I’m staying in a small apartment on an old, narrow street that runs approximately at a right angle down to the Seine, with the Île St-Louis directly across the river. My building is about half-way down the block, the Seine to my left, the rue St-Antoine/rue de Rivoli to my right (and just a short stroll beyond them is the place des Vosges).

The building is entered through a massive wood door directly on the sidewalk. Once inside, you’re in a courtyard. The concierge’s apartment is to the left on the ground level; to the right is a door leading to a small elevator and the stairs. My apartment is on the 2e étage, i.e., the 3d floor. Its tall windows look north-northeast, and there is a lot of light – much prized in Paris. The windows give on to a large multi-faceted courtyard, one portion of which is the small paved playground of an elementary school. I enjoy the sounds of recess, gym class, and before- and after-school play. (The courtyard is really the courtyard of many different buildings, one or two of them fronting on my street; but others, including the school, face a side street.)

Pictures of different parts of my building and of my views into or across the courtyard:

And pictures of the neighborhood. One of these shows the rear of the église St.-Paul. Whose bells ring regularly, every day, the sound easily carrying into my apartment. Another photo shows the gym area of a very chi-chi (but public) lycée, the Lycée Charlemagne, used after school by the neighborhood for, among other sports, basketball. Last is a restaurant I like that’s across from the gym area, less than 5 minutes from my building.