First weekend back

August 21-23, 2015

Bonjour a tous!  This blog recounts my continued adventures in France, following my blog from spring 2014 (leeannshere.blogspot.com) (of which a partial, less-than-perfect-French version can be found at leeannaparis.blogspot.com).

[Content notes:
* I don't seem to be able to make French accent marks in the text.  Dommage.
* The actual dates of the events covered in the posts are given following the titles.
*  The posts are in chronological order; I put fake dates into the blogger (behind the scenes) in order to have the posts come out oldest-first instead of newest-first.  Yes, that is actually the simplest way to do it.  The only drawback is that "older posts" and "newer posts" at the bottom of the page will be reversed.]

My previous stay consisted of about two months in Paris, shared with my partner Ellen, my friends Marilynd and Leslie, and my sisters Ellen and Susan (not all at the same time).

My current stay started with just a couple of days in Paris, getting settled again in my same apartment, followed by a 4-day trip to Provence, where I spent a day with my landlady, Claire, and her family -- more about that later.

During that first couple of days, I enjoyed walking around the old neighborhood, seeing familiar sites as well as new (or changed).

I was very glad to see the dome and colonnade of the Pantheon (very close to the apartment), since they had been completely under wraps during my previous visit.  Renovation is ongoing, but it looks much nicer now.  Four individuals whose remains are being added to the crypt (including two women, the first since Marie Curie, thus bringing the total to three out of 74) are featured on the large banners in the front.  All four were involved with the resistance during WWII.

I continued on to the Jardin du Luxembourg, and walked through the "panhandle" area to the south.  I saw some very proficient table-tennis players along the way (you can just see one of the tables, over to the right).

This lovely fountain, which I believe was featured in "Gigi" (with more dramatic lighting), is at the very base of the panhandle.  There was some glam-ish photography going on; I then got a closer shot of the turtles watering the horses:

This magnificent building nearby is the Institute of Art and Archaeology (l'institut d'art et d'archeologie) of the University of Paris.  I returned the next day with my "big camera", near dusk (la crepuscule), to photograph it.  Here is a selection:

On my walk back, I took the opportunity to add to my collection of expressive Paris lions (see previous blog):

... also featuring an elephant!

Here is another interesting building, though in a very different vein, from

a nearby street.  I wasn't sure what to make of it.  I doubt very much that anyone lives here. Warehouse?  Garage?

The next day, I walked in the other direction, to the Jardin des Plantes, another favorite location. Naturally, the ornamental plantings were very different from those I saw during my springtime visit. Here are some nice sunflowers:

The plantings in the botanical section of the garden are more permanent, and it was interesting to see distinctive plants that I remembered from before during a different stage of growth.

Later, on my way to see the Seine and Notre Dame (two words: selfie sticks!), I passed a series of posters honoring scientists who had made contributions to preservation of the environment.  These two women had invented an eco-friendly plastic based on a milk protein:

And, of course, I had to do some grocery shopping.  Normally, I would not comment on this, but I loved the label on these free-range eggs:

In the true French tradition, the benefits of liberte, egalite, et fraternite (ou, sororite) extend to these chickens!