A wander through the 5th and 6th

Sundays in Paris are my favourite.

We left the apartment this morning and the streets were empty, sauf the street cleaners and a couple of gendarmes. In the freezing autumnal morning, we wound our way through les rues, across la Seine, to the Flower and Bird Market near the Notre Dame. There were so many birds of a wide range of colours - bright orange, blue, red, multicoloured... - as well as fish, les lapins (rabbits), and pet mice.

Across the other side into the 5th and 6th, we stood in awe of yet more beautiful buildings. Here, there were more people, but the further we walked from the Seine the less crowded it became. We wandered aimlessly for awhile, or as the French call it, flâner. We fell upon La Sorbonne, the gorgeous Paris University, and then turned around to see le Musée de Cluny, the medieval history museum within a gorgeous old monastery that looks like another castle, which I definitely want to explore. We noted to come back when I had my EU passport so it would be free. By then we were freezing, so found a café and ordered hot drinks to thaw our hands.  





Off again in the general direction of the Jardins du Luxembourg, we got lost, but - as in Palmy all roads lead to Feilding - in the 6th it appears all roads lead to the Luxembourg gardens. The gardens were so immaculate, and there were boys and men racing toy boats in one of the huge fountains. The palace, like all here, was massive and beautiful. We saw a group of people dressed in red tops dancing and filming themselves, with one guy dressed as a red pepper until the gendarmes asked them to leave. On our way out of the gardens, we saw a group of girl scouts playing a cross between tag and duck-duck-goose.

Le Palais du Luxembourg

Exhausted, we started the long walk home, planning our déjeuner, home-cooked pasta with ham and veges.


We've spent the last hour or two with our feet up resting, and we're about to head back downstairs to wander the streets. They come alive at night, all the shops are open late and families seem to take their kids out in the evenings.

We've walked around 10k today! My legs are tired.