Bridge over a river and buildings both modern and older
Monday walks,  Paris

A chilly walk in Paris

January 16, 2024 / 43 Comments

We had been to Paris just a couple of months previously, in September. So why return so soon, and in chilly (make that freezing!) November?

Well, this was to be a rather different visit. Newcastle were to play Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League and although we didn’t have tickets we wanted to meet up with friends and enjoy the atmosphere. Besides, as Audrey Hopkins once famously said, ‘Paris is always a good idea.’

We had experienced a heatwave on that September trip (temperatures above 30 C), and now we had the opposite. Is there such a thing as a cold wave? But despite the cold, match day dawned bright and sunny. And with kick-off not until 9.00 pm we had plenty of time to spend enjoying Paris with our friends.

So after a leisurely breakfast in the Bar du MarchĂŠ, where Chris and I had been several times on our September visit, we set off for a walk. As it was a much brighter day, although cold, we decided on a walk across to the Right Bank and some explorations around the Rue de Rivoli. Although some of our route retraced the walk Chris and I had done in September, the scenes looked very different now.

As then, we started by crossing the river via the Pont Des Arts, which offers possibly my favourite view in Paris (my feature photo was taken from the bridge too, looking west rather than east).

River in a city with a bridge and elegant houses on an island
View of the Île de la Cité from the Pont des Arts (possibly my favourite view in Paris)
Group of people on a bridge over a river
Barry, Pete, Chris, Joanne and Peter on the Pont des Arts – I think you can see how cold it was!
Group of people on a bridge over a river
Selfie by Joanne with Barry, Pete, Chris, me, Peter

On the far side of the bridge we strolled through the courtyard of the Louvre but didn’t linger. We then followed the Rue de Rivoli to number 59 where a couple of us had read that an interesting collection of artists’ studios were housed in an authorised squat. We loved the bright exterior but the building itself was closed.

Colourfully painted door
59 Rue de Rivoli
Colourfully painted door with man passing
59 Rue de Rivoli, this time with passer-by

A helpful local overhead our conversation and told us it would open in ten minutes, at midday. But it was too cold to stand around, so we decided to go for a coffee meanwhile.

We took our time over the drinks, enjoying the relative warmth of the cafĂŠ and lots of conversation. By the time we’d finished drinking and chatting we’d managed to change our plans! So instead of retracing our steps we wandered through the area around Les Halles, taking a few photos of course.

Upside down reflection of a church
Église Saint-Eustache, reflected in a puddle
Classical carving of a woman with pigeons on her arm and shoulder
Building detail near Les Halles
Small sculpture of an orange bird wearing sunglasses
Street art near Les Halles
Street signs in French
Old street signs
Mural of girl's face
More street art

We were in search of the various arcades, collectively called Passages, in this part of the city. We found one, the Galerie de Vivienne, looking very festive. There was an attractive teashop and patisserie serving light lunches, so we stopped there and enjoyed excellent truffled croques monsieur.

Elegant arcade with Christmas lights
Looking through the entrance of La Galerie de Vivienne
Looking up at the top of a Christmas tree and glass dome above
La Galerie de Vivienne with Christmas tree
Close-up of a Christmas tree bauble with reflection of two women
Taking selfies with Joanne, reflected in a bauble on the tree
Arch with relief carvings, clock and Christmas lights
Detail of La Galerie de Vivienne

We searched out another passage, not nearly so attractive or interesting, then decided it was time to focus on the main purpose of our trip, the football. That part of the day saw us having a beer at the official Newcastle fan zone, then watching the match in a cosy pub back near Saint Germain. But that’s a slightly sore point, as those who follow European football may know. And we weren’t doing much walking by then so it’s a good place to finish this Monday Walk for Jo.

