day after 17/05 and, as promised, here is my Paris post!

Being native to an island, the term "holiday" by default implies catching a plane and flying off to another land. Now that I am based in London, the scenario has not changed much, since, although the UK is by far much larger than Malta, it is an island nonetheless. This definition of "holiday" does not apply to my most recent trip: my first visit to France. A visit to its capital Paris, to be precise. Getting the usual northbound Piccadilly line from Earl's Court up to King's Cross and simply changing from the Tube to a Eurostar train made the journey to Paris far less painful than usual trips: no need for uncomfortable coach journeys to Stansted or Luton, the endless waiting at the departure lounge and another coach or train trip from the terminal to the city centre. The engineering marvel that is the Euro Tunnel exceeded comfort expectations. And so the journey began last Friday morning with the 7.22am train, which in almost commuter style, brought us to the Parisian Gare de Nord before mid-day.

I was amazed at the station to see that the arrival/departure boards were not digital (London-style) ones but the old-school flap models, which reminded me of my first trip ever (back in 1989) and of the opening scenes from "The terminal". Classic flick, but right then I hoped not to get stuck in the station, Hanks style. We got a carnet of 10 tickets and got the Metropolitain to the hotel. My first impression of the Parisian equivalent of 'our' Tube was that, despite being quite "younger", it looked shabbier and dirtier. Not exactly an environment which pleases someone with a slight trace of OCD like myself. Thank God for the handy alcohol gel I carried! We dropped our luggage at the unassuming yet cosy hotel in a convenient location between Montmartre and Beleville and off we went to explore Paris!

The first stop was the Canal St. Martin. En-route (excuse me for the heavy usage of French jargon, but after 5 days of not hearing/speaking English, I cannot help it!) I was amazed to see so many boulangeries and boucheries, which soon started to trigger hunger. It was also striking to see fresh water flowing out of culverts along many of the streets, presumably to clean away dirt. The French are clean, after all, I thought, but I suppose this was a case of judging a book by its cover. More later. We walked right up to the Parc des Buttes Chamont. Not the cliché tourist spot, but it was great to walk around in a green space and, thinking about it, it was the only bit of proper green which I saw, except for Versailles. We walked right up to another Parc, Belleville, which was worth visiting simply because it provided the first real Parisian view: an overall skyline boasting the twin Notre Dame towers, the Pantheon and Les Invalides domes, the unmissable coloured Pompidou and the equally unmissable Eiffel Tower. So much to see in the next 5 days!

It was a pleasant downhill walk down Rue de Belleville, for many reasons. It was getting hot and I had had enough of hills, for now. More importantly, it was like stepping outside of Europe for a while and savouring so many different cultures, all in one road. By the end of it, it was time to get a 70cm baguette from one of so many boulangeries there and French saucisson and brie to go with it. My idea of a perfect lunch.

The next stop was to pay tribute to the foremost Parisian landmark: the Eiffel Tower. Having had an interest in structures before I could probably write properly, this was one of the first engineering marvels I got to know about and I was finally about to see it, for real! Ascending from the bowels of the station, we found ourselves into a massive symmetric esplande embracing the start of a kilometre long axis from the Trocadero across the Seine to the tower itself and beyond through the Champ de Mars up to the Ecole Militaire and the end of it with another symmetrical pair near the UNESCO building. The French planners loved their axes and symmetry! I was tormented to see how many 'mute' and 'deaf' French gather in this (and other touristic areas), asking for donations. Luckily, I soon classified them as scams.

The descent down to the tower proper made me wonder what Eiffel would be thinking if he returned to see that his temporary 1889 structure is still standing and drawing so many 100s or 1000s daily. The sheer scale and yet grace of the structure is perhaps the epitome of a marriage between aesthetics and practicality, design and engineering. If only I could achieve a fraction of this in the years to come...

It was quite disappointing, though, to see that the massive fountain along the axis was not working and not even filled with water. And it was rather more disappointing to find that the Parc du Champ de Mars, which on my map featured as a massive stretch of green at the foot of the Eiffel Tower was largely patches of turf and green but with loose fill and dusty paths. An even larger expanse of dusty ground awaited at the end of the trail in front of the Ecole Militaire. This, however, took none of the glory of the Baroque masterpiece that the facade of the Military School is. French pomposity at its best. Until our trip to Versailles, that is...

A brief homage to the UNESCO building was followed by another short stop at the Musee de Quai Branly, that massive red masterpiece by Jean Nouvel, whom I had encountered a few months back in Hyde Park, when he launched his (red!) Serpentine Pavilion 2010. A short walk along the river then led to another massive Parisian landmark: Les Invalides. The distinct axiality was again evident here, with one long sightline starting with an avenue on the south, running through the complex and finishing off across the river with the Grand and Petite Palais-es. The shining golden dome of the Eglise, resting place of the little great French self-crowned Emperor who changed the world in the late 18th century, was, as expected, simply splendid.

Being so close to the Louvre, it was too tempting not to pay homage to the great glass pyramid of I.M. Pei. The route I chose was along the Seine, past the Musee D'Orsay and across the Pont Royal to the Jardin des Tuileries. The latter proved to be yet another surprise: the main approach to the grand Louvre was nothing but a wide expanse of dusty ground. How could the French not realise that it is not that expensive to pave the area?! Being intrinsically an optimist, I decided to focus more on the surrounding buildings and the happy marriage of Baroque and contemporary symmetry took away all my blues.

By this time, we had walked well over 5 hours non-stop and, in as much as I prefer to see a city on foot, we had been up since 5am and quite hungry at this point. So we took a metro up to Belleville and put down our anchors in one of the Thai places there - great food! It was then unanimously decided to head back to the hotel and get recharged for another long day tomorrow...