Saturday, April 26th, 2014


This is one of the few selfies I have ever taken.

Ellen and I arrived here in Paris a little over two weeks ago, and she went back to Oregon yesterday.  So now I'm on my own for a while.  I put on a scarf this morning to blend in more with the locals.

I went to a French-English conversation group, then I walked over to see the Palais Royale.  A large part of the colonnade (featured in the climactic chase scene in Charade) was walled off with plywood for repairs (I assume), but I took pictures anyway:

Ellen and I learned quickly that it's an old city and requires a lot of maintenance -- so you many not always see everything at its finest.

I then went to the Carnavalet Museum of history, and a large number of the rooms were closed, including those about the Revolution.  I was told that they only knew on a day to day basis which would be open (!).  I wasn't quite as sanguine about that, but it's free, so I guess they can get away with it.

The lovely building I'm in front of is a library, and you can see part of the wonderful garden also.  It had been a rainy day, but things were finally drying off, and I wondered if one could sit in this garden.  So I opened the little gate, sat down on a bench, and ate an orange.  By the time I finished, several other people had come into the garden to sit. 

I've just determined that this spot is on page 40 of the little book "Quiet Corners of Paris".  Nice to know that many of them are still quiet, despite being publicized.

I've been pretty quiet myself social media-wise, but since tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy day, I might stay in for a while and do some catching up.

*Content note:  For all the posts except this one, the date posted is given under the title.  The posts are in chronological order; I put fake dates into the blogger (behind the scenes) in order to have the posts come out oldest-first instead of newest-first.  Yes, that is actually the simplest way to do it.  The only drawback is that "older posts" and "newer posts" at the bottom of the pages will be reversed.

Pere Lachaise; Jardin des Plantes

Posted 4/28/2014

I marched all over Pere Lachaise today, as well as a couple of other spots in the 20th arrondisement, with my "big" camera, my guidebook, and my umbrella, so I'm a little worn out... I will probably take tomorrow off from sightseeing to rest and try to do some more blogging.  But here are a few items...

Look who was hanging out across from Chopin's tomb!


I was even more delighted than I normally would be, because you don't see many cats out and about in Paris.  This was a very friendly little kitty.  So Chopin's tomb was a good place for him/her to hang out, since it probably gets the most traffic after Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison.  (The kitty's person called him/her away a few minutes later -- maybe someone who works there?)

More about Pere Lachaise later, but on my way back, I went through the Jardin des Plantes, which is near my apartment and is becoming one of my favorite places.  There are funny things about it.  Like this tool shed:
Right nearby is a table or bench of sorts with a taxonomic diagram of the plant kingdom (Tina, I think you would like this place):
I also came across this sign, beneath a maple tree, which apparently warns passersby about falling leaves:
Further investigation confirmed my suspicion that this was meant to be a funny, because they don't seem to be overly solicitious about safety in general.  I found this growing, big as you please, with no warnings whatsoever:
Wow!


Update:  For more funny stuff, there was later an exhibit, in comic form, extolling the humane treatment of the animals in the neighboring menagerie (which I didn't visit, but I still liked this exhibit).  Here are a couple of examples, with translations:


"Once we had noticed that a female crocodile was depressed..."

 To (know how to) distinguish:
        Happy croc
        Dubious croc
        Depressed croc

"We left her alone, one night, with a pigeon that had entered her enclosure.  The next day, things were going better."  [well, not for the pigeon!]
Word balloon:  "Ah!  You look better!  I'm pleased to see that!"
[of course, the croc always looks exactly the same]



"Thus, we trained the parrots to enter tubes willingly."  [by putting peanuts in the tubes]
Parrot is thinking:  Peanut?
"This practice is used for insemination, less stressful than the traditional method."
Parrot is thinking:  Prankster peanut!


All of the above photos are from the "educational" area of the garden.  Here are some nice flowers from the "fancy" area of the garden (my terminology):



There are also several inexpensive and interesting-looking museums on the grounds.  (I have been to one, which had an exhibit of ornithological art.)

More later!

Pere Lachaise (and another bit of the 20th)

Posted 5/1/2014

More on Pere Lachaise, as promised.  Some of you may have been there already, so I thought I might focus on interesting tombs that aren't the famous ones, but that plan went out the window.  We have a combination.

I took my first ride on the bus out to the 20th arrondisement, and that worked out well, except for the loud group of young guys in the back, which I suppose can happen anywhere.  

Before going to the cemetery, I checked out another couple of locations from the book "Quiet Corners of Paris".  Apparently some of the outlying arrondisements contain what were once little villages that have been swallowed by the city.  So you have a few quaint little spots surrounded by less-quaint areas.  Passage des Soupirs (Passage of Sighs) did not live up to its name, but I was pleased with Campagne a Paris (the Countryside in Paris):
I

And I saw a cat!  (Yes, you will receive a report, if not photos, for every cat spotting.) S/he talked to me a bit, in French I suppose, before trotting off into the shrubbery.

[Update:  My sisters and I later visited another 20th arrondisement spot from "Quiet Corners", la Cimitiere de Charonne, when we made another trip to Pere Lachaise.  Perhaps the area has not been maintained well, but none of us considered it to be worth the detour.]  

