No walking tour of the Latin Quarter

We had a few things on the “maybe” list… Musee d’Orsay, Musee d’Rodin or a “free” (but it cost 16 euro) walking tour of the Latin quarter. We tossed more art vs a walk an went with the latter and so walked along the Seine, crossing Pont du Neuf, to Rue Saint Michael. First order of business was something to eat. We found a café on the street where we could people watch and enjoyed wine, crepes and coffee (plus a bit of sneaky BYO bread, Fruit and a Blood Orange Macaroon each… mmmm). Sated we crossed over the fountain – the designated meeting point – registered, paid the designate fee and waited, and waited some more… finally we were told that the guide was “sick” and would not be coming – the tour was off! Bugger we should have gone with the “more art” option. None the less we had a bit of a meander around the area which mostly seemed to involve places to eat before deciding that we would do the Art Viaduct walk from Bastille to Bel Air. Thus we jumped back on the metro and made our way to Bastille.
It didn’t take us long to get there but by this time the wine and the coffee had had their predicable effect and I REALLY need to pee… I was delighted to see a “free” public toilet – a rare thing in Paris where you can expect to pay up to 1,50 euro to use the facilities. Well it turned out to be quite the pantomime! Absolutely busting by this point I entered the toilet and pressed the door close button – nothing happened – I pressed it again, the door closed slightly then opened… this repeated several times – I was getting desperate, Kirstin was getting hysterical with laughter and possibly also at risk of wetting her pants but for a totally different reason. Finally the door shut fully.. I started to unzip… the door opened again …. Aaarg pants back up (I must mention that this toilet was on a traffic island in the middle of a busy intersection also). The door shut again, I started to de-clothe again, the door sprung open with renewed vigour – this was getting serious – I REALLY REALLY needed to pee. In the end Kirstin – despite laughing so hard she was herself risking incontinence – held the bucking and protesting door shut while I performed the world’s fastest urination! Phew, what a pantomime!!!!
Having got all of that out of the way we headed to the viaduct which is now an art project and walking path following the route and at times including the remnants of the old viaduct. As in Zurich (Im Viaduct) there are stores, galleries and boutiques built under the arches, however the difference is that along the top is a lovely garden. We strolled along for a couple of kilometers enjoying the greenery and fresh air after the rain.. sometimes we were on top of the old viaduct, others just following its route through gardens, under bridges and through tunnels. Eventually we came to the Bel Air Metro where it was a simple thing to take it back to La Chappel and then the short walk to the Hostelもっと詳しく