Readers of this blog will know that Paris is a roughly oval
shaped city , through the middle of which, in a great arc from East to West, runs the river
Seine on its way to the Atlantic. If you stand facing
downstream, the southern part of the city, where Susie and I have an apartment,
is on your left -- hence, the Left Bank.
Many of the most popular tourist attractions lie along the river -- the
Eiffel Tower, the Tuileries Gardens, the Louvre, and Notre Dame itself, which
actually sits on an island in the middle of the river. The municipal government of Paris, which is
in general a very progressive and imaginative city government, runs a number of
flat bottomed boats called Batobus
which cruise up and down the river, stopping at places where tourists might
like to visit. For a single fare, you
can board a Batobus, hop off at the next stop, see a sight, and then hop back
on the next boat without paying any more.
The Batobus are named for various squares and avenues in Paris. The city also runs a fleet of slightly larger
flat bottomed boats called Bateaux
Mouches that serve meals, so that one can eat and cruise the river at the
same time.
During my morning walks, I discovered that at night all the
Batobus moor, two by two, on the Left Bank, just before the bridge to Place de la Concorde which is the turnaround
point on my walk. As I have reported in
previous posts, at the back of the line up I have been accustomed to see two
smaller Batobus, the Jean Gabin and the Yves Montand.
This trip, when I took my first walk, I noticed that Yves
Montand was missing. At first I thought
nothing of it. "Off on location
making a movie," I said to myself. But
day after day, as the Yves Montand did not reappear, I grew worried. Had there been an upheaval in the French
cinematic world of which I was unaware?
Had the soulful, sad-eyed Montand been taken out by the tough-guy Gabin?
Several days later, when Susie and I were crossing a bridge
from the île St. Louis, I looked down and to my pleasure
and relief saw a Bateau Mouche called
the Brigitte Bardot.
Apparently, in Paris, there are even transgender boats!
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