Along the Seine, Left Bank, 7th Arrondissement, Paris, Île-de-France, France

For hundreds of years the "bouquinistes" have sold used and/or antique books along the Seine River in central Paris. 

Nowadays, posters, prints, cards, and magnets are intermingled with the books. The few hundred bouquinistes use about 900 green boxes that are attached to the quay wall. It is a tightly regulated activity by the city and the wait is long for prospective new vendors.

There is even American cultural kitsch for sale.

We stopped at this one and Amy picked out ten bird prints to take home for our son.  Here's the happy seller waving "merci and au revoir" to Amy.

Not quite a bookseller with a stall, this nearby artist tries to capture some of the passersby spillover to purchase his work. The Seine River is in the background.

I don't know what or why this random band walked by but, c'est la vie.

For the past ten years or so, folks have been attaching "love locks" to this pedestrian bridge across the Seine River, the Pont des Arts.

After attaching her lock, this woman posed holding it.

There's one in every crowd - while technically this is a lock, it's not quite the concept that everyone else was looking for. The city of Paris is very concerned about the structural integrity of the bridge due to the weight of the thousands of metal locks and is trying to develop alternatives. It was built for pedestrians not automobiles nor lots of weighty metal so this added weight is quite significant.

We walked inland a few blocks for lunch and passed this edgy graffiti scene.

In the classic Paris tradition, we had lunch at the red awning outdoor cafe above at left, Le Saint-Germain, and watched the world go by on Boulevard Saint-Germain.

In fact, we have thoroughly embraced the long French lunch concept.  The table next to us turned over three times during our stay. Tourists - what can you say.........