Peek-a-boo Walk

I came across this house on the narrow rue Blanche in the 9th district. It belonged to Théodore Ballu, architect of Paris's City Hall (the Hôtel de Ville, a rather wedding-cake-y building whose exterior walls hold statues of a dazzling number of famous parisians). 

 Looking down the street from the house, one doesn't see too much. 

But walk this way for a few minutes, and...

Hôtel de Cluny/Musée du Moyen-âge

The Hôtel de Cluny is an early 15th-century mansion on the Left Bank that now houses the Musée du Moyen-âge, appropriately enough. The hôtel is cheek-by-jowl with ruins of ancient Roman baths, some of whose spaces are incorporated in the museum. There's also a lovely public garden in the back.

Notable Parisian fleas

Some of the more memorable things I saw at Les Puces (and here), the Marché aux puces (or flea market) of Saint-Ouen, just north of Paris:

Some pictures of Fontainebleau

I went to the Château of Fontainebleau last weekend. Fontainebleau was one of the royal châteaux, and even though it didn't always serve over its history as the principal royal residence, it was almost always one of the court's favourite châteaux. I can see why. The very French geometric gardens are largely surrounded by a forest (which provided the kings excellent hunting) that gives the whole a rough, natural contrast at its edges, and the way the sprawling building is made of up different rooms, chapels, and façades from different periods and styles keeps it fairly loose and eclectic, but still grand.

More Arcades

Consider this a sequel to my post on Galerie Vivienne.

These are three arcades: Passage des Panoramas, Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau. They're in the 2nd and 9th districts along the shopping district on the Grands Boulevards. Interestingly, these arcades are all aligned so that you cross a street or boulevard to get from one to the other, so they form a little network distinct from yet connecting the open-air streets. As with Galerie Vivienne, I stumbled upon them unexpectedly, which is entirely the best way to encounter these little worlds.