Jardin des Plantes

Reading my previous blog post has made me realise how LONG it's been since i've written something and how much has happened since I last updated my blog. Sometimes the problem with exploring Paris is that you spend all of your time doing the exploring and less of it actually writing about what it is you're doing. Anyway, let's fill you in as much as possible on the latest news from this beautiful city.

Thanks to my French boyfriend (yes I know I have crossed over to the dark side), I have been fortunate enough to discover the Jardin des Plantes. Based in the fifth arrondissement (Metro Line 7, stop Jussieu, the metro will tell you to get off at Place Monge but actually it's much easier and quicker to just walk from Jussieu). The garden is filled to the brim with flowers, plants, several different types of museums, a huge greenhouse and even a decent sized Zoo .A month or so ago I received an annual pass as a gift from himself and I can honestly say we have definitely been getting our money's worth (only 35 euros for the whole year!) It's not expensive to visit the gardens anyway (actually it's free) but to visit the museums and the zoo you do have to pay. The zoo is around 10 euros, whereas the

museums are a little less (plus don't forget if you are under 26 and a member of the

European Union most of the museums are free anyway). The zoo might seem a little overpriced, although I think it's around the same price in England but from experience I can say it's worth a visit. It remains a small zoo but the animals are surprisingly exotic and the area itself is arranged exceptionally well. You can walk around peacefully in a wide, open space, forgetting almost completely that you are even in Paris. Why would you want to forget you were in Paris you might ask? Let me know how you feel after a few months in this busy city...you might find you are craving peace and quiet more than you ever thought you would. It's a place to escape the intensity and demands of a city like Paris.

The Jardin d'Alpin is my favourite place within the park. It is a specialised garden next to the zoo where you can sit and eat, read, study...the list goes on. The plants are incredibly beautiful and it is insanely peaceful when you consider it's only a short walk away from the busy area that is the fourth (Le Marais). It's hard to explain why it is so important to visit the Jardin des Plantes but I have to recommend it to you. If you are interested in gardening, palaeontology or even just enjoying a stunning garden pretending you are Elizabeth Bennett parading around Pembury with your own version of Mr Darcy...sorry was I day dreaming again...Just believe me, each person has their own reason for frequenting this beautiful place.

I have a huge number of pictures i'm not sure how I will really choose which to include in this blog so you might have to be confronted with less text, more images. After all they say a picture speaks a thousand words.

Soon I am hoping to go to Buttes Chaumont, a gorgeous park that is very famous for the architectural designs of its buildings.The only problem is it's quite far out so you probably need a full day to go there (without interruptions of work/study/plans) alors...as of yet I haven't made it there. This weekend however, a bit closer to home, there is finally a horse race on at the Hippodrome in Maisons-Laffite, called La Fete de Courses. I am hoping to pop over and take a closer look because somehow entry is free (not like a day at the races in the UK where you have to shell out for ticket, dress and a bottle of champagne to drink with your rara mates...champagne you end up later resenting when you realise it cost you most of your wage packet for that month). But actually...here in France it seems they don't charge for this sort of thing, maybe it isn't a real competition but i'm happy just seeing some form of horse race before I leave for the summer.

What else to tell you...honestly I need to stop frequenting the Jardin des Plantes because I just don't go anywhere else. The problem is when you really love somewhere in Paris it's hard to want to go anywhere else. As soon as somewhere becomes personal to you, that's it for a while. Un rapport avec un endroit (the French is totally wrong but you get the idea), a relationship with a place. I will try and visit the Grand Palais this week too as they have a new exhibition at the moment which looks interesting. It really is just a HUGE pebble that some abstract artist probably sees as so much more but to me, it's just a big, strange, cool pebble that you can go inside. If you're interested check out http://www.grandpalais.fr/visite/en/