Paris, Day 10

Entrance to Metro station at Lamarck — Caulaincourt

 Sunday in Paris is a day for eating.  It appears as if the French get up late have a modest breakfast of orange juice, croissants and coffee and then exist until a main and very large meal at about 3:00 PM.  This is taken "en famille" either at home or at a restaurant.  The meal usually takes several hours and is as much a social event as a gastronomic feast.

One thing we have noticed, particularly when travelling on public transport, is the way in which many of the French treat the elderly, pregnant and disabled.  They seem to watch out for each other.  Let me give you some examples.  A woman with a pram tries to board the bus.  A lady near the door reaches down to take the front of the pram and lift it into the vehicle while a man holds the button which keeps the door open. An elderly man is standing and a young woman gets up to offer her seat.  He thanks her and takes it.  A few minutes later an elderly woman gets on the bus and the man who has just been given a seat stands up to offer it to the woman who declines saying she is only going another stop.  The bus driver is waiting at a traffic light and a woman with small children knocks on the bus door.  He opens it to let her board even though it is not a stop.  He will also let people off when he is held up by traffic even though, once again, he is not at a formal stop. Such stops are highly illegal, but courtesy seems to have a higher status than law in such instances.

We had a quiet Sunday and  went to the Gare de Lyon, the station from which most of the trains to the South depart.  This was to reconnoitre since we will be leaving for Marseilles from that station.  To get there we went on Line Number 14, the newest and most modern of lines. The trains are driverless and if you are in the first car, it is a little discombobulating to watch the train racing through the tunnel knowing there is nobody aboard in control.

A station on Line 14

After a bit of a wander around the station, we got back on the train and went to Bercy.  Here one finds Cour Saint-Émilion, where former warehouses have been converted into a complex featuring many trendy stores.  Since it was Sunday not much was open.

Cour Saint-Émilion

We wandered back to Madeleine where we change trains from the 14 line to the 12.  Before returning home, though, we had a bit of a walk around the church.  It is huge and impressive.

 La Madeleine

Apart from the Church, and the shops, one of the sights to be seen in this area is, believe it or not, the toilets.   Paris’ cheapest belle époque attraction is the public toilet  on the east side of La Madeleine, which dates from 1905.

Entrance to the toilets

Les Toilettes

 As well, the shopping in the area is very smart.  At the moment many of the windows are being decked out for Easter.  Here is one displaying chocolate.

An Easter Window near La Madeleine

As the weather was turning wet, we returned home and spent the afternoon reading before going out for a drink at a rather down-market neighbourhood bar.