Last Day in the City of Lights

The last day in Paris was cool, but it didn't rain until after our journey around the city. We were taking in a few sights that we hadn't yet seen. Enjoying a park bench near the Church of St. Germain are Gino and BB, my remaining travel companions. It is June here and the temperature managed to spike to 63 degrees.


Close to the church is this obscure wall plaque to remember where in 1783 the peace treaty between the king of England and the American colonies was signed that recognized the existence of the United States of America. It should have something more grandiose to commemorate the event, but so far just a wall plaque.


We continued our hike to the Garden of Luxembourg where we encountered a couple of older gentleman hitting tennis balls around. They looked to be related, 75-ish and probably French. I guess French geezers are still playing the game with enthusiasm, much like the Minnesota group I'll be seeing in a couple of days. The courts were an odd composition of largish stones embedded in asphalt or something and may be a bit slower than Minnesota hard courts.


This fountain built in the 1600's for Marie de Medici, the Italian widow of Henry IV and mother of Louis XIII, who was homesick for home. It's in an Italian style and quite beautiful. It seems to be a favorite spot for Italian tourists, one of whom had Gino act as "Bob the anonymous volunteer photographer." It has quite a nice reflecting pool.


This is a closeup of the sculpture at the end of the pool entitled Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea.


At one end of the garden stands the French Senat, part of their legislature where laws are passed and great speeches delivered. There are a few gendarmes protecting the entrance, but security seems light when compared with what happens to protect the US Senate.


We stopped by a coffee spot somewhat after elevensies for some of that extremely strong French roast coffee. The French sign seems to indicate that picnicking is not allowed on their tables. Also of some interest is the menu written in chalk on the blackboard. The "Plats du jour" are selling for 16.5 euros a copy - about 20 dollars.


We also encountered a model for the Statue of Liberty. The large one in New York was a gift from France, and this is a miniature of that and is also in the Garden of Luxembourg. The oak tree to the right of statue was planted in remembrance of the September 11, 2001, destruction of the World Trade Center. It's still a small tree, but shows promise for a long life.


The plaque by the statue is shown below. It's in French, but tells the story of the miniature Liberty.


And there was lots of Roland Garros action on French TV today. We caught a couple of sets of the Federer-Soderling match before the rains postponed play at 6-3 ,3-6, 5-5. Good stuff.