On my first full day back from Provence, I took the bus out to the Parc de Belleville, in the 20th arrondissement, north of Pere Lachaise... because I had heard there were feral cats there! It's also a nice park to wander around in.
It's built on a hillside, so there are good views at the top. That's the Tour Eiffel on the right, the Pompidou Centre near the middle (light blue and red), and that building that no one likes over on the left. There was also some body movement practice going on; it looked somewhat like Tai chi but involved more groveling. There were still at it when I came back by this way some time later.
Some more nice landscaping at the top:
Much of the park is more wooded and 'wild' than this, with a network of paved paths going through the trees. I was beginning to despair of seeing kitties when suddenly I saw a group of about six, being fed by a nice lady who was clearly their 'person'. I could not really approach them, but she was petting them and getting flops and head-butts. They all looked happy and healthy.
I had a little conversation with the woman in French, which went pretty well. She said she lived nearby and came to the park regularly to feed the cats. She clearly knew their history, because she pointed out that two "tuxedo" cats who were play-fighting in the bushes were mother and daughter. I said I had once had a cat like that, and she said she had heard they were unusually intelligent. ...Around that point, my shyness started to take over, and I was starting to babble a little, so I thanked her for taking care of the cats and said bonne journee.
I managed to get a couple of pictures of mama kitty:
In the second picture, she had been walking ahead of me on the path for awhile, not racing ahead to escape but clearly not interested in being petted. Another kitty, a tabby, went zipping by me when I was reading my book (L'Elegance du Herisson) on a bench, but s/he disappeared into the bushes. There were also a couple of orange-and-white bicolors, I recall. Again, they all looked healthy, which I was pleased to see.
After the park, I headed towards the Place de la Republique, via the Rue du Faubourg du Temple, which takes you through a colorful area with lots of bargain merchandise displayed in front of stores on the sidewalk, as well as this theater:
--not to be confused with the ice skating rink of the same name featured in the film Gigi. I don't think Gaston and Gigi would have frequented this neighborhood. (The skating rink used in the film is now the Theatre du Rond-Point on the Champs Elysees.)
So I reached my destination:
There is a bit of graffiti on the statue of lady liberty, but the Place de la Republique is a traditional site for demonstrations. The largest graffiti does at least express a proper sentiment:
Tu ne tueras pas: Thou shalt not kill.
My next destination was the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, in the 3rd arrondissement. On the way, I passed this nice looking elementary school ("ecole maternelle"), near the Square du Temple:
Although I've seen "Arts et Metiers" translated as "arts and crafts", a "metier" is more like a trade or occupation. So it's more like arts and technology, or arts and industry. According to Wikipedia, the Conservatoire is "dedicated to providing education and conducting research for the promotion of science and industry". It also "has a large museum of inventions accessible to the public", which perhaps I should visit.
One industry that was being represented, on a series of posters outside, was space exploration, and in particular women involved in space exploration:
Of course, I liked all of the posters, but I've limited myself to four here.
With respect to the architecture, there is some nice tilework on this section of the conservatory, which was once an abbey:
This marvelous tower, on the other end, was saved from possible demolition by the efforts of Victor Hugo, among others (according to the book Metronome by Laurent Deutsch).
In any case, just after I took this photo, a woman came along and gave her dog a drink from the "fontaine du vertbois". Great to see it serving the citizenry.
Then I finally got to the see Arts et Metiers metro station, which was redesigned in 1994, to commemorate the bicentenary of the Conservatoire, in a style said to be reminiscent of the science fiction works of Jules Verne. I have read that this really is copper paneling. (This isn't a great shot, since I just had my phone with me; you can find better images online.)
So, back to the apartment to rest up for more adventures...
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