Upon entering Pere Lachaise at the northeast entrance, I quickly came upon:

I assume the little pooch is keeping his/her person company, in spirit at least.

Other markers also included faithful dog figures, but generally along more classic lines.  I particularly liked this one:



I was using Rick Steve's guidebook to locate specific markers.  Sometimes the writing in the book is a little flippant, but it was a tremendous help here, because some of these would be hard to find just using the dots on the official map-- and there's a lot of ground to cover, up and down hills sometimes, on bumpy cobblestones.

In any case, this one was a little hidden away:

Someone is trying to protect Oscar Wilde's tomb from excessive lipstick stains (or worse?):
But people are managing to get around the plexiglass.
Here is a nicer tribute:

Here are some of Wilde's neighbors:

Characteristically, Gertrude Stein's marker is a bit more understated:

And without the guidebook, I would not known to look for Alice B. Toklas on the back!

Bulbs are a good idea -- they will keep coming back!


Kind of a scary one (I saw others with chained railings around them, but not as pointy):


Clearly, there are a lot of elaborate markers to be seen here.  One common design resembled a tiny house with a door, and you could usually look inside to see a memorial of some sort to the deceased person (or persons).  This is one example:


Of course, there were quite a few like those shown below-- clearly untended for a long time.



Getting back to the celebrities:  Here is Chopin's tomb (near the kitty sighting!!) and a closeup of some of his tribute items:



And, of course, Jim Morrison.

Its glory days are in the past; there used to be a bust which was covered with graffiti, as was most of the surrounding area.  (You can find pictures pretty easily online, so I won't include one here.)  The area is now fenced off (you can see some of the railing in the back) so you cannot get too close (without an official escort, I suppose).  Wikipedia indicates that this is done to prevent graffiti and "other nuisances".


There was a goofy guy nearby who was trying to play "tour guide" to all the tourists ("here is what this grave used to look like!") ("shortcut to Chopin!").  I assume money would be requested at some point.  He did approach me (it was kind of unavoidable), but when I kept answering him in French he marched off.  Hooray!



Here is one of the last folks I sought out:
 

I'm in the process of reading her novelette "Le Ble en Herbe" ("Green Wheat"), in French, for my book group at home.  I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm glad that it is not very long.



A bientot!

(Je regrette que je n'utilise pas des accents pour les mots francais; c'est difficile avec ce systeme.)  (Yes, that is the subjunctive, even though it is the same as the indicative in this case.)  :)

More of the Jardin des Plantes

Posted 5/1/2014

The Jardin du Luxembourg (about 15 minutes west of me) is a hard act to follow, but I've been very impressed with the Jardin des Plantes (10-15 minutes east of me).  Here are some more scenes from the "fancy" part of the gardens, with the first two looking on to the Grande Galerie de L'Evolution (part of the Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle).


Another photographer:
And a gardener:





Nearby are the greenhouses (Les Grandes Serres).  Based on what I can see from the outside, these remind me of the greenhouses I have seen in Golden Gate Park.  I will have to pay my six euro sometime and go inside.  This detail photo shows the interesting purple tint of the glass:


Just past the greenhouses, Ellen and I encountered this "Bee Hotel" (not to be confused with the "Beat Hotel" on Rue Gît-le-Cœur).  I saw a similar structure in the Jardin du Luxembourg today, though it seemed to be less exclusive; it was called simply "Maison des Insectes".



In the "educational area" of the park, I saw one of its possible residents at work:



Another museum associated with the gardens is the Galerie d'Anatomie Comparee et de Paleontologie.  It has lots of skeletons and, to my understanding, a devoted following.  Near the entrance is this statue of a man with a mastadon in his hand and -- a platypus?? -- on his head:


Also on the grounds is a tree (below), which, if memory serves, was recently discovered in Australia, and has been planted in different locations around the world for preservation.  I'm a bit fuzzy on this, so I may have to go back and reread the plaque... and perhaps go inside and look at all the skeletons.





Ellen and I actually went into the lobby of this museum when we were visiting the garden, so I could use the restrooms -- In the lobby is a very large and dramatic sculpture of an orangutan strangling a human.  (Yikes!)  I did a little research and learned that the sculpture is by Emmanuel Frémiet-- who also created the statue of Jean d'Arc in the Glisan Avenue roundabout in Portland, Oregon!!  (Incidentally, the sculpture post-dated Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" by about 50 years.)

I have visited another, smaller museum on the grounds, which had an exhibition of ornithological art (as I mentioned previously).  (I caught it the day before it ended!)


The texts below are from, respectively, 1738 and 1557 !



This hummingbird text is from 1834, and it indicates that the female of this species had not yet been discovered-- by humans, that is.  She was probably not overly concerned.


Nice illustrations of kestrels (?) and another great horned owl:



The following were done by Edward Lear (better known for limericks and "The Owl and the Pussycat") when he was only 20 years old.  (Below the paintings is a stuffed toucan or one of his cousins.)


I really enjoyed this exhibit and definitely got my 3 euro(s) worth.  So there are some bargains in Paris.  (Like baguettes... but I believe their price is set by law.)

A bientot, et Bonne Fete du Muguet!