Show & Tell: On the Walls in Paris

I'm a newbie to Show and Tell, but there's no time like the present. So, here's my first installment.

Parisians love their animals, perhaps more than their children. I saw some of the most well-behaved dogs in Paris that I have ever seen - all off the leash, but completely under control. The children should have been so well-trained! I found this love of animals in the street art and posters. Here are two of my faves:


I love this jaunty little spray-painted kitty. He even has little paw pads! I just think it's wonderful. So kitty-esque.


I imagine this kitty is thinking, dude, I am so going to kill you when you put me down. That tongue? I'm licking my chops for dinner of YOU. And the pooch, so cute. I think the translation is: Come Adopt! Doors Open All Day May 17 - 18.
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In other news, I was distressed - but not surprised - to see that G_____ has an adoption pending (and it's not with us. We haven't even heard from the matchmaker yet). The important thing is he is getting a good forever home. Our dog will come!

Scenes in Paris: Jardin des Plantes

After we landed, we made it to our Parisian pied-a-terre around 10:30 in the morning to find that there was no electricity, no juice, no nothing. We called the apartment managers who found out that the electric company (EDF) had inexplicably turned off the power the day before. "It's France!" she told me. So it was.

This little situation didn't get resolved until about 4pm that afternoon, but we had used the time to nap and decompress after the long flight. There's nothing like trying to sleep in steerage to make you truly appreciate an actual bed! Once it all got fixed, we headed out to enjoy the rest of the day, such as it was.

We headed to the Jardin des Plantes (Garden of Plants - so original!) for a stroll and some late touristing. We timed our visit perfectly since it was May and all of the flowers were blooming, including roses as large as my fist. And they smelled heavenly. Yes, I stopped and smelled lots and lots of roses.

There were actually multiple gardens, within gardens, some next to the Museum of Natural History and some next to the zoo on the other side of the main garden.

We strolled and just took in the beautiful flowers which were everywhere. At one point, though, we heard the strangest animal sound. We each thought it sounded like a Kookaburra, a native Australian bird whose call sounds like a laugh. We were near the zoo, so we figured they probably had some. Weirdly, enough, though, we were walking away from the zoo and the noise got louder. We came upon a shallow water feature with a bunch of people standing around. I heard the noise again and everyone pointed at the water. There was no Kookaburra, there was a GINORMOUS FROG making that noise. It was so cool! And, the little guy was actually really cute. (No, I didn't kiss it.)

What was wonderful as well was how many people were there just reading and relaxing on the grass, as if it wasn't a Friday night and time had just stopped. It was very peaceful and pleasant. The perfect ending to our first day.

Some major highlight pictures:

Fire and Ice!

The fabulous carousel with strange (and possibly extinct) creatures.

Giant irises!

Paris Adventures: Versailles

As you may have seen from my other blog, we have returned from Paris, thoroughly tenderized, mellowed and marinated in good French living. We ate, we drank (and drank some more - after all, it's really hard to find 1664 on draft here in the US!), we strolled, we walked, we gazed, we lingered and most of all, we just enjoyed ourselves. Of course, I have to share my stories with all of you since the next best thing to going yourself is hearing about someone else's trip, right? No, I never believed that either, but stick around anyway for some good stories.

For my first story, I'll start with what we did on our last full day in Paris. We actually left the city and headed to Versailles, home of France's kings. Now, boys and girls, think back to your World History class in high school when your teacher talked about the French Revolution or when you read A Tale of Two Cities with Madame Defarge and her knitting needles. Versailles is where the perceived villains of the Revolution let them eat cake.

We were supposed to go on Thursday, not Friday. On Thursday, after we had trekked to Gare d'Austerlitz ('gare' meaning station) and found our way to the correct area, we found ourselves trying to buy train tickets. At that moment, a helpful transit worker asked us where we were going and we told her Versailles. She told us in her deliciously accented English that the chateau (that's what they call it over there, so quaint - it always makes me think that it's some little cottage, not a ginormous building with enough gold to cap teeth to kingdom come) was closed. "Greve", she said. Greve? Between the two of us, Sweetie and I had a lot of years of French language education, but neither of us knew what 'greve' meant. Our confused faces must have said it all, so she said, "Strike." Ahh.

One thing I did remember from my classes in college about Europe was that the French have a penchant for striking. Normally, I don't partake in global characterizations, but frankly, it seems like every other day there is a strike somewhere in Paris or France, or both. Unfortunately for us, this time it was Versailles. Thankfully she saved us the pain of getting there only to be turned away. Not to be undaunted (and frankly because I really wanted to see it), we headed back to Gare d'Austerlitz the next day. This time, no greve was in our way.

We found the right train - we knew this by the bevy of the different tourists milling around the platform - and hopped on. Forty-five minutes later we arrived at Versailles Gare Rive Gauche and after some difficulties getting out of the station (our tickets were only good inside of Paris - oops!) we emerged with the rest of the throng of fanny packs and water bottles and headed towards the Chateau....

In the next installment, the Gardens! They just kept going and going and going.

Got Tips?

Many of you have offered to provide me with your tips on the Best of Paris for which I am grateful - but why should I be the only one who gets to hear them? So, I'm inviting everyone to post their favorite tip, place, whatever for Paris - how every many you want! - so that I can use them on this trip but they can be shared by everyone else as well. Comment away! If there is something that you think I must absolutely do, try, eat, find, let me know!
image: wallyg
Now, of course, more details just to make everyone jealous. We'll be staying in an apartment in the 5th Arrondisment which is known primarily for the Latin Quarter, the Sorbonne, the Pantheon and the Jardin des Plants (Garden of Plants). It is in the center of the city, but on the west bank of the Seine.

So far our plan is not to have much of a plan. We are definitely going to get to Versailles - particularly since we watched Marie Antoinette which was filmed there and I have read part of the Antonia Fraser biography of her. Sweetie also wants to go to Reims to see the cathedral. Apparently, Reims was also the site of the surrender of Germany at the end of World War II and they have the room where it took place exactly as it was all those years ago.

Other than these two excursions outside of Paris, we plan to just wander where we may. We have been once before, but that was in 2000 and in the winter. We both agree that sometimes the best parts of a trip are when you just stumble on to the good stuff. We'll do this in the vicinity of the big touristy places like the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, etc., but we'll also get to know the Latin Quarter.

My father is flying in the day before we leave to take care of the beasties while we're gone. He loves his grandkitties so this will not be a hardship. We are certainly looking forward to a much needed break and are incredibly thankful that we get to it in such an amazing place!

Par Avion

The deed is done. The die has been cast. With a few clicks and keystrokes, we made our reservations for Paris in May. We'll be flying Air France (damn cheap, too) straight to Charles de Gaulle airport.

I have to confess, though, that I'm having a hard time mustering excitement about it right now. Frankly, I'm having a hard time mustering any type of excitement right now about anything, so this is probably not surprising. But, you would think I would feel some sense of accomplishment that we've taken that solid step.

Or maybe, I get a bigger kick out of talking about going to Paris ("Oh yes, darling, we're going to Paris for the spring. Do call when we get back.") than making the mundane travel plans. Or, maybe, as with everything in my life these days, I'm just not letting myself get excited until I'm on the way.

Either way, I will start brushing up on my French ("Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?") and pondering how high up I will be able to go.

Je m'appelle Mrs. X. Parlez-vous français?