Bonjour, we are staying in a studio apartment on the Boulevard Beaumarchais, a short walk to the Bastille. It sits on the edge of the arrondissement of Marais 2e. Originally the Jewish quarter it still boasts many synagogues and hidden parks. We stayed here for a week 2 years ago and loved it. Returning again is like staying with an old friend. Our friend Rita introduced us to the proprietor Philippe and we are very grateful.
The Bastille is very convenient for both the Metro or a bus, so together with a Navigo card (unlimited use for โฌ19 per week) you can be on your way anywhere in Paris quickly and cheaply. You probably know Pam and I love to cycle and Paris has a Velib bike hire system. It allow you to use a Velib bicycle for up to 30 minutes at a time, as many times a day as you like for a Euro a day. There are 20,000 Velib bikes in Paris, generally there is a station every 300 meters.
Highlights this week have been the Museum de L’Orangerie the home of Monet’s famous Nympheas series on water lilies.
Visiting the Basilica Sacre Coeur in Montmartre and climbing the 300 steps to it’s dome. Spending another day at the worlds greatest museum, The Louve. The Arc de Triumphe, and the cemetery Parisien de Pantin-Bobigny just for something different. We also added another padlock to Pont de Arts and had a wonderful evening dinner cruise on the Seine.
We spent the weekend in Lyon. Traveling by TGV on the French high speed rail network. The distance of 470 kilometers in 2 hours. Lyon sits on the junction of two great rivers the Rhone and the Saone. It is an old Gallo-Roman trading town, known for its food, particularly bouchon. Au Revoir !
