Walking the Bridges of Paris is a fine way to get a feel for the city says Bob Lyons taking his own advice…
More than twenty two years ago, I suffered the effects of a serious road accident. Strangely, it occurred in France and I was taken by helicopter, in an unconscious state, to a hospital in France. They didn’t let me out for over a month. Afterwards, I returned to my house in England to recuperate. My leg was a big problem though and I had to prove to myself and my company that I could get my old fitness back so that I could return to my job as a pilot. I decided to walk over all the central bridges across the Seine in Paris, about thirty of them. That would show everybody I thought, and it did. I left my walking stick at home.
Towards the end of 2014, I decided to repeat the experience and set off with my camera and travel kettle by bus from Victoria coach station in London and to the sparkling city of Paris.
I aimed to be a little less ambitious on this visit and cross just eighteen of the bridges starting in the east with the Pont de Bercy and proceeding north westwards towards the Pont d’Iena.
Pont is the French word for bridge. The many bridges spanning the Seine in central Paris seem to act as the cornerstones of Parisian history, culture, life and colour. They divide the city into recognizable sectors, all a little different, and all presenting subtle changes in City lifestyle, activity, energy and architecture.