Studio Flat for Two in Central Paris

5.  NEIGHBOURHOOD  of rue St Dominique.

Shopping in the Close Neighbourhood

There are four bakers, two supermarkets and a greengrocer, all close by in the rue St Dominique.

About five minutes walk West from the studio, opposite St Pierre du Gros Caillou, is the wonderful, mouth-watering food market in rue CLER.
   
Most shops stay open until 7 pm and some, including the market, are open on Sunday mornings.


Restaurants
This district has a good range of excellent large and small restaurants in a widening variety of nationalities and prices, almost always displayed on the menus outside.
The area is looking even smarter each year with more and more fashionable shops and restaurants, the newer being several Asiatic restaurants, the nearest being Japanese.
Just a few doors to the West of the studio is the most recent, the 'Asie Seven' where we ate a substantial meal from a wide choice of Asiatic dishes for only €4.70 Euros. It is also the closest takeaway.
For value and curried prawns, a favourite is a Thai restaurant in rue Surcouf.

WiFi.
Almost opposite the street door is O'Brian's Irish Pub where you can drink your Guiness in peace along with free access to the web on your laptop. This service is mushrooming everywhere in Paris but the Irish Pub is the nearest WiFi 'hot spot' to the studio.

The Arrondissment
On the Left Bank the 7^th Arrondissments or 'quartier des ministres', as it is known by many, is shaped like a hand of cards. The left-hand 'card' features the most prominent of the sights of Paris, like a thumb but not sore, visible from almost anywhere - Tour Eiffel.  Do not be misled how close it is when you see it looming over you in rue St Dominique. It is still about 20 minutes walk away.
'The hand' finishes to the right on the most Eastern of the nine bridges which cross the Seine from this Arrondissment. It is Pont du Carrousel which leads conveniently into  the Louvre.
On the River bank is the Assemblée Nationale with most of its twenty Ministries and Secretariats spread throughout the Arrondissment, which, with the many Embassies, contribute to making the area pleasant and safe.
Almost central is the vast Esplanade and Hôtel des Invalides containing two museums as well as Napoleon's Tomb under the prominent and gilded Église du Dôme.
In a short walk from the studio, just beyond Hôtel des Invalides is Musée Rodin, entered from rue de Varenne.
The largest museum of the Arrondissment, Musée d'Orsay, also on the River bank, deserves several visits as it is full of so many exhibitions of Fine Arts and Photography, of the mid 18th to mid 19th century, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Goch and others.
Not far South of Musée d'Orsay is the renowned Le Carré Rive Gauche, about 120 antique dealers all together in several blocks in Rue du Bac.
To the South and West is the largest building of the 7^th, École Militaire which is unlikely to be open to visitors but you can walk on its old parade ground for its original cadets - now the huge Parc du Champ de Mars, with Tour Eiffel at the far end.
The nearest churches are St Pierre du Gros Caillou, a short walk West along rue St Dominique, and The American Church in Paris which can be reached from the studio by going North along rue Jean Nicot and turning right along Quai d'Orsay.
To the South along Passage Jean Nicot and across rue de Grenelle is the small church of St Jean. Further East are Basilique Ste Clotilde and St Thomas d'Aquin.

Just across the Seine from the 7^e, are the 8^e and 1^er Arrondissments with the Grand Palais, Petit Palais and Palais De la Decouverte on the far end of our favourite bridge, the grand Pont Alexandre III.  See photographs in the Gallery page.
Beyond the three Palais are the Theatre Renaud Barrault and the Rond Point des Champs Élysée.
 
Up river, opposite Assemblée Nationale is the Place de la Concorde which to-day is almost as dangerous for walkers crossing it as it once was for les aristos in a tumbrill.
Next is Jardin des Tuileries, bounded on one side by rue de Rivoli and its credit card-hungry shops, leading into the Louvre for which, if you are intent on seeing all its contents, you had better book the studio for several weeks !
Beyond this is Notre Dame on her island, Île de la Cité with the not to be missed, Sainte Chapelle and its soaring, mediaeval glass, hidden in a courtyard of the Palais de Justice.
All of this is within about 40 minutes walk from the studio - that is if you do not stop to gaze around you or to investigate some of the many other places of interest along other routes beside the River.

Bateaux Mouches
To see the sights in idle style, go across the Pont des Invalides and immediately on the left on the Right Bank is the quai closest to the studio from where you can go aboard one of the many bateaux mouches which ply up and down the river expressly to see the sights. As each boat is a floating battery of searchlights, it is different but equally spectacular going at night.
One of the photographs on page 9. Gallery was taken with the light from a passing bateau below.
Details of some of the many different cruises are on page 8. 'What's On.'
 

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