A LEASURELY WALKING DAY IN PARIS

It’s interesting to be in a city and have no real commitments, no work, with family and friends thousands of miles away. Today we picked a location and simply walked. We are big people watchers and in Paris there is always something to see. I suppose this blog will end up being a patchwork of our travels. But then that’s what traveling really is all about, taking in as much as you can and then sewing the pieces together making a quilt from all the fabrics that you encounter.

We didn’t see the “lucky day scam,” today. There were no rows of street venders at the tourist’s sites selling trinkets the way you frequently see in NY. There seem to be few panhandlers in Paris, too, though I’ve seen several women sitting on the street begging for money. I saw one young woman sitting all hunched over, scarf wrapped sadly about her head and when she thought no one was looking she quickly dab on a bit of lipstick, shoved the tube into her shirt and then presented a really quite sad face.

We are always drawn to water so it would only seem natural for us to walk toward the Seine. It runs all the way through Paris and even though there are tons of tour boats the water continues to have a majesty and seems to be kept pretty clean. Though we did see a soccer ball stranded in the middle of the river. The tour boats frequently resemble barges hauling people and because they are so crowded they make me feel a bit uneasy thinking about clambering onto one of those things. I worrying about what a great splash we’d all make if the thing sprung a leak or ran into another barge carrying a full contingency of tourists.

You cannot beat strolling along the water at sunset.

I ask you how do you top a beautiful day like this one?? And my answer is, you have French ice cream and a glass of wine. And if the waitress brings you a small dish of olives, have a nibble and add it to the texture of your day.