Snippets from Paris .. Île des Cynes/Bir Hakeim

Back to our Trafalgar Tour .. the best of France … Paris  🙂   🙂

Hubby and I spent a few days in Paris .. part of our first day, on arrival,  dropped our bags in our hotel room and went for a walk-about to the get the ‘feel’ of Paris and our bearings .. and then on our return from the amazing tour, two days in Paris of which was part of the tour.  We stayed an extra two before flying home.

I shall try not make my ‘snippets from Paris’ too boring, but need to include the main tourist spots we saw, with a few familiar angles as well as from different angles.   It was our first visit to Paris so we found everything interesting and worth a photo or two .. or three ..  .. … !!!

Our hotel, Novotel Tour Eiffel, was within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower, overlooking the River Seine, and very close to Pont de Grenelle where the Statue de la Liberte stands on Île des Cynes, an island linking the Pont de Grenelle to the Pont de Bir Hakeim.  This replica, of which there are two in Paris, stands facing in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean towards it’s ‘larger sister’  in New York harbour.  The other lifesize statue is in the Jardin du Luxembourg ..

On our last day in Paris, hubby and I took a stroll along Île des Cynes from Pont de Grenelle to Pont de Bir Hakeim …

.. mainly to see the huge river cruises moored along the bank of the river ..

We had taken a stroll the previous evening after our last dinner in Paris, a superb one at that! .. at a tiny restaurant recommended by the hotel’s concierge, within walking distance of the hotel (that deserves a post on it’s own!)  … and had seen the river cruises, lights reflecting on the River Seine, people dining and sitting in the lounge.  Looked amazing … one day .. one day !!  We had to see them in daylight  !! 🙂

On with our walk down the centre of the island ..  ( I still couldn’t believe how long this vessel was .. how does it turn around on a river ?  !!)

 Looking to the left of the River Seine .. a common sight .. a working barge complete with car !!

Hearing the sound of a band, we discovered – to which I zoomed in – a wreath laying ceremony at a memorial honouring war victims who suffered at the hands of the Germans during WWII ..

I had taken a photograph of the memorial on our first day in Paris while walking to the Eiffel Tower ..

There must have been very important people at the ceremony as the police were everywhere .. sweeping the street across the river for sinister devices, roads all round the area were closed, and there were police divers checking all the vessels moored at the quai ..

We thought the police had closed roads due to the Tour de France which was finishing later that day, and which sadly we only saw on the TV in the departure area of the airport.   There were also many groups of riders seemingly doing a ‘tour de Paris’ around the city, one group stopped outside our hotel ..

I had to take a pic of a friendly group of police men and women at an intersection near the hotel, comparing them to our police force who, mostly, are arrogant and overweight

Walking on !!!!   It’s obviously a popular place for joggers, walkers and dog-walkers ..

Pont de Bir Hakeim is a road and metro bridge spanning the River Seine ..

Originally named Viaduc de Passy, it was renamed in 1948 to commemorate the Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942 ..

This photographer was asked by a tourist for advice (I think) on his camera as he seemed to be having a problem ..

The bridge has been used in several movies including ‘Last Tango in Paris’ and ‘Inception’ ..

The Bir Hakeim metro station ..  handy for us ..  was across the river, built in 1906, originally named Quai de Grenelle – renamed Bir Hakeim in 1949.  It’s rather old!  Odd looking tracks ..

.. it has tyres on the wheels and brushes, keeping track and tyre clean !!!  Wonder what happens when there’s a puncture ?

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