I last visited Paris in November 2023, when all these photos were taken

43 Comments

  • equinoxio21

    January 23, 2024 at 23:38 Reply

    With or without a heat wave or a cold front, Paris details lure you.
    was there in September too. Already miss it, though I’ll be damned if I go this summer during the Games.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      January 18, 2024 at 15:04 Reply

      Thank you 😊 I doubt I know enough details to be a ‘proper’ guide, but I could certainly escort a friend on a few pleasant walks with lots of photo opps!

  • Teresa

    January 18, 2024 at 11:13 Reply

    I could imagine how cold it was with what you were wearing. Thanks for sharing this, brought me back there with a sigh of nostalgia. So didn’t you go back to the 59 Rue de Rivoli anymore?

  • grandmisadventures

    January 17, 2024 at 03:52 Reply

    We visited Paris in May and found so much colder than we expected and terribly unprepared. But even when its chilly, it is such a beautiful city and I love tge moments of it that youve captured so well 🙂

    • Sarah Wilkie

      January 17, 2024 at 10:49 Reply

      Paris is perfect for exploring on foot 🙂 But I would definitely describe this as winter rather than late autumn even though there were a few leaves left on the trees! It was freezing 🥶

  • thehungrytravellers.blog

    January 16, 2024 at 20:00 Reply

    As we’ve agreed before, Sarah, Paris is just a city which keeps on giving… the more times you go, the more new areas you find which are equally loveable. Reading the comments above, I have stayed in both Versailles and Fontainebleau…and I have some advice. Absolutely make sure you go to the latter when autumn is at its colourful best, maybe late October. It’s stunning.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      January 17, 2024 at 10:48 Reply

      Thanks for that tip Phil 🙂 I’ll certainly bear it in mind, although that’s a time of year when we usually travel further afield. September is our ‘Paris month’!

  • restlessjo

    January 16, 2024 at 13:56 Reply

    I don’t have your love affair with Paris; Sarah, but I can certainly see what you love about it. I may even have preferred Toulouse, but I’m a southern girl at heart and the warmth there spoke to me. Our own visit to Paris was memorable, and beautiful in many ways, but it was August and cold! It was timed for our Silver Wedding and we had a blissful day at Giverny and Versailles, with some rare sunshine (and showers). We found that passage you feature, and another couple too, after much uncertain searching. Another area that I really liked (and again, it was sunny!) was along at the canal basin. I forget its name but you’ll know where I mean. We stayed quite centrally, near the Luxembourg gardens, in a lovely little atelier up many spiral stairs. We were shattered when we climbed them on a night, but down below we had a couple of lovely little bistros. The concept of a permitted squat is an interesting one, and I should have liked to see inside what looked like a once very grand building. You were smiling bravely, but goodness you looked cold! Thanks again for sharing.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      January 16, 2024 at 14:21 Reply

      A shame you had cold weather in August but probably better for exploring than the heatwave we had last September! The canal you mention was probably the Canal Saint Martin? I liked it there too, and there was some good street art which I think I shared a while back. I’ve never been to Giverny but would like to. The problem is that we always find too much to do in Paris itself to venture further afield, but one day we should!

      • restlessjo

        January 16, 2024 at 14:25 Reply

        You absolutely should! Giverny was joyful, even with the showers, or perhaps because of! And Versailles is… Versailles! Have you seen much more of France? We hadn’t until Toulouse, and this June we’re going to Nantes. We have friends there, which is an enticement.

        • Sarah Wilkie

          January 16, 2024 at 15:49 Reply

          I’ve been to Versailles but way back when as a teenager! I’d like to get to Fontainebleau some time. We’ve been to Annecy which we really liked, and Besancon too (part of our honeymoon trip so that was ages ago too!) Also to Marseilles, just for a couple of days for football bit with time for some sightseeing too. I’d like to see more of the south but these days we never seem to get further than Paris 😆

          • restlessjo

            January 16, 2024 at 15:54

            I’d love to see Annecy! Very expensive now I believe, but my French teacher- yes, all that time ago!- always extolled its virtues and it looks beautiful. Marseilles is on the list too. It looks a great city and I can fly from here.

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