Paris - and the Three Famous Arcades

Thursday – Another un-hurried day when we made it to breakfast by 10:00 in the small hotel dining room. Today we wanted to see the three famous arcades dedicated mainly to art and antiques. The first “Jouffroy Gonsans”, next passage “Verdeau” and last passage “des Panoramas”. Lunch was enjoyed in a small restaurant “Le Café Zéphyr” in the passage Jouffroy Gonsans. I had calves’ liver, which was delicious, Sylvie had a special old style Croque Monsieur, and all washed down with a glass of white wine. We continued our walk heading back to FNAC and once again got hopelessly lost with our Google GPS. We passed the Saint James tower and the more we walked the further the distance became so in the end we took a taxi which cost €27 and took about 25 minutes. Our taxi driver was a very friendly and chatty Haitian. We were a long way from where we should have been. Back at FNAC the book Sylvie had ordered was waiting for us. Then a quick walk to the hotel with a stop in the supermarket for fruit, yoghurt and nuts for dinner. Tonight a pre-pack and then bed.

The covered passages of Paris (French: Passages couverts de Paris) are an early form of shopping arcade built in Paris, primarily during the first half of the 19th century. By 1867, there were approximately 183 covered passages in Paris but many were demolished during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. Only 25 survived into the 21st century, all but one are in the arrondissements (municipal districts) on the Right Bank of the Seine. The common characteristics of the covered passages is that they link at least two streets, have glass ceilings and are: pedestrianised; artificially illuminated at night (initially with gas lamps); privately owned; highly ornamented and decorated; lined with small shops on the ground floor. The passages’ upper floors usually had apartments. Originally, to keep the passages clean, each would have at the entrance an artiste de décrottage (a ‘shoe cleaning artist’).Read more