Friday, June 12, 2009

Jardins du Luxembourg Redux


The Captain
(#11 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Today Eva, Davis and I took a nice walk back to Luxembourg Gardens. First stop the ice cream stand at the entrance. We all got a scoop (boule ?) from the friendly owner who apologized for his anglais! My stars, my français is much worse!! We sat a watched the ducks at the pond while we ate our glacés. As we were headed to find the smaller version of our Statue of Liberty, we passed this amazing boat. Luckily the "Captain's" son spoke perfect English, mainly because he lives in Philadelphia! The bateau, named the Sirius, is just a wonderful collage of strings, tiny drawings, more string, beads, miniature people, more string and assorted baubles and a little junk thrown in. See for yourself.

On our way home I took the plunge and we made our way to the poste. I was more than a little worried about how I would purchase stamps en français ( mainly because we have some "stamp Nazis" in several post offices in Birmingham) . Not a problem, they had helpful employees wandering around that 1. spoke English 2. Walked me through the whole French stamp machine process. 3. APOLOGIZED because the stamps weren't "pretty"! I personally didn't care what they looked like as long as I got them.

Our last day in Paris, tomorrow we pack up all our worldly goods ( and we have many more than we came here with) and make our way to the countryside to La Bonne Etoile. I'm a little sad about leaving our nice apartment and all the wonderful things in Paris that I still haven't seen, but since Fontaine-Fourches is only 60 miles SE of Paris, I plan to make some trips back here now and again on the train. That said, we can hardly wait to see what all Kippy and Jérôme have planned for us. Tomorrow's post will hopefully be photos from their lovely home.


The Glacé Man
( #12 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)


You know who this is .

Catching some rays and a nap at the gardens is a common sight.



The Friendly Pony Guy
(#13 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Le Petit Truck
( Eva and Davis LOVE this one! Davis calls it a "Smart Car Truck" )

14 comments:

marley said...

Ah, goodbye Paris - hello next adventure! I love how the kids love that little van. And I love the little Statue of Liberty.

Safe trip onwards :)

Cheryl said...

Ice cream in the jardin du Luxembourg! I am envious! I relaly enjoy your photos, thank you for sharing!

Jill said...

Oh I look forward to the photos and commentary! I have so thoroughly enjoyed your visit and all the things you have shown us. Thanks so much V.

Judy - So California said...

V, You have packed your days FULL and I've loved every look and word you've shared with us. Can't wait to move on. You're a treasure for sharing all these wonders.

Daryl said...

The header shot literally took my breath away ... I am in love with this city...thank you for sharing it ...

Anonymous said...

Aother cute pony guy. See you in the countryside.

PeterParis said...

You can see that French people CAN be friendly! ... or maybe it's your charm that makes the difference?

Starman said...

Love the "smart car truck". I can't believe you're leaving Paris already. It seems like you just got there.

Virginia said...

Starman, yes it does seem like we just got to Paris. One thing I know now.... 3 weeks is NOT long enough in Paris!

Peter,
I have always found the French to be very helpful, friendly and charming and that includes those from Sweden!

Thank you all for you nice comments. We are now in Fontaine-Fouches , a lovely drive from Paris. I have already taken a LOT of photos but can't seem to get them to load. My blog may be late coming up tomorrow. Keep checking!

Mademoiselle Gramophone said...

Fantaskteeeeek! You are giving me a bad case of the wanderlust.

Mister Earl said...

Virginia: Did you ever know George Whitman, the former owner of Shakespeare and Company on the Left Bank? His daughter runs the store now. He is a descendent of Walt Whitman, or so I heard. As you may know, there's a store called Shakespeare and Company on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Back in 1976, I walked into Shakespeare in Paris. Whitman was sitting at his desk, and I asked, "Are you related to the..." Before I could finish the question, he barked, "No. They stole our name!" As I chatted with him about the store, he had some pea soup that he was heating by placing it on a space heater under the desk. After it was heated, he took at taste. It was too hot, and he immediately spit the mouthful he had taken back into the bowl. "Too hot!" he exclaimed. Then he got up and went over to a vase of very wilted roses that had been sitting in water for at least a couple weeks. He lifted the flowers out and proceeded to pour the water from the vase into his soup to cool it off. I was amazed. I bought A Moveable Feast there that evening and used it as a guidebook to parts of Paris. Years later, I met someone on the internet who had actually stayed at the store for a few weeks when she was in college. George used to put some beds among the books and let people stay there. Apparently, this tradition went back to the original Shakespeare and Company.

Virginia said...

Mr. E,
What a great great story. Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm still laughing about the soup. IT's quite a place. Hardly room to turn around.
V

Maya said...

That is one cool truck! And, some great strangers too!

My word verification: broad!

Jane Hards Photography said...

As you can see I am having a blog day in as rain has postponed my latest assigment. No complaints this end though. Just love the napping fellows. Just every image of the kids conveys the lust for life we often lose.