Soothing Stone

In contrast to my last post where I gathered together shiny images, today I have gathered some images of creamy golden stone. They sooth me. 

I walked past an apartment block on our street for nine years without noticing this lovely detail. Then one day, when walking on the other side of the road it came into my field of vision. Moral of the story? Change the side of the road you usually walk along, you may see something new!

Here is one of the windows in the Église Saint-Eustache, near Les Halles in Paris' 1st arrondissement. A heart with some intricate carving below.

The next two images are of the Palais du Luxembourg, in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

The facade of the Palais de Chaillot by Trocadero.

A stone wall in the Jardin des Tuileries.

The facade of the Basilica Cathedral of St Denis.

The Pont Neuf.

And finally a crow, pauses on the borders of the Seine.

Magical Monday - Changing Scenes

L'Acteur Grec, the Greek Actor, in the Jardin du Luxembourg has gone to great lengths to change the stage set of his play. Pantheon? What Pantheon?

L'Acteur Grec was sculpted by artist Charles-Arthur Bourgeois in 1868 for the Universal Exhibition.

Every Monday, Magical Monday, I post a photo that is hopefully puzzling, fantastical, unexpected or just plain daft. Unless otherwise mentioned, no Photoshop involved.

More photos from the Magical Mondays series can be found here.

Sailing boats

The school holidays continue. I think by the end of the two weeks we will have visited every park in Paris. Yesterday it was the Jardin du Luxembourg. Let's just say we weren't the only ones who went. The park was heaving, and I mean HEAVING!

We'd arranged to meet friends by the main pond where the kids can sail boats. The boats were looking very photogenic. They sailed in pairs.

They sailed alone.

They sailed with ducks.

And if you ever wondered what the boats used to look like circa 1969. Well the answer is...EXACTLY the same. Look, even that blue bit at the top is the same!

Iconic Parisian park chairs

The green chairs in the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Jardin des Tuileries are an iconic symbol of Parisian parks. I've been trying to find some information about the history of their design and have had little joy. These days there are two main types, the ones for reclining. These rather dark green ones are in the Jardin des Tuileries.

As are these upright ones.

Here are some in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

These two are chatting.

Apparently, according to my mother who lived in Paris at the time, these particular ones were introduced in 1954. I can confirm, for a fact, that they had the same chairs in 1969...in the background is one of the first Maclaren buggies as well!

More Parisian park chairs can be seen here (thumbnails) and here (slideshow).

Des Abeilles

Did you know there were bee hives in the Jardin Luxembourg? I didn't. That just goes to show how much more I have to learn about this city. Apparently they have been there since the mid 19th Century.

The first clue we had was this.

The 9 year old spotted this sign first and hooted with laughter. Bees? In January? They have got to be joking? 

And then we saw these. Aren't they lovely?