Au Revoir - Day 24 & 25

Song - Time to Say Goodbye by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman

May 1, 2018

This post is taken from my French travel journal and my trip through Southern France in April 2018.  For some reason my iPad and Blog were not communicating at the time so I was unable to write any posts. At home I am able to blog "post" travel! Thanks for joining me on the journey!

 

Happy Labor Day - May Day

Le Fete de Muguet

The day to present a bouquet of Lily of the Valley to loved ones

Mr. B had never been to Parc de Bagatelle before so I thought today would be a good day to introduce them to each other!

 The peacocks were happy to greet us!

 But from 3 weeks ago when I last visited, a lot had changed.  The Yellow Lady Banks climber was in full bloom.

As were the white and lavender Wisteria!

Pink Peonies - hello darlin

 An arbor full of scented Clematis - breath deep

 We were still too early to see the rose garden in bloom but it was looking good.

 Fragrant Lilac's were everywhere....

 And upon returning to our hotel we were greeted with Muguets.......

After a quick rest we took a walk over to the Louvre and Tuileries. 

 Everyone was enjoying the rays of sun on this cloudy day.......

 The Roue de Paris is a giant Ferris Wheel at the Place de la Concorde.....

 Enjoying the gray sky and views from the Pont de la Concorde bridge over the Seine......

We didn't plan too well as it was a bank holiday and everywhere we wanted to dine on our last night was closed! Back to dinner at Cafe Louise as it was good and the waitress was so kind & fun. 




 May 2, 2018

Woke at 6 to finish packing, check out of the hotel and order an Uber to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We made it but without much time to spare as we forgot about the hour drive to the airport!  We were sitting near our gate at a small cafe when I spot two people we know from our home town. Our kids were on swim team together and it was so much fun getting caught up!
 

They were on our same Aer Lingus flight to Dublin then onto SFO.  We all just barely made the connecting flight!

Good to be home.  The garden is in full bloom and the roses are spectacular!

"One mustn't ask apple trees for oranges, 

France for sun, women for love, life for happiness." 

-- Gustave Flaubert

Returning to France Day 9

Song - A Thousand Years by the Piano Guys


 Welcome to Parc de Bagatelle which is located in the forest of the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th Arr.

The day we arrived at the park the groundsmen were working on the ornate front gates built in 1860.

(We entered through the East gate - Vers l'allee de Longchampe Porte Maillot)

They were actually painting them gold over a pinkish undercoat!
I asked one of them if I could take a photo of him at work.

He happily said "Oui"

Depending on which gate you enter the park through and if you meander enough

 this is what you are likely to see.......

Louis XV Pavillion

We always head straight for the Chinese pagoda where the peacocks like to hang out.

And show off their beautiful plumage......

...to any pea hen that happens to be walking by!

During courtship they not only display their feathers but they also rattle their back feathers against their display and it makes quite a vibration noise.

Ruins from the Abbey of Longchamp - c1255 - a convent of Poor Clares

This park was built in just 64 days in 1777.  It began as a bet between Marie Antoinette and her cousin. It took about a thousand workers and was designed by Scotsman Thomas Blaikie and feels like your very own "secret garden".

 The rose garden now has close to 1,200 varieties of rose bushes.

Unfortunately it was still to early for them to be in bloom but 

hopefully Mr. B and I will come back here in May on our way home.

Up a small hill overlooking the roses is another pagoda.

This is the view from inside the pagoda.

The Presentation Garden

If you look carefully at the statues at the entrance to this garden, 

the little girl on the right has cute little wiggly toes

while the little boy left has cloven hooves.....

mmm....coming from a mom who raised three boys I think I may know why!

These gardens were filled with tulips, peonies, roses, narcissus, clematis,  forget me not and pansies.

It brought you through to the potager - or kitchen garden.

The potager garden was surrounded by espaliered apple trees forming a fence.

And who can't live without a pink chateau 

with a formal courtyard & garden & 2 sphinx awaiting your horse drawn carriage?

I love the hand painted interior shutters.

There is so much more to show of this amazing park 

- waterfalls, iris gardens, grotto's, lakes, a bamboo forest, 

an orangerie where they hold concerts, streams with fish, etc. 

but I am running out of space!

We had lunch across the street from the Opera House or Palais Garnier.

After eating, Jackie & Sydney wanted to do some shopping and I wanted to go back to the Musee d'Orsay.  When I arrived, it was closed......it was a Monday!  So I walked back to our hotel to do some packing.  Mr. B was arriving the next day and we had to move into our own room the next morning.

On the walk back home I took some photos of various door handles......

'nuf said........it's Paris!

"In France we have a saying, 'Joie de vivre,' 

which actually doesn't exist in the English language. 

It means looking at your life as something

 that is to be taken with great pleasure and enjoy it."

--Mireille Guiliano