Paris Vignettes: Parks and Gardens

It’s now the fall, so a perfect time to revisit some pictures from a sunny summer in this latest edition of “Paris Vignettes.” Over the past few years, I get the sense that the city is getting greener: more trees, lusher parks, abundant neighborhood gardens. Despite Paris being a densely populated and busy city, these leafy parks and gardens allow you to breathe. Wandering through this greenery you always find something new (e.g. like finding yet another Statue of Liberty in the Jardin de Luxembourg!). On those hot summer days of August, you can benefit from the shade on a park bench and watch the world walk by.

As I wandered through the parks, one statue (“la tortue a gagné”) caught my eye where this tortoise was spouting water and pushing back the much larger horses. Reflections on ponds is one of my favorite moments (“les reflets dans Parc Montsouris”, “reflets dans le parc des buttes Chaumont”, “reflets dans un canal”) as they change dynamically and you need to catch them at the right moment. The other photographic element is the well-pruned trees that provide perfect framing of people and activities (“les arbres nous enveloppent”). Finally, watch for the insect shelters (“Bienvenue les insectes”) in Paris parks and especially look at the flowers around them which are full of beautiful little creatures (“Les abeilles et les fleurs”).

My next trip will be in November so watch for winter vignettes in December and January. As always, check out my 20 years of Paris photos here.