Jardin du Luxembourg

Friday 4/13

It was a lovely Spring day.  The sun was shining, but the clouds above were whipping through the sky.  One minute it would be sunny and warm and the next the sun would be behind a cloud and the cold wind would have me tucking my scarf a little more snugly around my throat and zipping up my coat.

The Luxembourg Gardens were build in 1611, under the direction of Marie du Medicis, the widow of French King Henry IV.  She had it constructed to imitate the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy, her childhood home.  The Palace is now the home of the French Senate.

I spent most of the day there, walking, watching and sitting in a chair with my feet up on another chair...soaking up the sun.  The interesting thing about the Luxembourg garden is that in certain areas they have metal chairs, hundreds of them, which you can move around anywhere within that area..... and sit where you want and you can take another one and prop your feet on it.   It's great!

It is still  a little early in the season in Paris.  They are still doing a lot of work in preparation for the really high tourist season.  So some of  the park was not accessible....or there were crews working.  One of the more famous things about Luxembourg gardens is the big pond where children can either bring their own or rent little sailboats to push around the pond.  That entire area was set off and still being  prepared.  Too bad.

So here are many pictures I took.
                           
                            Of course, the park is full of statues....

This is the Medici Fountain.  Too bad the fountain was not running.  I understand it is quite beautiful when the water is actually flowing.

This statue is by the Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine, who lived and worked in Paris from the 1910, until his death in 1967.  His home/museum is close by.  Remember him, because in my post on the Montparnasse Cemetery , I visit his grave.

 The carousel is quite small and has seen better days.....literally.  It's been there for hundreds of years.  Kind of looks like maybe they haven't given it a good paint job in a few decades.  But the few kids I saw riding it certainly didn't care about that!

The park guards....

Here is a bit of lawn they actually were allowing people to sit on.  I believe they rotate the bits you can sit on from day to day....that way nothing get totally worn out.

      Here you can see the chairs.......

I took a close up of this statue as it looks like her acupuncturist forgot something.  Actually, I think it's to keep the birds away.

                  Love these clouds............

This lady, all in red, had just taken down her red umbrella, which she used as shade from the sun....or the other option.  In this picture you can see the chairs.

Over in one corner of the park was the area where the men play bolls.  There was a little stand there that sold misc. food....although they seemed to be out of most things....and drinks.  They listed vin chaud (hot spiced wine) on their board, so I ordered that....but they did not have it.  Only cold red wine, so I went for that.  The really great lady inside, Betty, served it up with a smile in a plastic cup with a straw.

I loved watching the men play bolls.  I could have sat there drinking my wine through a straw and watched them all day.

I just liked the look of this guy.  You can see in the background, they had a garment rack out there for them to hang their coats on, if they chose, while they played.

Now, this guy was a real pro.  He was entirely in red....red track suit and red shoes.  He was quite dramatic and studied about the alignment of his body as he prepared his shot....very slow with much concentration. And although it looked a little like posturing, the fact is, he was the best player.  He won every game.  This first picture, it may look like he's just squatting there, looking.....but he got into that pose very slowly and deliberately, and then....almost like tai chi, he fluidly moved to the next pose, his body perfectly balanced, and made the perfect shot.  Beautiful!