November 2012 trip to Paris: Along the Seine

Scenes along the Seine, the historic, light-filled river that runs through central Paris:

The first thing we did upon arriving, jet-lagged and taxi-delivered, in Paris on Nov. 20 was to walk down to the Seine. We were so happy to be there -- in Paris, on the Seine! Lucky us.

Then we took a long walk on the Ile de la Cite. Noah stood in the golden light shining on the Quai des Orfevres, near Pont Neuf the Square du Vert-Galant. Wonder where the long-gone doors and windows led?

Caricatures of King Henry III's advisers line the Pont Neuf, which despite its name is the oldest bridge in Paris, completed in 1607. The king had their faces, made buffonish, carved on the bridge to get back at them for advising him not to build it.

Maybe my favorite Paris photo -- Noah on the Seine in early twilight. The light of Paris is indeed magical, as artists, photographers, Parisiens and travelers have noted through the ages.

Twilight on the Seine.

There are a couple of bridges on the Seine lined with thousands of "locks of love," the Pont de l'Archevêché near Notre-Dame and  the Paserelle des Arts, south of the Louvre. This was the former. Wonderful buskers were often playing on the bridge, which we walked across several times daily. The buskers in Paris are seriously good.

One of many book stalls along the Seine that sell eclectic books, CDs and posters you couldn't get anywhere else.

The world's most famous English-language bookstore, Shakespeare & Company, just south of the river in the Latin Quarter. Every inch of wall in the interior is lined with eclectic books. You could spend days in there, browsing and gawking.

On the other side of the river is the Hotel de Ville, scene of some of history's most horrifying bloodbaths. It's a sedate place now, the home of Paris' city administration.The square in front of it is usually crowded with hurrying locals, gawking tourists and a few hucksters. But we were there in November, in the rain, and it was, like many places we went to, gloriously uncrowded.

Standing in a beautiful place where much blood has been shed, the courtyard of the Hotel de Ville.