Up early again this morning, it’s still dark but brightening quickly as I walk what has become a daily 4km pilgrimage from the Marais to the Coutume café in the 7th arrondisement, via Saint Germain des Pres. It is so quiet around the Ile-de-la-Cite that it is a good morning to do some photography of Ile-St-Louis at dawn. It is grey and overcast this morning, but brightening quickly.
I noticed this building, part of the Sorbonne I think, the other morning. The wooden decoration is unusual for Paris, and certainly stands out in this neighbourhood of Hausmann era architecture.
Further afield near the Jardin du Luxembourg, this statue outside the Hungarian embassy (I think), is my only company on Rue Bonaparte.
Later this afternoon, it is raining on and off, but bursts of sunlight between showers bring the streets of the Marais to life.
I’m wandering in the direction of Galeries Vivienne, but end up on Rue Reamur, where the same architect as for Au Printemps has two identical buildings. These two are not as beautifully preserved – one seems to be coverted into some kind of mall with multiple shops, and the other is government offices.
Further along I find the start/end of Rue Montorgueil, which used to be a run down mismatch of shops lining a traditional market street, and now is gentrifying rapidly.
Galeries Vivienne is draped in fairy lights as usual, and has quite a lot of foot traffic.
Further down the street, Passage Choiseul is almost austere in comparison, whilst Passage des Panoramas is a terrible state of disrepair, and Passage Jouffroy now sports a Marks and Spencer Food store, as well as the ‘been there for ever’ Maison du Roy, notable for its quirky Venetian masks and décor. A statue of the Virgin Mary appears to depict her as a fair-skinned woman with strawberry-blonde hair. The baby Jesus born in Jerusalem is of course Caucasian as well.
Photography exhibitions on iron railing fences is gaining popularity around Paris, in addition to their usual locations on the railings at Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Plantes. The railings of the Bourse (the old Stock Exchange building) has an exhibition devoted to Barbara, a singer apparently immensely popular from the 1950s – 1970s.
It’s been another long day, time to catch the bus home back to the Marais.
