Rue Cler

We stayed in a small hotel (Grand Hotel Leveque) on a cobble stoned street called Rue Cler in the 7^th Arrondissement (district) in Paris, just a couple of minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower and River Seine.  The street was blocked to vehicular traffic and was essentially an open market each day we were there.  The shops opened up very early each morning, and most stayed open well after dark.  There were cheese shops, wine shops, vegetable and fruit stands, a butcher, a fish monger, shoe stores, pastry shops, a perfume shop, and several cafes.  Here are a few photos trying to capture the flavor of the street.

The Paris Metro and the Little Monsters

We made great use of the Paris Metro – fast, efficient, and fairly inexpensive.  I think we rode the Metro every day going one place or another.  However, our vacation almost began on a very sour note.  On our first full day in Paris, while riding the Metro from Notre Dame over to the Champs-Élysées, we were hit by a band of pickpockets! Now we had read the warnings in the guide books, and I think we were somewhat prepared.  However, what we were not prepared for was to find the pickpockets to be a band of young girls, probably 9 or 10 years old!  We were changing trains in the Metro when we tried to board a train car and seemed to be stuck in the doorway of the train.  In actuality we had been surrounded by about six or seven young girls who were actually blocking us from getting into the train.  Suddenly I felt something in my front pants pocket and realized that a girl had her hand in my pocket, grabbing for my wallet.  I grabbed her arm and yelled out “Policia!”  At the same time, Lori, who had her purse under her zippered jacket, found another young girl with her arm up underneath her jacket and her hand was in Lori’s purse, and had unzipped the inside pocket with her wallet in it!  She also yelled and the girls quickly jumped off the train and we were able to get onboard.  Tom noticed an older woman with girls, probably acting as their lookout, as they scurried away.  Later when we were telling the desk clerk at the hotel about our episode, he remarked that they were probably Romanians, and that “this was their business.”

Thankfully the Lord protected us and nothing was taken, and we had no further incidents.  We continued to ride the subway all week and other than to advise folks to be careful, I would recommend to everyone that the Paris Metro system is a great way to get around town.

Here are a few photos from inside the Metro system.  The last photo of the band represents one of those “if I had to do it all over again” moments.  The band sounded great, singing what seemed like some sort of eastern European patriotic song.  They were selling CD’s for 10 euros and boy, oh boy, do I wish I had bought one of them.  A video follows these pictures.

Buskers in the Metro