Entering Port de L’Arsenal our home for the next 9 nights. Can you see the Bastille monument at the end of the port?

We farewelled Tony and Sally and decided to stay in Paris until our next visitor arrived. It was not a great trial, after all who doesn’t want to stay in Paris for a week! And I had a few jobs in mind, including buying some new linen, booking a hair appointment and of course investigating the shops! As we usually stay in a hotel in the 6th arrondissement, being situated on the border of the 4th and 12th arrondissement gave me an opportunity to investigate a few new suburbs. My overall impression of the 12th is that it is a residential area, not visited by tourists, whereas the 4th (or as many would know it, the Marais) is wall to wall tourists strolling the narrow by ways.

I crossed over the Seine to the 5th arrondissement (the Latin Quarter), which was the old haunt of writers and artists in the 20’s. My objective was to visit the Roman Amphitheatre.

The Arenes de Lutece

This is one of the oldest surviving monuments in the city and a remarkable reminder that Paris was once the Roman town of Lutetia. The amphitheater was built in the 1st century AD and had seating for about 15,000 spectators. After the Roman period it fell into disuse and many of its stones were repurposed to fortify the city. Over the centuries it was buried but rediscovered during major construction works in the 19th century. Victor Hugo rallied support for its restoration and it was eventually transformed into the site a visitor sees today.

Jardin Des Plantes

This historical botanical garden is a stones throw from the Arenes de Lutece and provides a restful respite from the busy city. The garden was founded in 1626 by Louis XIII and was originally designed as a place where doctors and apothecaries could study plants. Today you can stroll through 24 hectares of gardens admiring the rose garden, alpine garden and avenues of mature trees. It even has a zoo!

Retracing my steps I ventured back across the Seine to the port and our Joie de Vivre

Just up from the port is a market that is held every Thursday and Sunday. With Elisabeth arriving on Sunday morning there was no time for her to get acquainted with her surroundings or rest after the long journey from Australia. It was off to the market!

We had another 2 days in Paris so Elisabeth could enjoy some of the sights, before we exited the port and made our way south towards the Yonne