Paris Around

Posts Tagged ‘RIVER’

Walking through Paris in search of new tips and hot-spots for readers of paris-eiffel-tower-news.com, I realized I’d neglected one its most classic locations, despite the fact that I often take time to skulk around the “bouquinistes” (second-hand booksellers) of the banks of the river Seine.

Stretching out for over a mile in the center of Paris with the Cathedral of Notre Dame as a backdrop, and with the famous narrow streets and restaurants of the Quartier Latin a stone’s throw away, this has to rank amongst the top of any list of classic Parisian experiences.

Relics of a Bygone Age

To me, nothing embodies Paris’s essence more than the Seine’s bouquinistes, who have been “part of the furniture” for hundreds of years now. They are completely unique to Paris: I know of no other city in the world which can boast such an array of book traders.

The first bouquinistes appeared as early as the mid-16th Century, when they would trade their goods from carts, more often than not surreptitiously, as they would sell illegal Protestant pamphlets during the Crusades.

It was after the French Revolution, however, that the bouquinistes of the Seine really began to prosper: they had access to entire libraries confiscated from the rich, although it was not until the end of the 19th Century that they were granted the right to permanently bolt their stall boxes on the stone wall of the river banks.

After 1952, the size of the boxes and even their color became officially regulated.

From Current Publications to Priceless Antiques

Today you’ll find the bouquinistes’ stalls stretching out for over a mile along both sides of the Seine around the Ile de la Cite, from the Pont Marie to the Quai du Louvre on the right, and from the Quai de la Tournelle to the Quai Malaquais on the left.

In this idyllic setting and with Notre Dame as the backdrop, you can dig up all sorts: antique prints and engravings, old issues of Paris Match (a major national news magazine), maps, old books, very old books, rare books, comic books, posters, postcards, souvenirs and other odds and ends.

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The river Seine is probably one of the most well known rivers in France and has been made even more popular as a tourist attraction within the city of Paris.

Dating back to when the Parisii tribe first established fishing villages along its banks, the waters of the River Seine have always been the heart and soul of Paris and although this river is not used much today as a commercial waterway, it is used extensively for cruising.

Yet ocean going vessels can still get down the river Seine from The Havre down to Rouen, which is about 120km, although river boats which cruise up and down the Seine can navigate approximately 560km and the river extends right through to Dijon in the Alps. But because the river is slow flowing it makes it easy to navigate and a very pleasant trip for those on a cruise.

When Paris prospered through its river trading back in the days of the Romans, canals were put in place to link other major rivers such as the River Loire and the River Rhine. Then in the eighteen hundreds locks were installed to make life a lot easier as the water levels varied quite dramatically, especially around the Paris area, which are now very tightly controlled today.

When you are cruising down the river Seine you cannot help but notice the many bridges that span this river, with some of them being centuries old, one in particular called the Pont-Neuf had its first stone laid by King Henri III in 1578. However the newest addition was built in 1996 to accommodate more traffic, especially for the new football stadium built for the FIFA world cup.

Did you realise that the River Seine actually forks and cuts Paris in half? Well, that has now become a great advantage for the tourists who travel here from all over the world, as you can get to see many famous monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, and Notre Dame to name but a few.

And going on a mini tourist cruise on the Seine around Paris on what are known as bateaux-mouches is one of the most relaxing ways to get to see some of the most famous historical buildings and other monuments that the romantic city has to offer.  Read more...

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