The Marais District

After picking up sandwiches at the neighborhood Paul's, we took the metro, exiting at the Bastille stop. After admiring the Colonne de Juillet, we walked up rue St Antoine to rue de Birague and ate our lunch in Place des Voges. We took pictures and let Sydney run around a bit to burn off some energy.

Bertha and I were chatting on one of the benches when a very strange man appeared about 20 feet from us, stood there staring. When we looked up, he said "What do you want?" in a very heavy french accent. We looked at each other and said nothing. Again he asked "What do you want?" We just looked at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about as we did not even see him walk up. The thought was that my camera (on the tripod) was pointed in his direction and maybe he thought we were filming him. (Kinda hard with the lense cap on!) I rotated the camera so it was pointing in another direction and he huffed loudly and stormed away. We decided he was an ecentric and let it go.

Walking the arcade around the park, we window shopped the various stores and galleries, and admired the knockers on doors 4 and 17 (as noted in one of the many books). We located the entrance to Victor Hugo's residence in one corner. The opposite corner is where Cardinal Reichleau lived.

As we passed the perfume shop, a police car with lights flashing pulled up and three gendarmes jumped out. A couple of shop owners rushed out and pointed them into the park. They ran to the far side and began frisking someone. I guess they decided to arrest the person as they lead him back to the car. Lo and behold, it was the "ecentric"!! From the little we saw of the discussion, it appears that he may have stolen something from the perfume shop. French justice in action!

Leaving the Place du Voge, we strolled the rue des Francs Bourgeois passing the Musee Carnavalet and National Archive to our destination, the Centre Georges Pompidou. The building itself is an attraction as all the mechanics are on the outside. The escalators were fun as they are in clear tubes which provided a great view of all of Paris. When you first walk in, there is an exhibit with pulleys and large "body parts" in netting. Periodically they suddenly drop, much to Syd's quel surprise (her favorite was the three "boobies"). What an interesting mix of modern art. New included indian metal plates, plastic inflatable chairs; old had Salvador Dali, Henri Matisee, Picasso, and Man Ray.

Around 7PM, Dad, Bertha, Syd and I jumped on the metro and headed back to the apartment. Tom and Kim walked back, stopping at a grocery store for some supplies. They arrived about 10 minutes after we did. Things are a lot closer together than they seem!

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The knockers were disappointing; they were only about an A-cup." (Tom De Lora at Place du Voges)