{"id":795,"date":"2012-02-24T17:48:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T22:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frenchbychoice.com\/?p=795"},"modified":"2012-02-27T06:24:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-27T11:24:41","slug":"bastille-and-faubourg-st-antoine-and-the-champs-de-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/?p=795","title":{"rendered":"Bastille and Faubourg St-Antoine and the Champs de Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The circular walk we programmed for today started at the Bastille and toured through Faubourg St-Antoine. We took a little detour on the Promenade des Plantes. The Bastille Opera was built on the site of an old railway station, Gare Vincennes. The city of Paris converted an old elevated viaduct that was a railway to a an elevated park, similar to the one in NYC. It extends 4 miles through a neighborhood, quaint and Parisian on one side and contemporary on the other. The plantings range from wild and carefree to trimmed rose arbors (we could only imagine their beauty….)<\/p>\n

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This column in the Place de la Bastille, memorializes the 180 Revolution: 504 dead were placed in an ossuary under the column. The gilded Spirit of Liberty is atop the bronze column. Visitors used to be able to climb its 230 steps, but now it is closed.<\/p><\/div>\n

We left the promenade and headed back to Bastille to rejoin our walk – the area below the viaduct within the arches has been converted to workshops, studios, galleries and shops. What a great reuse of space!
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have an extra tassel? Just drape it over the back of one of your dining room chairs! So chic!<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The tour took us through streets filled with 17th century structures, many with commercial uses on the first floor. We found the rue de Lappe, once the Parisian Center of dance halls. Balajo has survived the ravages of time and is still a center for Paris nightlife. Of course, at this hour of the day, most establishments were shuttered.<\/p>\n

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Very quiet during the day, but a long-time Parisian night spot<\/p><\/div>\n

We found a cute place, bar au Coin, for lunch, deciding on tartines, those open-faced sandwiches made on country or whole grain bread with melted cheese and for me grilled vegetables, for Mike a Croque Madame.<\/p>\n

We discovered an area of crafts studios, furniture makers, furniture upholsterers and restorers, particularly in the Passage du Chantier and the Passage de la Boule-Blanche. We passed an elegant old bakery, but it was closed for a couple of weeks. It has its original decor, though all we could see was its exterior. Square Trousseau was established in 1905 and the buildings surrounding it were a study in social engineering – intended to improve the living conditions of workers. The exterior of these buildings in no way look like the USA’s projects of the 60’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Housing built in 1905 to "better workers' living conditions"<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The market was breaking down in Place d’Aligre, one of the many brocante markets we had haunted as Three French Hens.<\/p>\n

The area is peppered with modern buildings which seem out of context with the surrounding structures. The walk ultimately returned us to Place de la Bastille, site of the former prison. We stopped for a coffee, Mike had espresso, I had a cafe Viennoise….<\/p>\n

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My Cafe Viennoise....<\/p><\/div>\n

On a lark, since the sun was shining and the temperature was hovering around 60 degrees, we hopped the Metro and then the bus to go to Luxembourg Gardens and enjoy the weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sun on my face....<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As the sun set, we head back to the apartment to re-group. We had a quick light dinner on rue de Rivoli, caught the bus to Champs de Mars to catch the nighttime display of flashing lights at the Eiffel Tower. Just as we hopped off the bus the show started and we thoroughly enjoyed this very Parisian experience. The bus home arrived 20 minutes later and we headed back to the right bank along the Seine, soaking in the illuminated sites.<\/p>\n