As in our previous post our tour of the city was cut short due to a failed terrorist plot on the Eiffel Tower the day before.  So our planned tour was cancelled as they had shut all tours down for 48 hours.  So we were dropped off at the Jardin Des Tuileries.  This was my first introduction to how the French see their gardens.  Beautiful lawns, with lots of statues, but do not sit on the grass.  Every where are chairs to sit on and admire the lawns or to people watch.  We decided to have some ice cream and do what the French were doing, people watch.  The ice cream was delicious but we had to eat it quickly as the sun was hot.

 

The gardens which separate the Louvre from the Place de la Concorde, are a cultural walking place for Parisians and tourists . The garden was created in the 16th century by Catherine de Médicis, widow of King Henri II, and was designed to be admired from the Palais des Tuileries that she was also having built.
Initially serving as a royal garden, in the 17th century it became one of the first Parisian gardens open to the public.  This area since the middle ages was where tile makers and potters  made their wares, hence the name Tuileries, Tuil in  English is tile. Their were many people on the walk through the gardens selling their wares of little Eiffel Towers.  This is where the tourist has to be careful.  They get you interested into looking at their goods and someone else steals from your bag or your friends bag.  We choose to walk on by and not stop.  We would buy our  souvenirs in a shop thanks 🙂

We walked past the Arc du Carrousel over to the Louvre.  We would be visiting the Louvre on Sunday so it was just a walk by with some photos.  The crowds lining up outside was something to see, literally hundreds.  We were thankful that as part of our holiday we would be going in a different way and avoiding the huge lines of tourists.

We walked past Notre Dam even a passing thought of lining up and going inside, however again the lines to go inside were so long and we were now thinking of having a drink or two. See the lean of the picture below, the photographer was feeling a bit dehydrated .

Then it was  down to the Seine river. Along the top part of the Seine are traders selling postcards, paintings, photos, souvenirs.  We then went down one of the many ramps down to the river to walk along the Seine.  Earlier this year many areas where we were walking was flooded. We walked up to the Pont des Arts Bridge.  This was where lovers would put a lock on the bridge declaring their love.  In 2015 they removed all the locks and put up perspex.  These locks began around 2008 but by 2014 the weight of the locks caused one railing to collapse.

Lovers however are finding interesting spots to put their locks.

We kept on walking, would love to have worked out how many miles/kms we walked today. We passed many roadside eatery’s this one was amazing, all seafood.  So fresh looked inviting. The lady in the picture was eating her lunch there.

Of course we had done the usual wandering in and out of clothing shops, you never know what bargains you will find in Paris!  Muriel had found some bargains at H&M!

Finally we found a cafe and sat down and had well-earned drinks.

 

We sat for ages and people watched and Paula fell in love with the apartment opposite the cafe,  the one with the greenery on the balcony.  We daydreamed a while about living there and wandering around Paris at our leisure.  I think having the cafe opposite helped!

Finally feeling like we could walk a little bit further we walked to where the taxis were to get back to the hotel.  Tonight we are going to the Moulin Rouge and we wanted to have a Nana nap before heading out with the group.

Paula used her French to ensure we got a taxi with a meter, we were warned to always travel in a taxi with a meter.  Also asking roughly what the price would be before you even get in the taxi.  Within minutes it seemed we were outside our hotel, the fare was reasonable about $12 euros.  Upstairs to our rooms to have a nap before getting ready to see the famous Moulin Rouge.