Paris walking: sidewalk, dogpoo and parks

Paris is a city that ought to be visited on foot. It is compact and hides many treasures that one can easily miss sitting on a bus! If the grand buildings and monuments can be viewed from a bus, on foot you discover many other aspects of Parisian life. In Ile St louis, for instance, you could read all the small plaques above the entrance or on the front wall of the buildings indicating what famous (or not so famous) poets, artists, philosophers, painters, writers used to live there. In Pigalle, you may wonder into small streets that have old houses with gardens or seemingly run down buildings that hide grand old courtyards complete with fountain you could peek in (or even wonder in if you’re bold enough to follow a resident that happens to enter while you’re peeking). Many of these buildings would bear the date they were constructed and by whom (I found near where I live a building that used to serve as a dormitory for ouvriers or laborers centuries ago, complete with a common bath etc.). Paris also has many ancient arcades many of which now house small shops, tailors, coffee shops and restaurants. These are capillaries of Paris that connect the arteries and provide riposte from the hustle bustle (you can start near metro Grand Boulevard or Richelieu Drouot).
So, put on a good pair of shoes (still stylish though) and just go walkabout in the city.

Ok, now come the unpleasant aspects of walking in Paris. First, you have to watch
out for dog poo that you will inevitably encounter on the sidewalks of Paris. Despite the law requiring owners to pick up after their dogs, many do not. It is easy to recognize Parisians from tourists by the instincts they seem to have for avoiding these canine bombs that are lethal for your shoes (I have thrown many pairs of shoes because the smell just would not go away after I washed them or because my shoes were just too icky for words). Parisians would be walking along chatting away looking everywhere but down and they NEVER step on these bombs as if their feet had dog shit radar (akin to gaydar for gay men I guess, who could detect another gay man a mile away). Tourists and non Parisians constantly step on them while admiring buildings (On the up side, it is said that stepping on a dog poo brings good luck and happiness!!).
Second, you have to watch for aggressive Parisians of course. Often, they think they are the only people on earth and look at you with a big huge surprise as they bump into you or poke you with their umbrella. Many will apologize while you scream in pain, but many will not. To avoid them, best to walk on weekdays and not during lunch time or when they go to work or return home.
What’s worse than a Parisian on foot? A Parisian on a motorcycle of course! Don’t go into conniptions when you see someone on a motorcycle careening on the sidewalk (streets are small and with the traffic jam, the motorists may not think twice taking the sidewalk). Best to pin yourself to the building and let them pass.

My favourite neigborhoods to walk include le Marais (only on weekdays and I avoid it at all const on the weekends. Too many people!). Here, you could wonder and admire all the 18th century buildings where people live (grand doors with ornate decoration, beautiful courtyards), museums (Picasso, Jewish history and art museum, and of all things, door handle museum), and eat falafel in the Jewish street or take coffee in the many gay coffee shops with cute waiters (who do speak English!).
I also like Pigalle where you could bump into prostitutes in broad daylight (if they seem old and fat, don’t feel smug just yet. I have seen cute young men bargaining to sleep with these old fat ladies!) or transvestites with too much make up, and sex shops with their usual motley collection of the curious, the tourists or people seriously in need of a quick sex. Aside from sex shops though, Pigalle also has lots of music shop and is a heaven for any musician. This changes as you go up towards Montmantre where you will find the old Paris pleasant neighbourhood where people still shop in local merchants (complete with chats and banter, so better not be in a hurry) and sit on benches to read or just soak up the atmosphere (or the sun on the rare occasion that the sun is out). In Montmartre, you may bump into artists, happen on a little vineyard, and admire houses tucked in unlikely places and corners (Montmartre is very hilly), studios (painters) and theatres (many known ones are here but the area is also littered with small theatres where you can see plays in intimate ambiancee).
In Belleville, you could find Asian shops and restaurants that make you think you were in China complete with men who spit in public. The restaurants often are cheap, yummy and authentic though the ambiance may leave a lot to be desired. This is the place to get Asian ingredients and real good instant noodles!
In the late afternoon or evening, you should walk along the Canal St Martin from République/Goncourt towards Jaurés. Along this canal you would find little bars (right hand side if you’re heading up to Jaurés) that would sell drinks to go. You take them to sit by the canal, as many Parisians do, and just contemplate how lucky (or unlucky) you are to be in Paris.
You could always to go parks in Paris (Monceau, Luxembourg, jardin des Tuileries and Jardin des Plantes), but often these parks bizarrely prohibit walking or sitting on the grass ! These are very landscaped gardens that make me long for Central Park or the Botanical Garden of Melbourne (both in city centers) that are wild and where one can run and sit anywhere (the park Buttes Chaumont is a wonderful exception to this). In Paris, no sooner you put your butt on the grass, a guardian will surely materialize out of nowhere to shoo you off the grass!

To tell you the truth, the night I felt most Parisian was when a few of us left a party and walked leisurely toward the metro station, champagne in a flute in one hand and a cigarette in the other…felt so sophisticated and civilized between sips and puffs! C'est Paris.