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		Ma Petite Lettre de Paris April 2001 Here is the Spring ! This letter has been written by myself on the river Seine streamline. In March, the river Seine has been overflooded during two weeks and unfortunately our "Zouave du Pont de l'Alma" has again his legs in the water! Some cities in France have been experiencing catastrophic overfloods never known in the past ! Rumors are saying that some rivers have been rerouted though canals to preserve PARIS from a huge overflood ! Our french prime minister has been trying to stop this rumor. However, with the spring and nice sunny days, the river Seine will be one of the most enjoyable way to visit central Paris.
		Paris news : On the 8th of April, approximately 30 000 runners has set off on the25 th edition of the International Paris Marathon. For many competitors, it is an unsual way to discover Paris. The marathon went along the river Seine , on the right bank. As the traffic has been stopped on the marathon route, the best option for Parisians and tourists to move in Paris this day was to walk and to take the metro or boats... http://www.parismarathon.com/marathon/2001/us/index.html (start on the Champs-Elysees at 9.pm.) Paris to see : At the origin, Paris was built on a couple of Seine islands (Ile de la cite and Ile Saint-louis) and a lot of monuments are located along the river: the Tour Eiffel, the Tuileries, the Concorde, the Academie Francaise, the Louvres, Notre-Dame de Paris, La Conciergerie ....I recommend you to take your ticket for the "Bateaux Mouches", you will see all of them from the river. It is also an inevitable option to see the famous bridges: Pont -Neuf (which means "New bridge" even if it is the oldest one in Paris !), The Pont Alexandre III (built for Alexandre III, guest of Napoleon III), the Pont de l'Alma and its Zouave (soldier of stone) who is known for indicating to the parisians the Seine River overfloodeds when his legs are in the water ! From the first floor of some boats, you can easily touch the below of some old bridges, this is a fantastic impresssion but be very carefull, I did it one time and I discovered that they are not clean at all ! These boats on the river Seine are called "Bateaux -Mouches" (fly-boats) because of the name of the inventor , Monsieur Mouche and not because of the insect ! ( By the way it is the same for the the Eiffel Tower built by Gustave Eiffel , or the "poubelle", usual word for garbage can in french. "Poubelle" is in fact the name of his inventor, one of the mayors of Paris in XIX century ! Imagine a person whose name is Mister "garbagecan" ! With some "Bateaux-Mouches" you can have a dinner on board. I never experienced that ( I would love that !). Someone told me that even if it is not the best food in Paris, you are sure to keep a great souvenir of this dinner with the fantastic spectacle of PARIS by night ! with so many lights !http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/english/index.html An other pleasant service of transport exists on the Seine:the "batobus". Normally, it should be the favorite way for parisians to cross Paris and many people here are requesting to increase this traffic. The Seine is the largest Paris street (!) without traffic jam thus "batobus" is one of the solution to limit pollution but parisians are not used to take the "batobus" because we have to wait around 25 minutes between each "batobus", which is too long for us ! However,I recommend you to take at minimum one time the "batobus" to enjoy a cuise on the river and more than that, you can hop on and off when you like at any one of the six scheduled stops : Eiffel Tower, Musse d'Orsay, Saint Germain des Pres, Notre-Dame, Hotel de Ville et Louvre. And: "Batobus" are quite cheap. 1 day pass 65 FF, 2 days pass 80 FF. 10am-7pm April 15-November 5 with late hours until 9pm June-August Admission Information : (33)1 40 58 37 90 Paris exhibition Special Paris exhibition for a famous pointillism paintor : Paul Signac (1863-1935) at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais . Paul Signac was the best friend of one of my grand uncle who was a lithography's editor in Paris. During his moving 20 years ago, one of my cousins found a few unpublished watecolor notebooks in a drawer ! A true treasor that he gave back for free to the Signac family. I remember that I have had these marvellous original notebooks in my hands: this is a great emotional souvenir ! To be seen at : Grand Palais : 10am-7:15 pm 3,avenue du Général-Eisenhower, 75008 Call :(33) 1 44 13 17 00 A bientot. Noelle from PARIS Champ de Mars. You like to read my previous letters: Ma petite lettre de PARIS- March 2001 Ma petite lettre de PARIS- feb 2001 Any comments or feedbacks, please E-Mail me at: Noelle@babiole.com If you don't want to receive this monthly newsletter, please reply this E-Mail at noelle@babiole.com with the mention: "please stop" * *** * * * *** XXI *** ** * * ** ** <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< JUST HAVE A LOOK : BABIOLE'SHOP Your online store in Paris http://www.babiole.com Eiffel Tower daily photos http://www.artday.com <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Babiole'Shop-USA , P.O Box 215876 Sacramento, CA 95821, United States Babiole'Shop-PARIS, 22 rue du Champ de Mars, Paris 75007, FRANCE . E-mail : noelle@babiole.com Toll Free number from USA and CANADA : 1-800-688-0125 or (33) 147-343-965 from other countries.
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