jardin du luxembourg

a gorgeous garden in the heart of paris, le jardin du luxembourg is full of lush green grass (that you can't sit on), carved stone vases cradling vibrant pink flowers, dramatic marble statues ..& it has actual street n names within the park.

i love all the little floating boats that bob along in the lake in front of le palais du luxembourg (the impressive palace that overlooks the gardens - home to a museum, i think??). these "luxembourg boats" are in all colours of the rainbow, and each has a little theme. whether it be the colours & flag of a certain country, a skull & cross-bones, or 'MP' with a little silhouette of mary poppins...they've thought of everything. 

you can hire the boats just next to the lake, where they also give you a long wooden stick to....well, i'm not really sure what you do with the stick... poke the boat to push it further out into the water?? i'll pay more attention next time ;-)

we came on a hot day, so we located a few of the little chairs that are dotted across the garden (which, surprisingly, you don't have to pay to sit in. this is unheard of in paris!), dragged them over to the lake's edge and sank into them. admittedly not as comfortable as lounging around on grass, but still as lovely & enjoyable as ever to relax by the water, chatting & watching the luxembourg boats sail by...

à la prochaine,

S.

so many gardeners..no wonder the gardens are flawless!

forbidden grass! nooooo

crêperie in the luxembourg gardens

luxembourg palace

la panthéon

i wouldn't go so far as to say i 'stumbled upon' the pantheon (or if you want to be fancy, la panthéon), as i figured it was in the general rive gauche vicinity... but it was only after taking a few 'there-should-be-a-metro-somewhere-around-here' turns that all of a sudden there it was in front of me.

i was actually heading home from a coffee & crêpe date with a friend, but being only 6 o'clock i figured why not - and decided to check the late 18th century basilica-turned-temple.

i had the place almost to myself, which seemed to magnify the vastness of the building. i was so confused as to what its actual purpose was, so i had a chat to the little man at the entrance and he more or less told me that it was originally a basilica for christian worship until the late 19th century - when it was given a secular use and turned from a church to a 'resting place' for the ashes of 'the nation's great men'.

there's also a crypt underground, where lies victor hugo & voltaire....as well as léon gambetta's preserved heart. lovely.

such an impressive building & proof that a surprise, un-planned visit can be a great one.

S.

gambetta's preserved heart

les boussats, part II

thursday afternoon had me counting down the minutes (orrrr seconds..) until my train would pull in to the platform at gare montparnasse & speed me (literally, tgv's roll at 300 km/h) south to angoulême. you might remember me mentioning this place a few months back...i visited my 2nd home in february, and figured it was time for another visit. 5 months is too long!

i spotted fleur, iris & christel the moment i stepped off the train. eee! a delicious dinner of many courses ensued, followed by all six of us together on the couch watching le discours d'un roi (king's speech). was just as good in french as it was in english.

over the weekend, we cycled through the nearby forest, sat around the pool, swapped stories & relaxed. i was able to find some time to dig out my old sketchbook and fill up some pages. with vine-covered stone houses & climbing vines, i didn't have to look far for inspiration.

monday came around all too quickly. before i knew it i was back on the tgv to paris. to add a silver lining to an already fabulous weekend away, there was a mixup with the tickets and i got bumped up to first class. life is sweet.

with all these trips away from paris, you'd think i didn't like paris...but it's quite the opposite! i miss the city of lights when i'm away. definitely a sign that i (along with so many others) have fallen in love with the city's charm.
...although that reminds me - not everyone does. read this article to know what i mean...

on that note, i leave you with a few pictures from my weekend at my home away from home.


gros bisous,



S.