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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Paris Perspectives

My friends Virginia and Genie of the two very popular Paris photo blogs Paris Through My Lens and Paris and Beyond have both very kindly featured Growing Berries on their blogs this week and I've been thrilled to receive lots of new Francophile visitors. To welcome all my new guests, I thought I'd better put away the laundry and get out some pictures of Paris.

Latin 1
Luckily I've joined a Paris walking tour this year and every other Friday while Florence is at Halte Garderie, I get to spend the day in Paris with my friends discovering the sites from a new perspective, courtesy of our incredibly knowledgable French guide, Jacques. Last Friday we enjoyed a walk in the last of the summer sunshine through Paris' Latin Quarter. We started at the famous Sorbonne, but quickly started ducking down alleys and side streets to discover a world you would never know existed behind the busy Boulevards Saint-Germain and Saint-Michel.

Latin 2
Apparently Jacques is not afraid to have his tour groups step past the occasional privé sign. This building is now part of the University of Paris Descartes campus.

Latin 3
Some of my friends on the tour take copious notes. I take photos and don't always listen properly so I can't quite remember what makes this building special. I do know it is much older than the rest of the nineteenth century campus, possibly once a nunnery and definitely used as a meeting place by the early leaders of the French Revolution.

Latin 4
Cross the Rue des Écoles and you arrive here.

Latin 5
One of the last remaining medieval buildings in Paris (if you don't count the churches) and now the Musée de Cluny.

Latin 6
Cross some more streets, turn a few corners and you end up here. Rue Saint André des Arts. If you look left you're just a few steps from the hustle and bustle of Boulevard Saint-Michel but turn right and you head down a quiet street full of must try restaurants.

Latin 7
Le Christine on Rue Christine. Need to find out if the food here tastes as good as the restaurant looks!

Latin 8
Also found on Rue Christine. Nope. Can't remember the significance. So much for the History degree!

Latin 9
Figs in Paris? You can find them in the Passage Dauphine.

Latin 10
And can you believe these steps are in Paris too? They would look more at home on a Provence post.

Latin 12
They're part of the Cour de Rohan a private residential courtyard which also happens to be a public passageway off the Cours du Commerce Saint-André.

Latin 11
Parisians, and I suppose visitors, have the right to walk through the passage and it's a photographer and historian's paradise. I definitely need to go back and spend some more time there.

Latin 13
You can find this in the Cour de Rohan too. Bonus Berry points if you know what it's for.

I hope you enjoyed this walk through Paris as much as I did. I'm linking up with Design Mom's Love the Place you Live. It's not always easy living here but when you get the chance to see all this in a morning you can't really complain!

Oh, and after all that walking we certainly deserved a Paris Lunch. We ate at Le Petit Pontoise and it was one of the best meals I've had since we've lived here. How can I not love the place I live?

12 comments:

  1. Came to your blog through Genie's and love your photos. I got to visit Paris once and fell in love so I love looking at how it's changing and how it always stays the same. Great post! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Oh your photos made my heart skip a beat , and I laughed as you bared your soul and admitted that you sometimes wander off in search of the photos instead of listening to the knowledgeable guide. Guilty as charged.

    Merci for this new addition to my list. I"m happy to have sent a few Francophiles your way. I'm sure they will love your blog as much as I do.
    Bises,
    V

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  3. I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgets what the guides say because I'm concentrating on capturing the photos! Great post.

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by. It is a fine line between remembering the details and capturing the images. The weather was so gorgeous that day, I'm glad I have the photos. In Paris you never know when you'll see the sun again!

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  4. love that you are taking a walking tour! i recently read The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter and would love to take his tour..not sure if he still does them.

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  5. Awesome idea with the walking tour. Fantastic photography fodder! I'm very jealous.
    As for the contraption outside the door, is it a boot scraper? Horse tie-upper? Umbrella holder? Um, I give up!

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  6. Awesome photos!! Just so fun...love your perspective. I, too am guilty of taking more photos than listening sometimes...For me it's a visual thing and capturing the moment. Thanks for the tour...will have to check some of it out when I'm in Paris this weekend.

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  7. Happy that I found your blog, thanks to friends Virginia and Genie.

    I can answer your question about Cour Rohan: It's the only one remaining in Paris. There used to be many. It's a help to mount your horse.

    I will try to find an answer to your question on Rue Christine.

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    1. Welcome to Growing Berries!

      Yes, our guide told us it was a 'step stool' for mounting horses (and I remembered!). Amazing to think it is the last one in Paris. I believe the medallions are Napoleonic and purely decorative, but I would love to hear what you find out.

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  8. I loved my time in France, thank you for sharing.

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  9. See, I knew chèr Peter would know the answer! He's a walking Paris encyclopedia.

    I'm back to let you know that I just realized I'd not added your great blog to my favorite Paris blogs but I have fixed that this minute!

    Hugs to you and your sweet family.
    Bises,
    V

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  10. I knew this because I read it on Peter's blog! See you tomorrow!

    Bises
    Genie

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Bienvenue chez les Berries!
Your comments bring this blog to life and make me happy.
Let me know you stopped by and I'll be sure to write back.
A bientôt! Nicola

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