|
Ma Petite Lettre
de Paris
Here is (finally ) the sun ! After months of rain ! Paris : The NewsLes internationaux de France de Tennis (French Open), The second of the four Grand
Slam tournaments is held in last week of May & first week of june.
Tickets are expensive, hard to come by, booking are usually made by
March at the latest ! An other solution is to
visit :http://www.frenchopen.org/en/ 21june : Fête de la Musique : The tittle is a joke : in French you heard the same words : Fete de la musique (Music Free Festival ) can also be " Faites de la musique " (let play music). We hope to have a nice weather because Parisians will be out playing
or listening music in each street corner : Steel bands, Celtic
rock, Yiddish singers, Wandering accordionists and classical string
quartets all join in the longest day's evening of the year, when
thousands of musicians give free concerts all over the city. http://www.carrboro.com/fetedelamusique.html Information : 33 1 40 03 94 70 Paris little fair : June to 8 july : Foire St Germain An echo of the medireview fair, let go toFoir Saint germain : Marché de la Poésie, poetry salon, concert and open air theatre, with an antic fair by the fountain. ( items can be expensive : if you want to buy something you must discuss the price , it is the game ! ) I like very much the place Saint Sulpice, the foutains, the special ambiance of the little streets behind, rue des Cannette , rue Princess , rue Garanciere (D'artagnan the heros of Alexandrre Dumas has been living rue Garanciere in the book "Les Trois Mousqutaires" ! ) www.foiresaintgermain.org (the
web site is only in French !) Paris romantic gardens There are a lot of wonderful gardens in Paris. I recommand you to take your time & visit 2 of them : Luxembourg & Bois de Boulogne . When the weather is warm or just slightly sunny,
Parisians of all ages flock to the 25 hectars Luxembourg gardens.
But it is especially the students' area . All around the garden , there
are the Medecin university, the Law University (where I had been
studying ), the Pharmacy University, the History of Art University and
of course the Sorbonne University and the most famous high-schools
in France ! Smell !: the spirit blows ! For students, it
is one of the most romantic place to have a date …They call it
"le Luco" .All these young people forget that the Palais
du Luxembourg and the gardens around were built for Marie de
Medicis, widow of Henri and that today this palais is the French
parlement (Senat), that they would be able to visit the fisrt sunday
of each month at 10 am. (But perhaps are they sleeping at this time on
Sunday morning !) Dotted around the park is a veritable gallery of french scultures from the Fontaine de Medicis to wild animals, queens of France... So don't forget to see the monument dedicated to Delacroix by Jules Dalou. But for others, there is a meeting point to have some activities as chess or card games. Often a dozen at a times are held every afternoon of the year, whatever the weather is: raining or shining (bring your own board). You can try also to join in basketball or volleyball games or martial arts practictioners (in the morning on Boules courts)... I love the Luxembourg because my Gran-father had been living in front of the garden during 40 years ! When I was a little girl each time we visited him, he gave us a few coins to spend in the garden. Just crossing the road to enjoy a beautiful place … In fact this garden offers children activities as poney rides, sandpits and roundabouts. At the grand bassin, model sailboats can be rented on wednesday, saturday & sunday (daily during French school holiday periods, incluing July and August). I took my little brother by his arm to avoid him to fall in the bassin , but what to do when our boat was stuck under the fountains at the very center of the bassin ? About the "theatre du Luxembourg", I have a souvenir of my very first terror (the spectacle was Guignol ). It is a miniature theatre whose spectacle can be enjoyed even if you don't understand French (around 3.30 pm on wednesday; saturday & sunday). Do you know that in the garden, there are rushes where Parisians can take beekeeping courses ? (331 45 42 29 08) wednesday & saturday. To go to the Luxembourg garden : Auguste-Comte; Place Edmond Rostand or Vaugirard street-6th. M°: Odeon /RER: Luxembourg-open daily (summer ) 8am-9pm. As a true lung of the capital, the Bois de Boulogne with covering 865 hectars, the west side PARIS, was designed by Baron Hausmann who took his inspiration from London Hyde park. There are lakes, cascades, ponds, flower-gardens, lawn, cafés and restaurants to have pleasant halts. But the best think to do is to hire Rowboats at
Lac Inferieur (m° Henri Martin), the largest of the park's
lakes and ponds. It is very easy to row . So romantic and cool when
the weather is too warm in Paris downtown! You can visit the Bois de Boulogne by bike. The 2
rent booths are : avenue GANDHI (M° Les Sablons) and near
the Pavillon Royal (M°av Foch). Except when it rains, bikes are
available daily mid-april to mid-october from 10 am to sunset. The
rental cost is 80FF per day. Just ride to Bagatelle : Bagatelle
is an eighteenth century folly built by the Comte d'Artois in 1777 after
a wager with Queen Marie-Antoinette. At this period, men knew how to be
crazy. Parc de Bagatelle is known for its beautiful gardens, during the roses
season (june to october), these gardens are dazzling. The bois de Boulogne is one of the favorite place to go for parisians during week-ends .If you have the choice , it is better to visit it during the week . But not during the night , it is not safe ! Since the middle-age, it is a haunt of robbers… On the east side of the Bois de Boulogne,the Marmottan-Claude Monet Museum (2 rue Louis Boilly M°: La Muette tel;33 1 42 24 07 02) has the world's largest collection of works by the impressionist Monet, as well as paintings by Gaugin and Renoir. More than 80 paintings of the artist , his palettes and his familiar objects. It is open tuesday to sunday
A bientot. Noelle from PARIS Champ de Mars. You like to read my previous
letters: Any comments or feedbacks, please E-Mail
me at: Noelle@babiole.com *
|
