1. I can’t help myself. Though I know I’ve already posted postcards of the streets of Paris, but to be fair, they’re gorgeous, and it seems there are no two alike. This is the rue des Vinaigriers in the 10th, just off the Canal Saint-Martin. I glimpsed this colorful bit of street art and loved the way it stood out in the grey of a typical Parisian afternoon.
2. This has long been one of my favorite streets: rue de Buci. This (mostly) pedestrian shopping street in the 5th used to be home to my favorite pastry shop (and more importantly, my favorite palmier). Alas, now that shop is a souvenir store, but I still love this street for being home to my favorite dress shop (Heroines), one of my favorite restaurants (Semilla), and the building where Molière took his stage name. It’s also a great place to grab a seat at a sidewalk café in summer and people-watch.
3. This is a little street in the 7th, not far from the American Library and my first apartment in Paris, though from looking at it, it could be nearly any street in Paris: the beige Haussmannien buildings made of Paris limestone, those dream-inducing balconies, the grey slate roofs… and, yes, the overcast Parisian sky.
4. I’ve written about Paris’ covered passages before, but this one never made the cut – it’s on the wrong side of the river. Still, this little passage leading up towards the Odéon metro stop is probably the one I pass through most frequently, in no small part because this little corner restaurant (dubbed the Tennessee) is where the Country Boy and I used to get a celebratory burger and beer every year when my visa came through.
5. This covered bit of sidewalk is the street of one of my favorite Parisians: Victor Hugo. Just off the Place des Vosges, this walkway leads towards the home where Hugo lived from 1832 to 1848, now a museum devoted to the author.