34 Weeks: Walking Paris

There is nothing quite like a crisp, sunny, overcast, then sunny day again, walking the cobbled streets of Paris, arm in arm with a friend. Style oozes from the locals, flower shops are a riot of colour, buildings are magnificent, partly decaying, mostly glorious in their nod to the modern architectural father of Paris, Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann.

Walking the streets of Paris, 29th October 2013 at 34 weeks pregnant

Walking the streets of Paris, 29th October 2013 at 34 weeks pregnant

Commissioned by Napoleon III, Haussmann between 1853 and 1870 replaced Paris’ dense, irregular and unhygienic medieval alleyways with a rationally-designed city with wide avenues and open spaces which extended outwards far beyond the old city limits. Long, straight, wide boulevards with their cafés and shops defined this new type of urban scenario and to this day, such a cityscape impresses a profound influence on the everyday lives of Parisians. As well as the likes of me, the international interlopers vacationing here for some cultural relief…

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Walking the streets of Paris, 29th October 2013 at 34 weeks pregnant

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