Thursday, January 27, 2011

Il Dolce far Niete

One of our favorite places in Paris is Luxembourg Gardens.  The first time we went there, we walked around the big lake where the children sail the boats, sat in some chairs, and thought the whole place wonderful.

A few years later, we rented an apartment one block from Luxembourg, and as we entered the closest gate, we didn't recognize anything we saw.  We literally spent the entire day wandering around, and never even found the original lake we remembered.  We were awed not only by the sheer size of the park, but the many, many, intimate settings you could find to sit and relax, and feel like the park was there just for you.  

There's a huge children's area, along with basketball and tennis courts, and pony rides,




a puppet theater, 
  


food areas, 




huge green spaces, 
(stay off the grass, s'il vous plait)



 an art museum, numerous statues,






even a pavilion for concerts, 



 other lakes and fountains, unbelievable trees and vegetation, fruit trees, and even an area full of tiny, adorable bee hives, occupied by french bees! 




 I could go on and on.  We ended up going to the garden every single day for the entire week.  The weather was perfect that year, and we fell in love with 
il dolce far niete
 (Italian for 'the sweetness of doing nothing'). 
 I have never done anything like that on a vacation.
 It was heavenly.


A favorite of Scott's, was sitting by the Boules Court, and watching the men play boules. They take it very seriously.  If you've ever seen Samantha Brown on the travel channel when she goes to Paris, on one episode, she plays boules with some really cute, elderly men...I hope you've seen the episode, it will make this clip a lot better if you have...



We spent a lot of time watching them...free entertainment... and I could tell, Scott was imagining himself doing exactly this, in this exact spot, in his old age.  I had to video on the side, and talk super softly, because they were really serious about the whole thing.


Here's another clip.  I won't point out the obviously hilarious double meaning in this clip... I think you'll get it all by yourself...it was accidental... I PROMISE!  But later that evening, I showed it to Scott, and as we listened to it, we went into hysterical fits of laughter.  
Hope you get a laugh too!



~Teri

14 comments:

highheeledlife said...

Luxembourg Gardens was part of our Chocolate tour ... and I fell in love with too! The pony rides reminded me of childhood in Portugal ... and that water fountain , I could have sat and just enoyed the tranquility of it ..and its a wonderful people watching spot!! Your pictures showed spots we didn't see/recall .. will definitely be exploring it again on our next trip...wishing you a wonderful day ! HHL

Jenny said...

Teri this is so lovely...you shame me. I was blessed to be in Paris for two summers during college with a missions group...yes we were generally busy, but Wed. were free days and on weekends we all tried to explore (I was there for 8 weeks each time). I, being a college study did Paris on the cheap but took advantage of the parks...but, you make me hang my head low because I never truly explored this gem of a park and I can only thank youfor sharing your intimate time with the park, that in all my time there i can see I never fully appreciated...I guess it is for another trip (Lord willing). Wonderful photos too by the way.

myletterstoemily said...

you WILL go back! i'm believing for you and
scott to always have paris.

luxembourg park looks divine in your lovely
photos. makes me want to go back, too.
sorry, but your second (hilarious) video
didn't come through for me . . .

keeping scott in my prayers each evening.

love,
lea

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Sorry Lea... You would've had to be there. It didn't really come across on the video :)

char said...

I am recovering from my hysterical fits of laughter. Tears are streaming down my face. And....

The park is beautiful. there is something so awesome about these old countries that had the hundreds of years it takes to create beauty and to preserve it. We are just so new, but hey we can go see their stuff and love it as if it's our own.

Great Paris post!
Char

Cathi said...

That video is hilarious, Teri! We strolled thru a bit of Luxenbourg Gardens last summer, but definitely not to the extent you did...what a wonderful Paris adventure! xxoo :) P.S. I received your wonderful prize, thank you so much!

Unknown said...

This was my playing ground when i was a kid :)
Great post !
I would love if you link this and anything French to my French Obsession party on Feb 1st !
Hugs
Frenchy
http://lechateaudesfleurs.blogspot.com/

Dianne said...

The park looks just gorgeous - I could while away many happy hours there
~ Dianne~

Mya said...

Well, yes, hygiene is important!
Such beautiful photos - worth a trip to just go sit and relax.
Did you see the movie Charade? Those pictures look like many of the scenes in the park from that particular movie with Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant.

A Tale of Two Cities said...

Amazing, isn't it, how much there is to discover in those gardens. You've inspired me to soak it all up the next time we go--instead of just walking through, I'm thinking we'll at least pause for a picnic lunch and savor the moment. I got to tour the Palais du Luxembourg last fall--see if you can take a tour someday!

Looking forward to more Paris reminiscing,
Debi

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Let me suggest The Wok Bar. It's only a block away from the Rue de Fleurs gate (entrance), and it has the most fantastic stir fry, all packaged perfectly to take back to the park and enjoy a picnic. Warning... if you want a sandwich from the bakeries around there, get it by 11am. The university lets out about 11:30 and a mob of students comes and buys every single sandwich for the day. We learned the hard way... they do not make more!

Karena said...

Teri, too funny, adore your site!!

Be sure to enter my amazing Giveaway from Splenderosa!

xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena

Anonymous said...

Great petanque video! It is pronounced (pay-tahnk). You can also call it boule which should be pronounced as rhyming with pool :) If you get a chance you should check out the following links:

www.petanqueamerica.com

www.petanque.org

Anonymous said...

Great petanque video! It is pronounced (pay-tahnk). You can also call it boule which should be pronounced as rhyming with pool :) If you get a chance you should check out the following links:

www.petanqueamerica.com

www.petanque.org

Blog Widget by LinkWithin