Although this blog, like all of our blogs, will be available on the Web indefinitely, this is the last post.  We’ve come to the end of another journey and we’re so glad you decided to join us.  We had a wonderful trip and we hope you enjoyed our photos and a little commentary along the way.  We enjoyed having you along and appreciated your comments and feedback.

Until next time – au revoir!

One of the guides we consulted for the Paris gardens portion of our trip was “Hidden Gardens of Paris” by Susan Cahill. Using that guide, we discovered how close the Garden of Plants was to our hotel which ultimately prompted our visit, although I’m still not sure why the Garden of Plants would be considered “hidden” (how, pray tell, do you “hide” a 69-acre garden!). Ms. Cahill’s guide also recommended La Vallee Suisse (the Swiss Valley), which truly was a hidden garden and a real gem. One of the things that made it so hidden was the fact that the name on the sign at the garden entrance was not La Vallee Suisse but rather Jardin de la Nouvelle France. But we knew we were at the right place because we were at the busy intersection of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Cours la Reine and the place looked like the photos in the book. Oh, those sneaky French!

This sunken garden was so lush, green and quiet, we were in absolute amazement of the contrast between this tiny oasis and the relentless traffic surrounding it from above.  I think Ms. Cahill summed up this little jewel very well when she said:
“…narrow, cracked stone stairs lead down into the hidden “valley.” What you find at the bottom comes as a surprise and delight: utter quiet and simple beauty to the accompaniment of the sound of water flowing from a small waterfall into a pond shaped by rocks and shaded by an old weeping beech tree. There’s a surround of tall evergreens and maples rising toward the sky, bushes thick with lilacs and jasmine. The wooden footbridge has the look of a set design. It’s an enchanting and comforting place, a sanctuary…”

 

 

 

 

Our little island was a very touristy area that had a lot of street musicians. We walked by them several times every day and really enjoyed them. Chuck even bought CD’s from several of them. One lone guy, The Troubadour of Paris, was playing at the end of the bridge by Notre Dame and we realized he was the same one on this very same corner when we came by here just over a year ago. At that time, he played Romance by an unknown composer which is one of our favorites. This time around Chuck asked him to play it while he recorded him. The Troubadour seemed a little nervous, maybe because he was being recorded.

One afternoon we were in our room where I was working on the blog and Chuck was taking a nap. Our hotel is only about 1/2 block from the pedestrian bridge that goes over to Notre Dame – the bridge that always has the street musicians on it. I heard the music playing and thought the performers were back – but they sounded so close and it sounded like a full orchestra! When I leaned out of the window to look, I realized they were down below our windows and because the street is so narrow, the sound came up and in through our 5th floor window. And although it sounded like a whole orchestra down there, I discovered it was only one guy with a clarinet, another with a trumpet and a boombox on wheels for their back-up. That guy on the clarinet was really good.

There was always somebody on the pedestrian bridge playing music. We thought these 2 guys were especially good. Unfortunately we’re terrible at recording videos but it kind of gives you the idea of both the music and the surroundings. It’s windy on the bridge which explains the wind noise on the video.

The streets along the Seine are high above the water, but there are frequent stairs or ramps that take you directly down to stone walkways right along the river. This is where all of the young people congregate in the evening, enjoying picnics, talking, and making their own live music.

This group was very animated. I like his yellow trombone and the guy in the red pants had some really good moves. Unlike the musicians on the bridge who perform for donations, these guys are just part of the group and they play for the enjoyment of it.

I was hoping to get all kinds of fantastic photos of outdoor cats like one sees in Greece. But I really struck out here. But I took a photo, good or bad, of every cat we came across, because I promised Emmatina I would. So, Emmatina, as promised here are my meager photos of the cats of France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only a couple more posts to go – I’ll let you know when we get to the last one.

In the meantime, here are a few more of the multitude of photos we took on our numerous walks around Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a little 8-passenger tour bus out to Giverny to see Monet’s home and gardens. It was some sort of bank holiday and most people turned it into a 4-day weekend. It’s only 45 miles from Paris to Giverny but it took twice as long as usual because the traffic was bumper to bumper. And the gardens were absolutely crammed with visitors. Fortunately our bus driver had our tickets in hand so we were able to get right in, which was good because we had a mere 1 1/2 hours to see it all.  But wait, here’s a little history about this fabulous place:

Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny (with a current population of 500 residents) while looking out of a train window. He made up his mind to move there and rented a house and the area surrounding it. In 1890 he had enough money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings were of his garden in Giverny, famous for its rectangular Clos normand, with archways of climbing plants entwined around colored shrubs, and the water garden, formed by a tributary to the Epte, with the Japanese bridge, the pond with water lilies, the wisterias and the azaleas. Monet lived in the house with its famous pink crushed brick façade from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many members of his family are interred in the village cemetery. The house and gardens became a Museum opened to public visit in 1980.

Monet’s gardens are made up of two entirely separate and different areas with the city’s major street running right through the middle. I have no idea how this came about originally but actually it works out quite nicely.  The two gardens are connected by an underground tunnel. The garden that lies the furthest from the house is the water lily garden. It’s more free-form, with a pond in the middle, that fabulous Japanese bridge we’re all familiar with, and a small river running through one side. The water lilies weren’t blooming when we were there but everything else was beautiful. The weeping willow trees were especially pretty and gave the whole area a very peaceful feel.

Across the street from the garden with the pond is a more traditional, structured garden with Monet’s pink house with the green shutters at the far end. Time and the crowds didn’t allow for a tour of the house but we were absolutely awed by the design of these amazing gardens and cherished every moment we were able to spend there.

Here’s another post of photos of people and places we saw while we were walking around in Paris every day.

 

Cute car!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, a few “shopping” photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jardin des Plantes (Garden of Plants) is the main botanical garden in France. Founded in 1626, it was originally planted by Louis XIII’s physician as a medicinal herb garden. The 69-acre grounds include 4 galleries, a botanical school and a small zoo.  In addition to the long flower-lined promenade down to the Grande Galerie de L’Evolution museum, the gardens are made up of several different themed plots of gardens as well as a labyrinth and 3 elaborate hot houses built in the 1800’s.  It was a real treasure that we discovered just 6 blocks from our hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most intriguing small gardens within the Garden of Plants is the Alpine Garden. The entrance is through a tunnel which runs under another small garden. The Alpine Garden contains over 3,000 species of alpine flowers and plants – white, purple, yellow and pink – from all over the world. It’s such a tranquil place and so pleasant.

 

Aaaaahhhh…..

Built in the early 1600’s around the beautiful Luxembourg Palace, the Luxembourg Gardens cover 57 precisely manicured acres. It feels more like a park than gardens and it’s an amazing place.  The day we were there it was very warm and very crowded.  I think the mini-bus driver who took us out to Giverny explained it very well.  He said that their homes are very expensive and therefore very small.  Lots of the homes in those big, gorgeous buildings are only studios.  So if people want to get together, they can’t have friends over, they have to go out.  They go to bars, they go to restaurants, and they go to their beautiful parks. Paris has had a real cold and rainy spell lately and these days we’ve been in Paris, the weather has been beautiful.  So everybody is taking advantage of the wonderful spring weather to be outside – – Parisians love their parks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, door fans, here’s your post. Some old, some new, all interesting. Be sure to check out the one at the end that I had heard of and really wanted to see. We had a little trouble finding it but it was worth the quest.

 

 

And this Art Deco door is the most famous (and probably photographed) door in Paris. It was built by Jules Lavirotte in 1901. Actually the entire front of this building is a real work of art – and each floor is different!.