PARIS – part one

 

a city of bridges 

We have just spent a few days in Paris with friends from Australia and I thought I might share the city in summer with you in small doses, hence "part one". 

there is always a crowd at Le Louvre

Not everyone knows this , but when all the tourists arrive in August, the Parisians who can, leave town. August in Europe is like January in Australia. Not only is it school summer break but also the month when most Europeans take their annual ‘vacance’ and millions of them head for France. In 2013, there were 84 million of them - 27 million in Paris alone for the year. Since France is 1/14th the size of Australia and has a population of 66 million, you can imagine the effect this influx has everywhere. In the country, the roads are full of campervans, cyclists with paniers, and walkers with backpacks and trekking poles.

Parisians tend to head for the beaches of Normandy and Brittany in the north , or the Mediterranean to the south. For all those poor Parisians stuck at home catering to the tourist crowds, le mairie (town hall) creates Le Plage Paris  ( the beach) every summer along the banks of the Seine.

unfortunately, the weather was  a little grey this day

...but you get the idea

There’s sand, real palm trees, deck chairs, umbrellas, bars and music. While it’s not quite St Tropez, it does look  like a fun place from 9.00am until midnight.

a little quiet in the morning, but it's one long party at night with live music and dancing 

Further along there are now 'water sport' areas for the more active

and always something for the rest of us...

just wanted to show you that Paris is not always museums, art galleries and restaurants, though there is enough of those to satisfy anyone.

Bon week-end mes amis