Jardin des Plantes

Funny how places seem to look different when you revisit them. Maybe it was the hot weather or taking different paths.That street art was on the way, near Rue Moufftard. I loved the Botanical Gallery, particularly these lovely, detailed drawings.The last one was in a section about the chemistry of plants.There was a box displaying New Zealand woods:I took this picture because I liked the little lamps on the left, used to illuminate the display. Everything was very carefully done.The labyrinth was closed for restoration, but there was a wild garden with a bee house.Here’s a closer view of a bee house:I liked the herb garden and the prickly plants like this:The tropical house was impressive.There’s an old wall beside it, which reminds me of the Roman presence in the area, and the Roman arena nearby which I sat in for a while on the way to the gardens.Inside the tropical house:Here’s a long view of the gardens:There’s a Natural History Museum and a Zoological Garden as well, which I didn’t visit. I was impressed by this huge tree and thought sadly of our ailing kauri.This group of young people were declaring their principles as I walked through the Jardin du Luxembourg on the way back to the hotel.And finally on a botanical note, these are the flowers I gave the lovely manager/owner of my little hotel to say thank you for her help and for the enjoyable conversations we had about lots of things, but mostly about books!It’s a literary hotel and not just because of its library, including this:One of the night managers who turns out to be an expert on Alexander Dumas, told me about Emile Zola’s book about Bon Marche, and was reading a variety of translations of Hamlet. Somehow, once again, books become significant on this trip!