A Week in Paris

April 21, 2025 to April 26, 2025

One difference between this year and my previous long stays in France is that my Paris apartment is being rented for the month of May to Marcus, an American who in the years before Covid had rented the apartment each May. He’d asked Christiane if the apartment was available this May, and she immediately deferred to me. I readily agreed to vacate the apartment for the month as it seemed a win/win - Marcus was a regular so he loved the apartment, Christiane could probably get a little more in rent money, and I could be off touring. All would have been fine if not for my tumble in Tanzania. I am still fine with it all, it just means I have to leave Paris before I being fit enough for touring.

The week spent in Paris was fairly lazy - days of rest and naps interspersed with a few trips about town. The goal was to continue my healing and not exacerbate the pain in my right shoulder/arm. The strategy seemed to work as I felt a bit stronger each day and also managed a few trips out and about the town, racking up 20 miles on foot and 6.5 miles of Velib cycling.

My first excursion was to Notre Dame, a visit that left me at a loss for words. So much so that I struggled to formulate an entry that captured in words and pictures everything I wanted to say. Consequently, I’ll save the Great Cathedral for its own entry, one that surely will be forthcoming in the next day or two. In the interest of not falling woefully behind before I start this journal, I'll recap some of my first week in Paris.

April 21- 22

The weather collaborated in keeping me at home - gray and drizzly with a nip in the air. I finally made it out of the apartment on Tuesday morning and headed straight for Notre Dame - an outing that will be detailed later. On leaving the cathedral, I headed across the river to Ile Saint Louis for my annual ritual of ice cream along the Seine - a pricey scoop Berthillon pistachio but oh so tasty. Feeling invigorated, I strolled along the Seine and turned south for a long and leisurely walk home.

The day ended with a reunion dinner with my very dear friends Carla and Alex. We dined at their home in the 14th, a relaxed setting that allowed lots of time to catch up on life, work and family and to make some plans for the coming year. It had been a wonderful day, bookended with good friends welcoming me back to Paris.

A scoop of pistachio on the banks of the Seine, a Paris tradition

Notre Dame from the banks of the Seine - she's open for visitors but renovations are not yet complete

The left bank as I head upriver along the Seine

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, a footbridge named after the Senegalese poet, writer and statesman

A view down the Seine from the passerelle

April 23-25

The mid-week was filled with chores - assembling Vivien George, laundry, more luggage sorting and a haircut. I did manage a visit to the Eiffel Tower where things are getting back to near normal following the Paris Olympics. The dismantling of the Grand Palais Ephmèré is nearly complete, and the volleyball grandstands on the Champs de Mars have been removed. One holdover of the games that I was dreading were the Olympic rings remaining affixed to the Eiffel Tower, a wish of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. Thankfully, saner heads prevailed, and in a manner that likely pleased the mayor (who is the force behind transforming Paris into a city for cyclists). The bridge crossing the Seine between the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero, Pont d'Iéna, is now closed to car traffic. The Olympic rings have been placed in the middle of the bridge, in a large pedestrian walkway flanked by bicycle lanes. Visitors can climb about the rings and pose for pictures with the Eiffel Tower captured in the background. A wonderful way to remember celebrate the Paris games.

The dismantling of the Grand Palais Ephémère is nearly complete

The Grand Palais Ephémère on a June evening in 2022

The Champs de Mars is once again an open space for frolicking and picnics

A wonderful repurposing of the Olympic Rings

April 26

I spent Saturday afternoon with Alex, wandering through the streets of Paris in search of Space Invaders. A brief bit of background - a French street artist known as Invader started making ceramic tile mosaics modeled on the pixel aliens from 1970/80s video arcade games - Space Invaders, Pac Man, Super Mario Brothers. In the late 1990s, he began to display the mosaics on buildings in Paris, in what he termed an invasion of Paris. His tiles have now “invaded” cities worldwide, although the highest concentration of Invaders is in Paris.

