Lovelocks

Today on the last day of February - Valentine's month - I have to report of the status of the locks attached to the different bridges over the Seine in Paris.  The Pont des Arts is now ca 122.000 pounds heavier because of the added tokens of love.  A love not only between two lovers, but families and group of friends. To have space for all the names, the padlocks get larger in size.

In Rome it is now prohibited (50 Euros fine) but here city hall does not want to destroy the image of being the city of love and romance and are just watching the bridges braking point.

At least the unlicensed vendors of locks have to run, when the police patrol approaches.

More about this phenomenon which went out of control:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_lock

Primavera

We realized that it was not a unique idea to enjoy the first springlike Sunday with a promenade in the park of Versailles as soon as we met the mass of sun hungry visitors.

But then, this park is spacious enough and by walking in the right direction for a while we found the controlled open spaces and there millions of uncontrolled wild snowdrops covering the ground.

Such a joy to see this abundance and the bumble bees certainly felt the same.

Leaving the park we passed with sadness this ignorant girl.  Too late to lecture her about not to touch or disturb the plants and wild flowers.  The bundle she picked was already dead!

http://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/in-english/about-us

Enrich your life

We discovered a new museum in the heart of Paris!  http://www.mundolingua.org/en/

Surprisingly it was created out of private interest with the burning desire to animate children and adults to learning foreign languages.

With 170 square meter it is a compact space.  But as soon as one uses the individual headphones and delves into one aspect of linguistics or grammar or pronunciation, the world of words engulfs you. What, you speak only three languages and those all on the Germanic branch?   Luckily that English is one of them and has become a universal language.

A group of  young teens played one of the word games available. The enthusiasm of them in competing to find the correct word was a living proof of the immense pleasure owning a large vocabulary.

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela

Gold Everywhere

Versailles - once the home of the Sun King Louis XIV - is always under renovation and the golden decorations are glittering more every time we come to visit. The gate outside is glowing even under clouds to the delight of approaching visitors who have to stand in the security line.

Inside, the wooden panels shine from floor to ceiling and so do the attached bands of woven golden threads on the curtains in red satin. 

 Gold twinkels wherever the eye moves - even on the sneakers of a visitor.

 Was there a Revolution? Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and GOLD!!

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover-the-estate/the-palace/le-chateau/la-chambre-du-roi-en

Sports on a Sunny Sunday

After a week of grey and rainy days, Sunday morning surprised everyone with sunshine.  What did it matter that an icy wind kept the temperature down. The Jardin de Luxembourg is the place to work out in the fresh air. It seems that most popular is running but then there are groups who engage in all kinds of movements from stretching with sticks to Asian-inspired gymnastics like Qi Gong and Tai Chi.

An intriguing and historic sport which is the 'jeu de Longue Paume' is played
in an area reserved for the Societe de Longue Paume de Paris - played comme il faut in white.

http://www.longue-paume.fr/lp/spip.php?article51

Hanging Gardens of Paris

There are many different names for the "hanging" gardens designed by Patrick Blanc because it is a new feature used in architecture.  "Le mur vegetal" installed by Monsieur Blanc at the Quai Branley Museum in Paris can be admired without entering from the street.  Some plants had to be replaced when some frosty nights happened - which is not very often here in Paris but in general this "living wall" installation kept the same appearance it had in 2007 when the museum opened.

 I was thinking about the thick white snow cover over Boston and how pleasant it must be to see the green wall created by Patrick Blanc (shouldn't that be Patrick Vert?)

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/realisations/europe/paris