I arrived in Paris after a long flight from SFO on Sunday morning, and Claire (my landlady) picked me up at the Air France shuttle bus stop and drove me to the apartment. We talked about some of the troubles Paris has been having, such as the flooding of the Seine (it is still very high) and violence breaking out at a recent demonstration. But life goes on, and people are out and about. Although yesterday and today have been warm and muggy, and I've been more jet-lagged than I expected, I've managed to take some very enjoyable walks.
All of the photos in this post were taken with my phone, but most of them turned out pretty well.
First, here is the view from my balcony. The towers in the distance are the Tour de Clovis (right) and part of the church St Etienne du Mont (left).
I've always admired the brick building across the way, but I have never (in stays totaling over 3 months) seen anyone sitting on that nice top floor balcony!
The day of my arrival, I walked over to the Jardin du Luxembourg and watched the kids playing with the little boats. In the second photo you can see one of the high-tech sticks used for propulsion in the foreground.
On the way back to the apartment, the Pantheon was looking impressive. (It's great that the days are so long -- these were taken at about 9 pm.)
The next day (Monday) I hatched a plan to take a bus to Neuilly, north of the Bois de Boulogne, and walk down to take a look at the new Vuitton Foundation. The first hitch was that for some reason the bus only covered about a third of its normal route. So I took the Metro the rest of the way. Also, it was raining quite a bit. This wasn't unexpected, so I did have my umbrella, but I concluded it was too rainy to take photos of the (very interesting looking, more colorful than I expected) Vuitton Foundation. I assume I will go back there during this stay.
So I proceeded, and I came across a pond (the Mare St James), and I decided it was not too rainy to take photos of this wonderful family of swans. One of the cygnets is diving for goodies in the second photo -- very cute!
On Tuesday, I visited one of my favorite places, the Jardin des Plantes and then walked over to one of my favorite neighborhoods, the Marais.
At the the Jardin des Plantes, I checked on the belladonna plant, which is now in bloom. I remain amazed that they have such a toxic plant growing out in the open with no warnings... I guess they assume no one is going to try to eat it.
It's well past time for chestnuts to be in bloom, generally speaking. (I was pleased to see that the chestnut trees in the Jardin du Luxembourg were looking good; last year many of them were looking poorly.) But here is a late-blooming variety:
I crossed the river to reach the Marais on the right bank. It is still very high, even though it has gone down quite a bit. You can see in the photo below a section of the quay which is still submerged:
and I took this photo for comparison with an earlier one of the same scene (below):
The window at the bottom of the quay (in the earlier photo it looks like two windows) leads into the holocaust memorial, which I visited in 2014. It is now closed due to flooding, according to a posted sign... but not according to anything I can find online (?). In any case, I hope that not too much damage was done.
This garden in the Marais, tucked in between the Rue de Hesse and the Rue du Grand Veneur, is designated as a public park, but it's not as accessible as it used to be. You can still get in during certain hours, but there are now prominent signs saying that the surrounding buildings are private residences and that you are under surveillance! Also, you may have to dodge soccer balls being kicked around by kids who perhaps do, after all, live there. But in any case, it's a beautiful space. I hear about homes in Paris that stay in the same family generation after generation, and I suppose these might be included. Maybe the residents got tired of the public traipsing around at all hours after the garden was publicized in "Quiet Corners of Paris" (a handy little book by Jean-Christophe Napias and Christophe Lefebure).
On my way back to the apartment, I passed this nice building in the 5th arrondissement:
Speaking of singing, a couple nights ago was "Fete de musique" in Paris, with concerts all over. There was a group singing just outside my window, which was lovely until they got drowned out by the much louder group a block away. But everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the EDIS (Emily Dickinson International Society) conference. I'm not a Dicksinson scholar; that is Ellen's role, though this year she has chosen to spend the summer visiting her mother in Maine. But I did contribute the photo for the conference poster!
A la prochaine,
LeeAnn
Yes, I see why you go back to Paris again and again. The city is so beautiful and some places are becoming old favorites. Please do post some photos of La Fondation Louis Vuitton; Frank Gehry does it again! Always like your garden and water shots, particularly the swans and boating this time.
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