Paris rooftops from the Beaubourg

A few months back I wrote a post about our breakfast at Le Georges restaurant on the top floor of the Beaubourg. As well as taking pictures of the very photogenic restaurant I also took photos of the view you get from Le Georges.

I love looking out across Paris rooftops. You're in a whole other world up there in the sky, surrounded by chimneys, balconies and roof terraces. Not to mention the historical monuments that pop up over and above the mansard roofs. 

Like this.

Zooming in one can see traces of peoples lives.

Here's the Hôtel de Ville, with its' extravagant roof and chimneys.

Notre Dame.

La tour Saint-Jacques, with the dome of the Tribunal de Commerce over to the left.

We descended the long exterior escalator running down the side of the building.

As we came down  I took some photos of the buildings on the other side of the big square in front of the Pompidou centre. To me, this view captures the essence of Paris architecture.

La Cité des Fleurs

La Cité des Fleurs is a cobbled leafy lane in the 17th arrondissement, aligned on both sides with beautiful houses, each with their own garden. An oasis in an otherwise unremarkable neighbourhood. The history of this gem dates back to 1847 when two developers, Jean-Edmé Lhenry and Adolphe Bacqueville de la Vasserie, apparently bought the piece of land, then called the Villa des Fleurs, and divided it into plots. Building regulations were established specifying the number of stories permitted - two stories plus mansarde - as well as the distance of the building plot from the road. This is what it looks like today.

Here are some photos showing what the houses look like. The designers, while restricted in the number of stories they were allowed to build, made up for it with the details on the facades. They also seem to have bent the rules on the number of floors! Some are very elaborate.

And some are very classic.

As if it isn't idyllic enough, at one end of the Cité is a École maternelle and a crèche.

They have livestock.

They have palm trees!

But perhaps the most amazing thing I saw in La Cité des Fleurs was this cat. Yep it's real, and its' eyes really are like that. 

For the record, it wasn't very friendly.

Here is some more information about La Cité des Fleurs (La Mairie de 17e)

Oh, and Catherine Deneuve was born in La Cité des Fleurs.

Looking for Spring

Anybody who has been in Paris these past few days will know that the weather has been gorgeous. I don't think I've seen a cloud for three days. It's cold, but if you find a sheltered spot out of the wind, and in the sun, you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face. You really can. 

I went for a stroll the other day to one of our local parks, Square Léon Serpollet, just south of rue Marcadet in the 18th arrondissent. It's a big park by Paris standards (if you exclude the Jardin du Luxembourg, les Tuileries, La Butte Chaumont and Parc Monceau etc.), surrounded on all sides by apartment blocks, so no traffic noise. The gardeners of this park are really amazing, and throughout the year, in the same flower bed, new and interesting plants and flowers will pop up. 

The other day I went on the hunt for signs of spring. I found plenty! This blossom was first to attract my attention. I remember this tree from last year, when in full bloom it's amazing.

I then noticed these green delights.

Here are some yellow blooms.

I'm no gardener myself that's for sure. In fact what I'm best at is killing plants, but I can tell that these are clear evidence of spring.

Here are a few flowers. Nature is quite amazing. Look at this crocus.

And some other flowers. I'm not sure of their names.

Some red berries...or something.

And finally this lace curtain.

My great aunt would have crocheted things a bit like this.

Feel free to enlighten me on what some of these flowers are!

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).