A friend of mine has a daughter about to graduate from high school, and she's taking her girl to Paris as a congratulatory gift. On social media, she asked what those of us who'd been to Paris enjoyed. Besides, of course, le Tour Eiffel.
Oh my goodness. We'd rented an apartment (this was well before Airbnb) that was on Île Saint-Louis (island in the middle of the Seine). It was located on Rue le Regrattiere, about half a block from the main street, and five minutes' walk from the crossing to the larger island, Île de la Cité, and Notre-Dame's backyard. Our landlord was a doctor at the hospital next door to Notre-Dame-des-Paris, and we had to get the key from him; it was he who recommended we walk on a bit to Sainte-Chapelle. Which was, in a word, spectacular. That first-day walk on Île de la Cité was amazing, in that we saw Pont Neuf and so many sights that were literally the epitome of Paris.
But when we think of Paris, everyone thinks of the Tower, yes? Yet here's something I hadn't really given much thought to: that famous tower is not the only thing Gustave Eiffel built. In an article titled "Beyond the Tower: the other star attractions of Gustave Eiffel's Paris," the Guardian says, "over a long and prolific career, the Dijon-born civil engineer also built dams, bridges and lighthouses as far afield as Russia, Senegal, Vietnam and Brazil. … Around Paris itself, Eiffel's legacy extends to many surviving structures and artworks. And while none is as stunning as the tower, they show off the sheer, giddy breadth of Eiffel's genius and impact."
The article goes on to list these items of interest:
>Parc des Buttes-Chaumont footbridge
>Passerelle de l'Avre (also a bridge)
>Notre-Dame-des-Champs church
>Statue of Liberty replica
>Aérodynamique Eiffel wind tunnel
>Eiffel's tomb
I'll leave you to read more. Eiffel, as you'll see, was a genius with steel frames.
When Gerry and I were in Paris, we saw "all the things," of course (le Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Jardins du Trocadéro, Notre-Dame, the Louvre) but the best were things we just stumbled upon, like St-Germain-des-Prés. I also loved the Latin Quarter, the Picasso Museum, and the Musée d'Orsay. We walked past Notre-Dame several times (at least twice each day), both sides, seeing it from all angles (it has a playground in the back!), having decided to tour inside on our last day, after we'd really had a good look at it outside.
I learned a lot from this article. And now that I know more …
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