La Mélange St Martin

It's been quite a couple of weeks. After "The Run" (Paris Half Marathon, phew!) came "The Holiday" (see last post) and then "The Match" (Wales thrashing England to regain the 6 Nations). Life chez Fourfolds needed a dose of normality. Amongst other things, this meant getting back to pounding Parisian walkways on the Sunday run with Elodie.

True to form, though, we had a new route which, thank God, avoided the tourist-choked banks of the Seine. This one was all about canals. Mind you, you would never have noticed it at first glance, as we trundled past the brocante browsing folk along Boulevard Richard Lenoir (10th). The only clues were the wide, riverine strip of grey-brown gravel separating the two parts of the road and the randomly spaced,  round concrete structures topped with what appear to be steel tent frames.

A sweeping curve took us onto Blvd Jules Ferry, then, just as a glance left would have revealed the column of Place de la République, the central reservation fell away and revealed the Canal St Martin, which had been previously hidden below street level all the way down to just south of Place de la Bastille.

Now you see me...: Exit and entrance of Canal St Martin

The doughty wooden locks dividing the waterway are framed by flat-arched bridges, upon which you can pause and gaze down upon some of the best-named streets in Paris. To the northeast you have Rue de la Grange aux Belles ('The street of beautiful barns'), to the southwest Rue Dieu ('God Street') joins Rue Beaurepaire (sounds like 'well renovated street') and further north, my favourite, Rue Vinaigriers ('Vinegar makers street' - they had to be somewhere!). Hopefully no need for their services at BANG! a local restaurant, well known as a paradise for Parisian carnivores, fitting, as the area used to be home to the city's abattoir and slaughterhouse district.

...Attack: Street art from Da Cruz

Art...

As anywhere else in Paris, graffiti was an ever present feature here, the most impressive examples being  from the portfolio of DaCruz, a specialist in strikingly geometrical forms with somewhat of an ancient central American theme. His and other street artists' work was probably the only reason you would have stopped outside Point Ephémère, just south west of Métro Jaurès, unless you also happened to know that it was artist workshop, dance studio and

Covering a multitude of sins: Point Ephémère

music venue rolled into one.


Less obtrusive, yet still eye-catching, colour had been added to the scene through the macaroon pink, green and yellow triptych of shopfronts declaring the wares of Antoine et Lilly, purveyors of fashion and fripperies to young and slightly less young.

In the pink: Just part of Antoine et Lili

Following the waterway into the 19th now, we negotiated a mini Spaghetti Junction of road and railway, under which the canal was squeezed only to double its original size upon entering the Basin de Villette - if you missed the time of your film showing on one side, there was an identical picture house on the opposite bank. The wide, cobbled towpaths must provide a wonderful post-séance repos in the Summer.

All major transport arteries have their junctions and Canal St Martin's was mightily impressive to behold. At the point the stream divided - northwest as the Canal St Denis and continuing northeast as the Canal de l'Ourque - stands ( or rather sprawls) Parc de la Villette.

Abutting the circling Peripherique, Villette appears to hold something for everyone. If lounging on, or jogging around, the massive expanse of lawn isn't cerebral enough for you, you could try a visit to Leanardo da Vinci expo at the Cité des Sciences, the giant steel-girded exhibition hall. An otherworldly cinema experience can surely be found at La Géode, a structure resembling a massive ball bearing fallen from the sky.

Reflecting on the wonders of science: La Géode

This hungry caterpillar gorges on rock stars: Le Zénith

Continuing on the theme of the gigantesque, concert hall Le Zénith appears to be made up of huge, red Lego bricks attached to a roll of tin foil. Here you'll find major pop and rock acts, recently including  Gorrillaz and Bruno Mars and I'll be heading there in June for a dose of the old school from hirsute stalwarts ZZ Top.

Le top: Cabaret Sauvage

Across the Ourque the red plush big top of the Cabaret Sauvage caters for less typical tastes. Dotted along the north bank of the canal are also péniches, barges or narrow boats, some decked out as music venues, theatre spaces and more; two of note were l'Improviste, a mecca for Jazz-jammers and Abricadabra/Péniche Antipode, a floating arts festival of music, drama and various exhibitions.

Turning back along the footpath now, we headed home toward respective hot showers and fortifying food. On the way, we past a point where Elodie explained you could wait in sunnier weather, with numbered pink balloon, until a server from the well-know local pizzeria - the Pink Flamingo - located you and handed over your meal. As a little grey cloud briefly dampened proceedings with what the French call a petite giboulée de mars, I wondered whether, after this morning, anything about this city could ever be called 'normal'.

List of links found in this article:

BANG!: www.bang-restaurant.fr
Point Ephémère: pointephemere.org
Antoine et Lili: www.antoineetlili.com
Cité des Sciences: www.cite-sciences.fr/ 
La Géode: www.lageode.fr
Zenith: www.zenith-paris.com
Cabaret Sauvage: www.cabaretsauvage.com/
Péniche l'Improviste: http://improviste.fr
Abricadabra/Péniche Antipode: www.penicheantipode.fr/
Pink Flamingo Pizzas: www.pinkflamingopizza.com