Walking Paris, day 3 still walking...heading to Place des Vosges.

We left the Tuileries Garden on to one of favourite streets rue de Rivoli as it crosses over Place des Pyramides where there is the delightful Joan in all her golden glory! At 3km it is a long street and we pretty much walked the length of it on day three.

It is difficult to know exactly where rue de Rivoli stops and when it becomes rue Saint-Antoine but the church of Saint-Paul Saint-Louis is a good marker.

We turned down Rue de Birague to access Place des Vosges, one of our favourite spots in the city.

It was good to see it busy, with all the benches and there are a lot, being utilised.

We chose to sit inside at the 'Serpent à Plume' where we had lunch with 'the sisters' on our previous visit last May.

Walking Paris, day 3 still walking...heading to Tuileries Garden.

After our visit to the Petit Palais we slipped into the nearby, small 'Charles Aznavour Garden', part of the Jardins des Champs-Élysées where Jeff Koons' tulip bouquet now stands.

Then we crossed over the Place de la Concorde and passed its ornate pillars and fountains.

Then it was into Tulleries gardens and all the delights it has to offer.

 

Walking Paris, day 3 continues...stopping to check out the Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux-Arts de Paris

Our disappointment at not having lunch in the Petit Palais garden was more than made up for by taking in the exhibitions within the site. It had been a few years since we had been there but it all still felt so fresh.

We were lucky enough to visit on the first day of an exhibition of 20 paintings by artist Bilal Hamdad including two new ones created for the occasion. We liked the way his work was placed between the classic canvases of the museum's permanent collections. It is said he draws his inspiration from great masters such as Rubens, Manet and Courbet...we loved his work.

One of his works really interested us as it was of a cafe just around the corner from our accommodation where we had been sitting in the night before!

Walking Paris, day 3 continued...heading for lunch at the Petit Palais

After our visit to the Museum of Modern Art, we headed along the banks of the Seine past the Pont de l'Alma, with a view across to the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral and the tower rising behind it.

We then strolled along the avenue Cours Albert, where French royalty once took the same walk. At the start of the avenue sits an elaborate bronze monument dedicated to Adam Mickiewicz, the Polish poet and writer.

We carried on into the Cours la Reine section of the avenue, which begins just after the Pont des Invalides with its monument in memory of the Russian Expeditionary Force and the bronze of Lafayette on horseback standing tall on his high pedestal.

We knew we were getting close to our destination when we caught sight of our favourite Paris bridge, the Pont Alexandre III.

Turning onto Avenue Winston Churchill always delights, the Grand Palais on our left, and our destination, the Petit Palais on our right.

As one of our ‘things to do’ on our anniversary trip, lunch in the Petit Palais garden was high on our agenda and having a lovely sunny October day to enjoy it made the thought of it even better.

Imagine our disappointment to find the building currently undergoing an ambitious restoration of its peristyle and frescoes, which had begun to show signs of wear. Still, we spent a lovely short while sitting in the sunshine before heading inside for lunch. We’re sure it will be well worth the inconvenience and we’ll definitely be back to see the results.