Abou de Souffle (Out of Breath)

Today, I decided to go for a bike ride around Paris. What started as an innocent loop around the quartier, however, turned into a 5-hour feat of champions. And it's all because I decided to cross the Seine.

As you can see in the image above, my neighborhood is located in southwest/central Paris, where the Montparnasse Tower is located. Because I had not yet been to the Jardin des Plantes, (located where the black circle is drawn next to the Seine), I decided to ride my bike there for a bit of exercise, check it out, and go home. Little did I know that this one taste of exlporation would lead to a full day of grand, water-less, uphill, dog-doo all over my pedals adventure. (The entire black line marks the whereabouts of my day spent pedalling).



(photo: first cedar tree in Paris, in the Jardin des Plantes)




Since it was only noon by the time I finished the Jardin des Plantes, I tried to make my way up to Pere Lachaise cemetary (located in the midwest of the 20th). Only problem: Paris runs on one-way streets. Having never been to the 12th arrondissement across the river, I decided to disregard the map and simply bike wherever the one-way streets would take me, in the general direction of the cemetary. Boy was I surprised when I saw the sign for Peripherique/Bois de Vincennes. I had come to the edge of Paris! The Peripherique is daunting for a relatively new resident of Paris--it is the gateway to the unknown, the beyond-Paris that is never spoken of in the within-Paris. So what do I do? Cross it.





(photo: vulture estuary in the Bois de Vincennes)




Exploring a bit of the Bois de Vincennes, I discovered a moated Chateau from forever ago, acres of deserted land where festivals must be held, and lots and lots of trees, reminding me a bit of Redding, California (minus the chateau). See where the black line runs north and finally penetrates the Peripherique again in the 20th arrondissement? It took me that long to figure out where to get back into Paris. That long line running north is where I discovered the "dark side" of Paris; the parts that aren't brought up much in coversation. Then again, this wasn't exactly Paris. These were the banlieues (suburbs) of Vincennes, Montreuil, and Bagnolet.

(photo: the quiche lorraine that saved me as I sat, lost, in the middle of Bagnolet banlieue)




Once I finally returned into the city center and found my bearings--sweating, suffocating, and seething--all I wanted to do was get home. Zipping by Pere Lachaise cemetary without a thought of stopping, I caught a glimpse from the top of a hill of "my tower," Montparnasse...far far off in the distance. How could this 58-story building look so tiny? Because I decided to cross the Seine.














photos: Bois de Vincennes