A Tale of Two Parks (in Paris)

Today was park-hopping. I've always wanted to check out 2 in Paris. First off was the "Bois de Vincennes" on the eastern edges of the city. I hopped on to the "1" line on the Metro and rode all the way to the end outside the Chateau de Vincennes - and something new added to the Metro - on this line they now have a solid line of gates that only open when the train gets into the station - everybody else still has the regular open line-up with no gates.

And an off-shoot - our hotel is in the Marais, the old Jewish quarter and the Army has roving patrols guarding many of the historic sites and synagogues in Paris.

Vincennes is a big park - GG Park-sized- but a very unmanicured playground. No gardeners

in sight, just a big, flat expanse of trees and scrubby bushes - a GREAT place to come and play. There are a zillion walking paths, cycling paths and signs on street lights announcing this weekend's 5k and 10k races for runners and walkers.

And they have what every great French park should have - a restaurant on a lake. This one is "Chalet des Portes Jaunes" (house with yellow doors) that dates back to 19th century although it's life as a restaurant didn't start until 25 years ago.

Sort-of-scrubby land but that hasn't stopped any foreign devils from invading. Here's

a dispatch from the front: "General, Major Ivy from HM English Ivy Brigade reporting. Our battalion has made contact with the resistance and have FULLY enveloped them - I've sent platoons out to make further contact."

Then I continued the tour at "Buttes de Chaumont", a former quarry for gypsum that's one of the highest spots in Paris (OK, not counting the Tours). Now, THIS is a manicured park. I counted 3 dozen gardeners in this joint, planting new shrubs, bare-root roses, etc. And when I got to the highest peak of the Butte, here's the "Money" shot - that's Sacre Coeur in the background.

And is your French treasure of a park complete without a restaurant on an island in a lake in your park? We can make that happen................Here's the Treasure at "Butte de Chaumont" with a long bridge connecting the island.....with the restuarant

When you need to take a break and sit down make sure you appreciate the park benches - anyone can have ordinary old steel bench supports but WHY NOT cast them to look like tree branches?