Paris 2014 - Day 13, Jardins des Plantes

From an e-mail from Chris I found out that their day did not go as planned. It seems that the Louvre is not free on the 1st Sunday of the month from April to October. However Musee D'Orsay is, so they went there and Notre Dame and then up to their hotel.
This morning I set out at about 11am after my customary coffee. I had looked at both the bus and the metro routes and there were no direct, or even 1 transfer, ways to get to Jardins des Plantes from here. Also our apartment is just beyond the maps of central Paris in my guide book. However, I had a general idea what direction to go from Place Denefert Rochereau and figured going downhill would take me to the river anyway. It turned out to be quite easy as many of the bus stops have maps showing the main routes and "you are here" as well. Very handy.

 

I had read about pissiors and was surprised to see this one on my walk. Its a public urinal. When I looked it up on Wiki I discovered that I had a picture of the only remaining one in Paris. They were first installed in Paris in 1841, with the hope that they would prevent men from peeing on streets, in gutters etc. At their peak, there were more than 1200 in Paris alone (and other cities had them too). They have been replaced by sanisettes:

This is the one on our boulevard, across from the café. They are free and when you step
out they automatically sanitize (flush all over) before indicating they are available again.
George loved them! Very convenient and he didn't have to find a MacDonalds to use.

Unfortunately none of this has stopped public urination. In the (less than) two weeks I have been here I have seen a man peeing on the street (while his companion waited patiently nearby), in a train station and today watering the Alpine Garden.
The Jardins des Plantes is a lovely, large garden that also houses 4 buildings of the Natural History Museum (we visited them on a previous trip), Greenhouses and a small zoo.

I had read that there was a Labyrinth there and as I have used these for walking meditation in the past I hoped I could find it. It turned out it wasn't that kind of Labyrinth or even a Maze. It was a circular path up a small hill, with high(ish) hedges that ended in a little gazebo. Quite pretty but not what I had in mind. I walked up it anyway.

The Horticultural School is associated with these gardens and they maintain an area with all the plants named along neat little paths.

This huge yucca put mine to shame.

Iris in bloom

I think the label said this strange looking plant came from South Africa.
Art Deco greenhouse in the background.

After wandering this area I returned to the centre section to eat my lunch,
on a sunny park bench. I had picked up a small quiche, when I got my morning croissant, at the boulangerie.

The view to the South, towards the Museum, from my lunch bench with a huge pink flowering tree.
I think it was a flowering almond.

Looking North, towards the Seine

Many of the flowers in this central garden are identified.

The garden also contains a small zoo, Le Menagerie, named this because it started as the royal menagerie, moved from Versailles (see what reading Wiki before I post does). I didn't want to see it but I could see some of the inhabitants by just walking around it and the names of the animals were posted on this outside fence as well, so kind.

This wallaby gave me the eye. He knew I hadn't paid to see him.

I walked from the garden out onto the quai and along the Seine. There is an area here with sculptures, some beside the river and some in gardens alongside the quai.

I also wandered by some of the live aboard barges and 3 huge barges went down the river, one with containers on board and all with small cars on the back.

Can't help myself, I love talking pictures of Notre Dame, especially the back.

I walked past Notre Dame, past Shakespeare and Co, down Rue de la Huchette (where we had dinner the other night) and into Place St Michel with its huge fountain that seems to be a gathering place for young people doing break dancing.

Caught the No 38 bus and stopped for another coffee before coming back to the apartment. While writing this I have the windows open as it is sunny and warm. I can hear French spoken as people walk past. I can hear the traffic and the occasional police siren, so distinctive. I have a glass of red wine next to me. I am waiting for Chris and Jason to get here and then we are going out to dinner with friends of hers (Maria was Chris' roommate for 4 months while she attended York University in Toronto, as part of a business degree, and she and Perrin, also at York, came to the cottage for Thanksgiving that year) It will be nice to catch up with them.