Partager La Canal de L'Ourcq

A day by the canal ... In Paris, you run into surprises all the time.  I think it should be called the city of Surprises, along  with the City of Lights...thank you Jim Morrison.

The day was to start with some fellow photogs; a tour alongside the canal to visit some photo expositions that had been organized by fellow photographers more industrious than me.  They were staggered alongside the canal of  La Villette, also known as the Canal de L'Ourcq.

Before we could make it to the first exposition, we were surrounded by music and lots of Pink ... yes, for a good cause, these lovely guys were playing their hearts out.  Pulling ourselves away from the tunes, we tromped en masse to the first of many expositions just off the canal, weaving ourselves around these little streets, following the leader's baton, passing by the old and new buildings, married side-by-side,  a 5-block, at least!, brocante/vide-greniers (Parisien style garage sales), then after enjoying, observing, listening to the inspiration leading to these expositions, we circled our way back to the canal.  

Now here is the surprise! Near the end of our tour, we found a festival of the regions of France celebrating their specialities.   The stands, end to end, with many tables, family-style, covered the whole end of the pavement, along with a huge smiling (and chewing happily) crowd.   Each of us rambled off to our favorite region, tasting several along the way ... guess which regions I visited?  Yes, the champagne and chocolate regions were first!! 

Take some time to visit the canal at La Villette when you are here; there is always something going on... Its another one of those secret places of Paris, that is definitely off the tourist paths.   A great place to spend the day with your camera.


There is a lovely large restaurant called La Rotonde de la Villette, old customs office, that could be a good place to end the day ... enjoy the view of the bassin de la Villette, or if you catch it just right, the perfect place to catch la coucher de soleil, sunset, with  a very chilled glass of champagne...

 Another  lovely end to a lovely day in Paris.
And thanks to all the motivated photographers of Paris who share their "vues" of this beautiful city.


PPxx