So my outing today takes me to the end of line 8, Créteil. If I head straight back to Paris it should take me 3 hrs to walk it but if I walk in true Parsian/ ooh whats that over there style I should make it back before dark!
The walk back starts out around a huge artificial lake which was originally a mine but once the diggers hit water they decided to go with it. There are fountains around ever corner (and loos yay) Giant whale like blowholes of water are sprayed metres into the air and being caught by the wind and showering all who visit. I regret not bring my coat. I wrap my scarf around my head and continue.
There is some amazing architecture around here. Multi level brutalist apartments give way to the copper clad buildings that reflect in the lake and promote the autumn glow. I see a cement footbridge that resembles an abstracted snail up ahead and alter my route to walk it………and they’re they are…..Id seen them in pictures, and hadn’t expected them today. The amazing banksia looking art deco inspired multi-dwells. The 10 buildings are called Les Choux de Créteil - the cabbage patch (- well I may have taken a few liberties there!) and they have beautifully designed balconies that morph as you approach and move around the buildings creating privacy ... Super stunning. I love the idea that you get to live in the building but still get to see its beauty as its reflected in the neighbours home. This was such a great surprise feeling super stoked!
Its so good to be in the outskirts where second-hand shops sell torn up couches and old coffee tables rather than antiquities you can fit into a suitcase! I feel like I can breathe again.
The trees have given up their cloaks to concede that winter is here. The last few leaves fall and dance as updrafts catch them. its really beautiful. The streets out here have not had the navy suited men with their electric blowers to direct leaves into piles so they pave the streets in gold. As I walk the leaves crunch and my brown cords swoosh with my stride and I feel so happy.
I look up to see the trees bare vulnerable limbs that show decades of brutalist design and torture. I see them reach for one another but do not succeed.. Time feels thick again.
I get to the Seine and I know the rest is easy. Up here the walkway is metres above the water and I do not fear heights but I fear the desire to jump. I see a man ahead and its weird. He has a rope at first I think he has a dog but nope its running down the steep wall and he’s slowly pulling it up. I cant see its way to high and the angle hides below. I pass and for the next kilometre wonder if he was retrieving drugs or money or lowering an object into the deeps that would never be seen again. Maybe he ties his thoughts up every afternoon and drops them in so he can have a relaxing evening…mmmpffhh.
I get to liberté station where I first stayed and decide I’ll train home before the end of day craziness starts up. Its a good place to people watch as the dark tunnels make the windows reflective and if you choose the right seat you can quietly watch as people transit off and on… If you choose the wrong seat you get to check out a lot of footwear! I change trains and head to St Paul, grab a baguette and settle in to consider all ive seen.