Paris Poppies

“The poppies hung Dew-dabbed on their stalks.” John Keats.

Up by the Sacré Cœur yesterday morning, early, I saw the most wonderful poppies.

Oversized pale pink poppies, standing high, overlooking Paris. 

Thin papery petals let through the light.


I've never seen poppies like these. Large, very large, washed out pale pink poppies bending gently in the breeze.


Gathered below the Sacré Cœur.


Here are a few more Paris poppies. A glorious orange-red one.



My son had to steady this poppy.


Look inside it! No photo editing, this is the way it looked!

Parisian Blooms

Spring has arrived, the sun has some warmth, temperatures have risen and plants are starting to grow again after the cold months of winter. Small shoots unfurl, into impossibly green leaves. 

I live with a hay-fever sufferer and this year has been bad. No rain for several weeks, all the trees flowering at the same time makes for a lot of sneezing. Here are some flower photos that won't make you sneeze.

I took this photo in our local park, a canopy of pink papery petals.

I stood on a bench and got up close.



Here is some paler blossom in the gardens below the Sacré Cœur.



Sturdier petals. Peach.



Buds not quite open.


White flowers that smell of honey.


The parks of Paris are full of tulips.




And pansies.


My favourite flower is still the poppy.


What is not to like?...Well...apart from all that pollen. Achoo!

Musée de Montmartre

Up on La Butte, a block away from the Place de Tertre is the Musée de Montmartre. A small museum, located in what was formerly the hôtel de Rosimond, one of the oldest houses on the hill, dating from the 17C. The white house in this photo is the Musée de Montmartre as viewed from the bottom of the Montmartre vineyard.

The museum houses a collection of paintings, posters, lithographs, photographs and furniture, documenting the history of Montmartre. It was also home to several famous artists, notably Suzanne Valadon and her son Maurice Utrillo, Vincent van Gogh, Raoul Dufy, Erik Satie, and Auguste Renoir. 

What I personally love most about the museum is the experience of walking through the house and around the gardens, looking at the views, and imagining what it must have been like to live there. Here is a view of the northern facade, looking up.

The views from the gardens are magnificent. Looking west across the vineyards you see this staggered row of tall narrow apartments buildings.

Here is a view looking north down towards the Lapin Agil.


The studio where Utrillo lived with his mother Suzanne Valadon.



Some art discreetly exhibited in a corner of the garden.



A tree propped up by a lyre.



Much of the museum has fallen into a state of disrepair but fortunately there are plans to refurbish and restore it. Here is a building in the compound awaiting restoration...the right way up.

Up side down.



Even the graffiti has an attractive quality to it.

Frankly some of the decay is rather delectable, though I can see that some action needs to be taken to preserve this beautiful site.




This horticultural detail made me smile.

The Musée de Montmartre website can be found here.

Red and Rouge

Well, it's already been a year since my first blog post. Last year on the 30th of August I posted a collection of 'red' photos. I love red. I often dress in red, the kids too...whenever I can persuade them  (by the way, my daughter's red coat was made by my mother in-law. Let's just say we turned heads with that coat-combo). We have a red wall in our house, and the outside of our house is red.

Here is a red sunflower I saw in the Jardin des Plantes earlier in the summer. Did you know sunflowers could be red? Favourite flower + favourite colour = dream come true.

Here's a rather amazing flower we saw in the green houses at the Parc Citroën.


I saw this skull in a very posh shop in the 7th arrondissement. The window display had about 7 tetes de morts of different colours lined up. They were hard to photograph because of the reflection. Here's the red one. One of these is not enough, you really need all seven.

On the subject of mort.


The red Bernard Tschumi folies at Parc de la Villette have kept their red colour amazingly well over the past twenty years.


Traffic lights often cast lovely red light.




The red of these strawberry and raspberry tartes is so intense.


Meanwhile, the summer holidays are coming to an end and autumn is creeping up on us.

More red photos can be seen here (thumbnails) and here (slideshow).

A family of eight

A family outing in the bois de Boulogne.

The Living Wall at Quai Branly

The Musée du Quai Branly exhibits a stunning collection of indigenous art and culture from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The building was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel and completed in 2006. It is situated 100 metres from the Eiffel Tower. 

The north side of the museum complex flanks the 'Quai Branly' a busy multi lane road running along the south side of the Seine. Along this northern side and part of the museum complex is a 'living wall', or a 'green wall', 200 metres long and 12 metres high, designed Patrick Blanc and Gilles Clément, both botanists and skilled gardeners. 

The first time I saw it a few years ago I was not expecting to do so, I had never seen anything like it. I was amazed by the luscious, textural, green facade of this modern building, with otherwise sharp angular contours.

What adds to the magic are the windows that reflect the sky.

Here it is in May 2010.

And here it is in May 2011, during the exceptionally warm spring we were treated to this year.

Once you get up close to the wall you see the multitude of different plants growing and the complexity and detail of the design.

There is an inbuilt watering system that irrigates the wall. 

When you go into the museum gardens, embedded in the pathways are resin blocks containing non living plants, as well as insects and shells. The kids love hunting out these little gems. I prefer the living plants, but these are not bad either.