Parc Montsouris and Cite Universitaire International (with birds and cats!) (updated)

September 1, 2015

I took the RER down to see Parc Montsouris and the Cite Universitaire International de Paris (CUIP), which adjoins it.  They are on the southern edge of the city, in the 14th arrondissement.  (I was particularly interested in seeing CUIP because it will be the site of the 2016 meeting of the Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS), of which I am a member.)

A side note about public transit in Paris:  I was reminded the hard way that, on the RER, you must not fold up your ticket after you put it through the entry turnstile, which I was doing on the Metro to avoid confusing new tickets with used ones (which can be nearly identical!).  But on the RER, you usually have to put the ticket through the exit turnstile as well, since the RER goes way outside of the city and can cost much more than the standard price.  Fortunately, I was able to straighten out my ticket enough that it was accepted.  Whew.  I've seen more than one turnstile-jumper, but I would rather not be one.

Proceeding to more pleasant topics:  The Parc Montsouris is a beautiful park.  If you have seen the film "Paris Je T'Aime", you may remember the last segment featuring a postal worker from Denver, a very game woman exploring Paris on her own (like me!).  I believe that the final scene, where she realizes she is in love with the city, was set in this park.


You can see a bit of the little lake in the background of the above photo (about halfway between the tree and the occupied bench).

I was excited to see lots of new (to me) birds in this park.  I later bought a basic bird book and identified this bird as the heron cendre (grey heron):



These photos were taken with my phone, so the resolution isn't great, but good enough for identification in this case.

The gallilule poule-d'eau, with its red face and greenish-yellow feet, I remembered from last year:


and s/he seems to have something to say!


Then there were two beautiful black swans:



There were signs posted making it very clear that one was not to feed the birds, but... I saw two women (just off-camera in the shot below) feeding the swans.  At least they were giving them some kind of grain and not big chunks of bread.  And the swans were very tame and were making adorable little sounds... but still, you shouldn't feed them!  Oh well.  I kept my American mouth shut.


In the background of one of the photos above, you can see these two stripey-headed ducks geese:


That's probably a mallard in the background.  I thumbed through some of the bigger bird books at the bookstore and didn't see these distinctive-looking ducks geese, so perhaps they are domesticated.  I'll keep researching them, as well as this pretty brown and black duck:


Update:  The geese above are the aptly-named bar-headed geese, which come from east Asia.  The handsome duck above appears to be a ruddy shelduck; they are found primarily in Turkey and are apparently rather rare elsewhere in Europe.

In another part of the park, I saw a flicker-like bird foraging in the grass; it eventually flew away.  I couldn't get a picture, but I wrote in my notes "reddish crown, light beige breast, brownish wings and back, yellow rump".  So it was one of these two, the pic cendre (gray woodpecker) or pic verte (green woodpecker) (pictures from www.oiseaux-europe.com):

 
The size and range fit more with the second one, but I think it looked more like the first one... it just didn't have that much red on its head.  Hmm.

I noticed this funny picture on the carousel on my way out.  You see a lot of Parisians walking small dogs.  I wonder if that little girl has a plastic bag in her purse?


Before heading to the campus, I checked out a couple of nice little neighborhoods tucked away near the park.  Yes, there are some detached homes in the city (I'm not sure about this color scheme, though):


and this one was even for sale!:


Another nearby neighborhood (just a few small intersecting streets) was called "Cite des Fleurs". Like the previous area, it had signs saying things like "voie privee", so I wasn't taking pictures indiscriminately.


Another thing I've noticed about these little village-like neighborhoods in the outer areas of the city (I covered a couple in my previous blog) is that cats are more likely to be out and about!



I did get to pet both of these kitties... but then there was a showdown.   


The bigger kitty chased the smaller one a bit, but I didn't see any violence.  

And finally, here are some shots taken on the campus of the Cite Universitaire International de Paris. It should be a nice place to have a conference!



This is a closer view of the same building:




On the way out, I was asked for directions by a young woman, in French... this happens rather often! I was pleased that this time I was able to be of assistance.  

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