10 Things I Loved About Paris Today...

[click to enlarge - well, all but the first two!]

1. My apartment building, with its twisty, creaky flights of stairs and cheerful yellow and white trim. Who wouldn't want to come home to that door? The pretty courtyard, too, complete with a friendly kitty (not pictured, mostly because it would not stay still...).





2. Who knew the Jardin du Luxembourg had a beekeeping school? Ha - when I first came upon this little fenced-in area, I thought it was some kind of avant-garde installation using bits of cobbled together old school desks. Um, right...




3. So everybody knows that the old men in Paris love to play pétanque. But did you know that the boules courts in the Jardin du Luxembourg actually have a rail with hangers so you can take your jacket off while you play?! As my mom said...only in France!



4. Filippo Lippi's luminous Vierge de la Ceinture, at the Lippi exhibit at Musee du Luxembourg. Sorry, icky picture.



5. Walking down one of those narrow, winding streets and seeing Saint-Sulpice suddenly appear out of (seemingly) thin air. See:





6. This funny little relief on the rue du Jardinet, near place de l'Odeon.



7. The tiny dog heads adorning the windows of a veterinarian's office in Saint-Germain-des-Prés:




8. The fact that my first view of the Seine (totally unexpected, I was way further north than I thought) was of les bouquinistes:



9. Enjoying my Berthillon ice cream cone (chocolat noir and pain d'épices, with fresh chunks of gingerbread!) in my favorite little park on the tip of the Ile St-Louis.



10. Vintage French cars. Also, the vespas which are EVERYWHERE. Ensue vespa envy.



11. OK, one more as a bonus. The inimitable Parisian skies. Really, there is nothing like it anywhere in the world. Just wait till I show you a sunset...