It’s one of those great (and gray) September mornings in Paris and I take my poor jet lagged body out to take pictures of a city that looks more majestic without its occupants or tourists like me!
I would like to take you with me; first we take the bus:
the streets are all empty—one of the oldest surviving buildings in Paris from the 16th century:
even the marché is not open yet,
Saint Michel is unrecognizable at 7 am:
the cafés are just opening,
walking along the river bank in Isle Saint Louis,
Notre Dame is majestically melancholic,
but pretty soon, life starts in the city:
I decide to go towards the Marais; I am surprised to see a Pain Quotidien on my way—so far from Brentwood and Westwood but exactly the same menu:
rushing towards Place des Vosges, the street signs stop me:
its’ too early in the morning for gooseberries,
I really need a strong coffee,
but of course the waitress cleans up the street and not the table left from the previous clients,
the galleries around the square are too commercial but I am glad to discover a painter from Rafsandjan, Reza Sarrafi, in one of the windows:
the wine paintings are from another painter, Annekov:
Voilà! Now you know.
I am not kidding when I say I love this city—here are my other posts about Paris:
Giacometti, a post from Montparnasse
Among all the posts before on Paris, I love this one the most dear Michele:
Your creative stroll in the morning took me all the way with you.
I felt the aroma of the coffee, the small of fresh bread, and I heard the bells of Notre Dame de Paris from a distance
Paris is my favorite city.
Thank you
Absolutely beautiful ! Thanks for sharing. CF
michelle, commande-moi un creme et un croissant. J’arrive!
Paris is my favorite city too. Love the pictures. I wish I could go there as often as you go.
very beautiful thank you
WOW! Wonderful! Merci Beacoup!..Thanks amiga for taking me again to this awesome city… the views, the smell of coffee & croissant are inviting me to go there one, two, three times and more.
And I’ll take a coffee too.
Enjoy!
Beautiful photos and post, love the quality of light in them, the crispness, felt like I was walking it with you. This is my favorite post of yours on Paris. Merci!
Un pain au chocolat avec un petit cafe ou bien la noisette ( un petit cafe with a drop of milk, giving it a hazelnut colour) was my petit dejeuer rapide whilst rushing to the film school
But i always had the Pain au chocolat from a local pattisserie… ah quel plaisir..
Merci Michele , for a small promenade in paris..
My favourite photograph was the Melancholic Notre Dame, it reminded me of the melancholic undertone of Appolinaire’s poem “Le Pont Mirabeau”
La ville de Paris, meme aujourd’hui a l’air quotidien. The city of Paris still has a palpably intimate feel to it.
Parisians still buy thir Baguettes from a Boulangerie ( bakery ) on their street, they still buy the cakes from Pattisserie on their srteet and hav their morning cafe too at a local cafe.
Nimesh
Nimesh
Thanks Michele, for inviting us along your early morning ride and stroll, the best of times in any big city. There is something more intimate in these early morning hours, maybe in any big city. Loved the stroll along the river bank and it is always good to watch others at work. This made my day early on, thank you, om.
Fantastic Post !!! Beautiful pics ! I feel continental just looking at them! Actually beats your Parisian posts! Love, CF