Paris In August

Before arriving in Paris, I knew that August is the time for Parisians to flee and take their summer holidays, and for tourists to overrun the city. Although we saw the impact of this, it was wonderful to be back, even for just a few days.

It’s been 8 years since I was last here, and since I couldn’t book into my favourite little hotel on the left bank (I assume they were away for August), the Pavillon des Lettres turned out to be a delight. The lack of wifi in my room was more than made up for by the location (just around the corner from President Macron’s house), the people who work here who were always helpful and smiling, and the late afternoon drinks, with Billecart champagne chilled and delicious.

I arrived very late on Thursday night, and made my way to room H, as in Victor Hugo. Each of the 26 rooms is numbered by the letters of the alphabet and has a well-known author’s name attached. G is Goethe, P is Proust, and Phyllis, who I caught up with on Friday morning, was in “J” for Henry James.

After breakfast, while Phyllis was at a meeting, I headed out to check the neighbourhood and to try to find my way to a camera store on the Champs Elysee, a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Well, it’s 15 minutes if you “zig” when you need to, rather than “zag” as I did.

I eventually found my way via Rue Fauborg Honore and then a suitable street that ran off that to the Champs Elysée. The streets were fairly deserted, and no shops were open, other than a Starbucks and a pharmacy.

Coming back was easy as I gradually found my way around the neighbourhood. A couple of hours later, Phyllis and I went to find somewhere for lunch near Madeleine, a block or so from our hotel. We walked past some glorious buildings including a number of consulates. But there were still very few people around, and most shops and cafes were closed. Then I saw “Fauchon” across a wide street ahead of us. Now I was remembering this area a little more.

As we crossed the road, I remembered some of my favourite visits to Fauchon – a wonderful shop filled with food from around the world, including some of the yummiest chocolates I’ve ever eaten. Intriguingly, the Fauchon we were looking at was a café. It was perfect for lunch, and we soon learned that the original Fauchon had closed 3 years ago, in the early days of the pandemic. Quelle domage! Lunch was good, but Paris was changed.

Rain started to fall on our way back to the hotel, and I was feeling a little sad that we were here during August – perhaps it was the jet-lag? An afternoon nap followed by the delish Billecart champagne during “happy hour”, definitely helped. It was so great to catch up with Phyllis, and after chatting, drinking and nibbling on nuts and bread, it was 7:30pm – dinner was a banana from a nearby supermarket, closely followed by sleep!

Breakfast on Saturday morning was again delicious, and we formed our plan for the day: Notre Dame, a wander down Ile St Louis, and then to the Marais.

A taxi dropped us at the front of Notre Dame. Work is progressing well on the restoration of this glorious historic building after the April 2019 fire. And while the damage is still very visible, I was amazed at how the “skeleton” of the building stands out, at least in some of the higher areas.

The photo above shows the famous “rose” at the front above the entry with the stained glass intact. However the stained glass that used to be in the area above, has gone, and now you can see vertical pillars that once held the glass.

We walked around to the right as far as we could, then walked back to the other side. Walking down the left side (as you look at Notre Dame), we saw the structure soaring above the protective fences, new timber struts are in place to support parts of the interior, some of the wooden ”gargoyles” that survived the fire, protrude out as they have done for hundreds of years.

From there we crossed onto Ile St Louis, and walked down the main street. Cafes were open, people were enjoying coffees and food, and there were 3 young men playing piano, base and trumpet – great sound! The sun was shining – even a shop that I remembered from years ago was open. We went inside and made some purchases!

We stopped near a bridge for a tea, and watched a photo shoot for women’s coats, with the tall beautiful model, going through the ropes while the photographer snapped away. It has been a beautiful morning in Paris.

From there, we crossed the Seine to the right bank, with the intention of finding a cab to take us to the Marais. Walking along one road we came across the Memorial to the Shoah (the Holocaust). We were in the Marais! I know, having a map with us would have been sensible – but who needs a map when you can stumble across these wonderful parts of this city.

This area was so very different to what I’d remembered – tourists were everywhere, and many shops and cafes were open. Walking further into the district we found an amusement park down the middle of a new wide road – many of the buildings were new, and much of the old was now gone.

After a quick lunch we explored some small streets on the other side of the new wide road. Here was the old synagogue, old apartment buildings and a Kosher deli that I vaguely remembered from earlier visits. But other than those few small streets, it feels as if the history has now been removed.

It was time to return to our hotel. Phyllis masterfully flagged down a cab and we were soon on our way, our route taking us along Rue de Rivoli, passed beautiful old buildings, including the Louvre on our left and hotels on our right. People were everywhere, and I was feeling better about Paris in August, until … what is that ahead? A huge ferris wheel in front of the Louvre? And not just a ferris wheel, but a full amusement park in the Jardine des Tuileries?

I’ve now found more information on this and am very pleased, and relieved, to report that this is an annual summer funfair. It will be dismantled at the end of this month, at least until 2023.

The design and architecture of Paris continues to be magnificent. It’s just that while it’s always a beautiful city to visit, other times of year are better than August!

I’m finishing this post from a hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport. My bags are packed & I’ll put the one to be checked outside my room before 2:40am tomorrow. Then I’ll be in the lobby at around 3:10am for a 3:30am departure to the airport and our flight to Longyearbyen in Svalbard. This time tomorrow I’ll be in the Arctic on Le Commandant Charcot. We’ll be underway on our adventure to the North Pole! Stay tuned!

Location on map: LINK