In 2014, Invader launched the Flash Invaders app, which is basically an international scavenger hunt to catch or “flash” Invaders by taking a picture on one’s mobile phone. Not surprisingly, this has given rise to legions of fans who roam the streets of Paris (and the world) looking up in search of their next Invader. Alex is a bit obsessed with flashing and wants to catch all of the ~1200 intact Invaders in Paris. His goal today was a large cluster of Invaders located in the area just north of the Louvre. I agreed to join him in his quest and we arranged a 2 pm meeting near Musée d’Orsay. We downed an espresso for fortification and headed off - a somewhat odd pairing of the focused and the clueless.

The first Invader spotted was on an arcade along Rue de Rivoli, a small blue square ~12 ft above street level that was easily overlook by all the passers-by. Using a specialized map depicting the approximate location of all Invaders, Alex led us through a maze of streets and plazas of the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. While he flashed Invaders, I took pictures, happy to explore a new, to me, area of Paris.

At one point in our roamings we found ourselves under the one of the oldest covered passageways in Paris. It is a remarkable space filled with small shops, bars, restaurants, galleries and the Théâtre des Variétés, a variety theater first opened in 1807. It was here that Alex met someone who was a larger Invader geek than he, and they quickly dove deep into the Invader-sphere.

My route to meet Alex took me past L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, near the top of my Paris foodie bucket list

Barges and tourist boats plying the waters of the Seine near Musée d'Orsay

Our first Invader of the day was the light blue square located on one of arcades of Rue de Rivoli

Invaders can vary greatly in size and though most are located higher up on the walls of buildings, we did find at least one on the street

Under the glass roof of the Passage of Panoramas

Mirror selfie under the watchful eye of an Invader in the Passage of Panoramas

Invader geek and mega-geek comparing Flash Invader arcana

I left the Passage of Panorama having flashed my very first Invader. We thereafter roamed the lively streets around Rue Montmartre with my now dual goals of photography and flashing. By the time we found our way back to the Seine, I’d captured a slew of photographs and had flashed 14 Invaders, which earned me a world-wide Invader ranking of 193,740.

Just one of the many postage-sized parks dispered throughout Paris

Place des Victoires, originally dedicated to Louis XIV who sits astride the horse

A small skatepark was set up in a passageway between buildings - no Invaders spotted on the ramps

Lively café scene on a sunny Saturday in the 2nd Arrondissement

Église Saint-Eustache, the third largest church in Paris is located in the historic Les Halles district

The stag bearing a cross between its antlers sits atop Église Saint-Eustache and symbolizes the hunting interests of Saint-Eustache

Marked contrast in the stone's original white color and dark gray resulting from centuries of accumulated dirt and grime

Back at Rue de Rivoli, a major commercial stree in Central Paris where cars are now banned

Tomorrow I leave for Burgundy and a week of daily rides in the countryside that hopefully will leave me stronger and fit enough to do some actual touring.

Today's ride: 6 miles (10 km)
Total: 6 miles (10 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	9

Kathleen JonesAn “odd pairing of the focused and the clueless.” Classic.
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2 days ago

Kathleen JonesHave a great time in Burgundy. Glad you’re able to ride some and that you’re taking it slow.
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2 days ago

Suzanne GibsonSounds like a happy week in Paris, your love for the city really shines through.
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2 days ago

Janice BranhamWThanks for the wonderful tour of Paris. Enjoy your week of day rides.
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1 day ago

Nancy GrahamI love the tour of Paris you have taken us on here. Here’s to your healing well and taking it easy and slow to do so. Thanks for all these photos and stories.
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1 day ago

Susan CarpenterTo Kathleen JonesThanks Kathleen for the well wishes and for other "classic" comments
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1 day ago

Susan CarpenterTo Suzanne GibsonThanks Suzanne - it was a definitely good to be back in Paris
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1 day ago

Susan CarpenterTo Janice BranhamThanks Janice - glad you enjoyed it.
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1 day ago

Susan CarpenterTo Nancy GrahamThanks for the lovely comments Nancy. I'm feeling stronger every day.
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1 day ago