Finding the Desert in Paris

 I spent some time with you in Paris, ninos, in the fall of 2011.  Your adjustment to the move from Arlington went smoothly, thanks largely to your mom's meticulous planning, and you were already settled into the new routine. A consistent feature of your week was time out of doors, always on Wednesdays (no school in France on Wednesdays) and week-ends.  One of my great pleasures was to have you walk me to a park you liked; today it was to be La Jardin des Serres.  

 The route was familiar, passing by Les Jardin des Poetes, a garden park with playground where we went often.

 From the Poet's Garden we took a path that was new to me, away from auto traffic but increasingly green and park-like.

 Eventually we reached a series of large metal-and-glass structures with an unattended entrance gate.

 Inside it was warm and slightly humid.  We passed through another set of doors into a greenhouse filled with tropical plants.The interior seemed enormous, with paths that wound about, ending at various destination points.

 It didn't matter which path we chose, it eventually crossed and led us back to places we had been, where we took the other fork this time.  It was a lovely place to wander, and we had the entire building to ourselves for the most part.

It's so lovely and warm inside, we need to shed those coats. Remember it is a late November chill outside, we will need them walking home in the late afternoon.

 It surprised me to see how interested you are in these green growing plants.  We stopped to read the informational signs (in French, alas but we were able to puzzle out some of the words).

 You had been here before with Mame and were able to point some things out to me.  I think we were looking at plants with thorns here.

Waiting for a crocodile?  Actually there was an enormous fish which eventually put in an appearance.  The pond was not all that large, which made the fish's size all the more dramatic.

 We found several parts to the pond, some connected by small bridges.  Very artfully done.  The palm trees are lovely.

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 Clam was getting a closer look at something in the water.

 This is my favorite part of the greenhouses, the cacti and succulent room.  You knew it would be so you saved it for last.  It is your mom's favorite also.  Maybe we each get a little homesick for the desert and its sometimes strange and prickly plants.  This greenhouse is filled with plants collected from Africa, Australia, South America and our own southwestern Sonoran desert.  I guess desert plants can work their strange magic on anyone, even sophisticated Parisians.

Some buildings contain apiaries occupied by a great variety of birds.  They were fun to watch, twittering and hopping about, leading what appear to be very social lives.  I secretly wanted to release them into the more open greenhouse but of course that would have been a disaster.

 Time for a snack, ninos.  Today it was string cheese, apples and yogurt.  The greenhouses have small wrought iron tables and chairs inside, but Mame wants us to spend some time in the sun, and it was a lovely day for late November, so outside we went.

The walk home in the late afternoon sun was pleasant.  I was still processing the surprising fact that a bit of the world's deserts was plopped into the urban European setting.  Mame later told me the Jardin is to be razed to make way for the expansion of world class tennis facilities from an adjacent property.  It's her understanding that funding is being sought to relocate the greenhouses.   The greenhouses are a remnant of another century, when television did not exist and people seldom traveled far from home.  It was a time when plants and animals from other continents were a fascinating novelty.

I enjoyed the day and try not to think of what the future may hold for these novel botanical specimens and the lovely old copper and glass buildings that house them.  One thing I do know, Paris is a city that for the most part treasures and attempts to preserve and prolong the pieces of its past.  I am thinking the Jardin des Serres will be around in one form or another when you return to Paris some time in the future. Perhaps you will be walking your own children through the greenhouses, grandchildren.  If so, be sure to visit the desert room.