Friday, April 26th, 2019

Today’s goal was to check out one of the better known parks that is a little out of the center. I’ve trying to rely more on buses than on the metro, just because there are less tourists and you can see things as you travel. The metro was apparently suffering delays on the line I needed in any case, so bus it was. At the moment Paris has so many construction projects that street traffic is a little slow, even for buses which have segregated lanes in many places. The area around Pl. de la Bastille is completely ripped up with detour fences up and bus stops displaced. I stopped off at a place called Bear and Racoon because they feature all Gluten Free food. After a delicious sandwich, I eventually made it to the Buttes-Chaumont park, which is super cool. It has a cupola, a suspension bridge and some other features. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc_des_Buttes_Chaumont It also had a pretty good hill or Butte, and was formerly a quarry in parts. From there it was logical to go to Pere Lachaise cemetery, a place I’ve been before, but when entering from the other side, I hadn’t appreciated the scale of the place, it’s really quite enormous. Found a couple of the more famous grave sites, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. Then another long ride on the bus back into the center. If the metro goes where you are going, it can be a lot speedier, but sometimes the bus doesn’t require changes, and of course, seeing where you are going helps with context.