Palais Omnisports de Paris - Bercy

We are down to our last three Paris City Walks cards. This one took us out to Bercy, where we had a look around the Palais Omnisports building.

It's an indoor sports and concert venue, built in the 1980's.

But what's the green stuff on the wall?

I can't imagine how they get a push mower up these inclines to mow it.

Oh, that's how.  A guy hoists a round rhoomba-type mower up and down with a rope.  That doesn't look like a fun job at all.

Also...what happens if the rope breaks?  Unwary pedestrians below better watch out.

We walked down to the Seine and took a detour along the Quai de la Rapée to get a view of the Cité de la Mode at du Design (Fashion Institute).  What a strange facade.  Apparently the green add-on is supposed to mirror the Seine below, but from this angle and in this lighting it just looks like an alien eye mask.

Before we crossed the river I took this shot of the Pont de Bercy, with the Bibliothèque National de France - François Mitterand in the background.

Then, from the other side of the river, we could view the Palais Omnisports beneath a graying sky.

This turned out to be one of the more boring walk cards.  The only thing that made up for it was that we had lunch at the Buffalo Grill.  It is a French chain restaurant specializing in Americana, with photos of the American West and Route 66 (although the website calls it "Road 66") plastered all over the walls.  The food wasn't fantastic, but at least now we know where to go if we're craving something resembling ribs or chicken wings.  In case you were wondering, the burger of the month is the Arizona Burger.