Le Jardin de la Vallée Suisse | Paris Travel

Les jardins des Champs-Élysées.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Our actual anniversary day, a Wednesday, was turning out beautifully--a little chilly (in the 60s), but the clouds had cleared since we were at the Louvre, and we rested the aching parts of our bodies at le jardin des Tuileries and les jardins des Champs-Élysées.  We were awed by the two palaces, and now we were on the backside of le Grand Palais, about to step into a charming little garden virtually empty of tourists and Parisians alike.

Situated on the corner of cours la Reine and avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, behind le Grand Palais, this was very much a "secret" garden, green and wonderful.

This little garden is called jardin de la Vallée Suisse, and it is a rocky, watery oasis in the midst of a  bustling city.  I love finding out-of-the-way places that surprise and delight, and this garden did both of those:  stone walkways and little stone arches, bubbling brooks and little waterfalls, leafy bowers and benches waiting for visitors to sit and relax.

We had had a lazy start to our day with a late morning breakfast, so we hadn't been hungry at lunchtime.  It was now 2:30 in the afternoon, and we were still up for wandering (with our walking-tour book as our guide, of course!) before scouting out a restaurant for a late lunch.  This was the perfect place to wander and wonder.  Come wander with me!

Fernando had to stoop to get under this arch.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Grand et Petit -- Two Palaces | Paris Travel

Looking east down avenue Champs-Élysées, toward the Obelisk and l'Arc de Triomphe de Carousel.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Once we stepped out of  les jardins des Champs-Élysées, we were back in the city again.  Instead of walking straight down avenue des Champs-Élysées, our walking-tour book took us south toward the Seine River along avenue Winston Churchill.  We entered this part of Paris that was created for one purpose:  The Universal Exhibition of 1900.  On our right stood le Grand Palais, adorned by flying horses and chariots at its four corners.

Le Grand Palais.

Detail atop le Grand Palais.

Detail atop le Grand Palais.

At the same time, on our left stood le Petit Palais.  Okay, when they say petit, it doesn't mean small literally.  Check it out below.  :)

Le Petit Palais.

Le Petit Palais houses a wide range of art spanning from antiquity to the early 20th century.

I love flags flying in the breeze!  As I snapped pictures of the flag flying at le Petit Palais, I noticed in the window the reflection of the flag flying atop le Grand Palais.  I focused on that flag, and snapped away.

Two flags--one at le Petit Palais, the other a reflection from le Grand Palais.

A few steps further south toward the Seine River, and we spotted this pretty little fountain to the side of le Petit Palais.

We walked far enough to spot the columns on pont Alexandre III.

Columns on le Pont Alexandre III, from the avenue Winston Churchill.

Detail of one of the columns at pont Alexandre III.

As long as we're lingering at pont Alexandre III, I thought I'd share a few images I captured while on our boat tour on the Seine River.  These will give you a better idea of what the bridge looks like.

Pont Alexandre III (as seen on our boat tour).

Detail of pont Alexandre III (as seen on our boat tour).

Okay, no back to this section of our anniversary walking tour.  We walked around the side of le Grand Palais, and were rewarded with a lovely view of its back side.

Façade of the rear of le Grand Palais.

Just a little farther on, we could see the full back (except for the trees) of the palais, with its dome.

Around the back of le Grand Palais.

Again, to give you some perspective as to why le Grand Palais is so much bigger than the not-that-small Petit Palais, here is a picture of the Palais from our boat tour.  It truly is grand!

Le Grand Palais (as seen from our boat tour on the Seine River).

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 -- Week 43

Project 2012 -- Week 43

October 21 - 27

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

This was a slow week for my camera and me, since Fernando was home sick all week with a cold/flu that really knocked the wind out of his sails.  Poor guy!

We started the week warm and windy (I love that alliteration!) and scheduled a work day in the veggie garden.  First order of the day was to transplant the oregano from the back yard veggie garden into the front flower garden to make space for more veggies.

[295] New home for the oregano

My friend Lori's son Bryan came over to help, and he spread straw over our strawberry plants.  They grew like mad this summer, and we're hoping for a nice harvest next spring.

[296] Straw for strawberries

This sunset was very pretty.  I have to get creative when taking sunset pictures from my back yard due to one of the downsides of living in suburbia--power lines and light posts.  :/

[297] Autumn sunset

After the above sunset, the weather turned rainy, then cold.  I wandered out back on one of those cold, but sunny, days, and took some pictures of weeds.  At least they were blooming!

[298] Autumn dandelions

[299] Caught in thistle

[300] Autumn leaf

I love these gallon-sized glass jars for storing.  I got one of them at a garage sale, and a friend gave me the other one.  I'd love to have several more; they're just so handy.

[301] Legumes

Hopefully this next week will be a richer week for photography!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Les Jardins des Champs-Élysées | Paris Travel

Looking east down avenue Champs-Élysées, toward the Obelisk and l'Arc de Triomphe de Carousel.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Once we crossed place de la Concorde, we stayed to the right to go through les jardins des Champs-Élysées, with its winding path, lush lawns, and pretty flowerbeds.  This would be a great spot to picnic while sitting at one of the benches and enjoying the scenery.  These gardens were laid out in 1838 by Jacques Hittorff.

Les jardins des Champs-Élysées.

Champs-Élysées means Fields of Paradise.  These gardens are so pretty, they may just come close to that description.  Enjoy the scenes that I saw on my September walk through les jardins.

What a sweet walk, literally just steps from the very busy, pedestrian-filled avenue des Champs-Élysées, which is where we'd end up soon.

• Nearest Métro station:  Place de la Concorde (lines 1, 8, and 12)
• Cost:  free
• What to look for:  Grassy lawns, walking path, pretty flowers, benches scattered along the path, a great place for having a picnic lunch; you may also be able to spot the palais de l'Élysée to the north of the gardens.
• Combine with:  Make it a long walk and include the outside of le Louvre, le jardin des Tuileries, and/or place de la Concorde.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Place de la Concorde | Paris Travel

Shot with camera lens motion blur; in le Jardin des Tuileries, looking toward place de la Concorde and the Obelisk.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Yes, it's still the day of our silver anniversary!  We still had many places to visit, and you'll get to read about them all.  After visiting the exterior of le Louvre, we walked through le jardin des Tuileries.  As we walked along the main pathway in le jardin, we spotted the Obelisk in the distance.

Once we got close enough, I zoomed in for a shot of the Obelisk in place de la Concorde.

See those ornate gilded gates?  Those gates are the exit (or entrance!) to le jardin des Tuileries, and we were headed through them and into place de la Concorde.

Here is the Obelisk in the place.

The lamp posts at the exit to le jardin des Tuileries were ornate, to say the least.

The clouds broke, just a bit, and I captured some sunlit shots of the Obelisk.

The place, looking south toward the Seine River.

The Obelisk, which is 3,300 years old, arrived in the 19th century, along with the fountains and statues in the place.

Here's a better view of one of the lamp posts.

Fountain in place de la Concorde.

It's always amazing to stand among so much rich history!  But it was time to move on, across the place and onward toward the final destination of our day.

Looking west down avenue Champs-Élysées.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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