Jardin de Luxembourg, October 2014

On Tuesday October 14th, I decided to make my annual pilgrimage to one of my favorite places in Paris--the Jardin de Luxembourg.  It's about a 20-30 minute walk (depending on who you are and how fast you walk), so I started up the Avenue des Gobelins. 

The Avenue has some lovely examples of classic Haussmann buildings.  The Haussmann façade was organized around horizontal lines that often continued from one building to the next: balconies .were perfectly aligned.  The roofs are gray tile in a mansard style and the balconies are along the 5th (American 6th) floors.

I stopped at the Musée des Gobelins to find out about a tour.  The Gobelin factories produced amazing tapestries and fabrics--they served the royal family of France--and the workers lived in the neighborhood, including the little mews where my apartment is located!  The tours are of the actual workshop where tapestries are being made but alas are only in French.  I am going to contact some folks to see about arranging for someone to tour with me and do some translation (I'm a little bit of a museum geek).  I'll report on this endeavor!

Looking at different buildings and their styles, I noticed this one as I got close to the Jardin.  It's clearly very old and it's architecture unusual for the neighborhood.  I wondered how it survived renovation.

 Then I saw why.

The Jardin was lovely as usual.  I've been there in every season except for winter.  (Note to self
:  come in January or February sometime.)  Autumn is a lovely time to come.  I sat and read--and people watched--for an hour or so.

The people watching was very interesting.  I watched a group of women (I'm pretty sure they were all women) with walking sticks tromp around the garden.  I took what I hope were some discreet photos.

For lunch I walked to the Rue Fleurs and ate at Bread & Roses.  I had a marvelous pumpkin soup, thinly sliced ham  (pancetta-like really) on the side, followed by a café au lait.

 Apparently not the last rose of summer.

I walked through the park again on my way to catch a bus home and happened upon a happy scene.

And then I stopped to admire one of the white ladies--there are twenty statutes of queens of France, saints and famous women in the park.

Clemence Isaure was neither a queen of France or a saint but was a patron of poets--which I'm sure my readers will agree is just as good.  She is a semi-legendary medieval character who is credited with the founding of the  Floral Games of Toulouse.   She bequeathed a legacy which enabled the city of Toulouse to give a golden and a silver rose to the two best poets!

Wednesday, October 15th will be a quiet day for me, non-market shopping for supplies (dish soap, toilet paper, etc.), laundry, and I think I'll see a movie:  Gone Girl with French sub-titles.  Unless I post a review, there will be no blog entry for Wednesday so you can all catch up on your other reading.  ; - )

I'll be back with Thursday's sights but until then, adieu!