Paris, Part One

I’m home. We had a wonderful time in France, and already miss it. Well, parts of it. Miss: the fresh, fresh, gorgeously-decadent food; the mind-blowing wines for under $10; the accessibility of great art, architecture and design; my sister. Don’t miss: the smoking; the humidity; how easy it is to overindulge.

Now it’s time to get caught up. I apologize for the lack of posts while I was away. I thought I’d do more blogging, but it’s really hard to devote time to it when there are bottles of wine to be enjoyed, new neighbourhoods to discover and catching up with my sister to do. Can you blame me? Didn’t think so.

I thought I’d break down the two weeks we were away into digestible chunks. Today I bring you Paris, Part One (or should that be Un?). The one week spent in Paris was much less floriferous than our time in the country, obviously, but perhaps because they don’t have easy access to backyards or farmland, Parisians really do try to integrate greenery into their lives. Their window boxes, for example, are incredible. At home people are always claiming they don’t have the space to garden. You people: please see the above photo.

Then there are the flower markets. My favourite, simply for it’s overwhelming size and accompanying perfume, is the much-photographed Marche aux Fleurs at Place Louis Lepine, which turns into a bird market on Sundays.

The parks in Paris proper are rather formal affairs; symmetrical and geometrical, with lawns that are meant for looking at, not picnicking on. Still, they are splendid when viewed from above, like this, the Parc du Champ de Mars (taken from the Eiffel Tower, natch!).

Tomorrow: discovery at the Pompidou Centre and that famous vertical garden.

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