It's still gray and rainy here, and I'm going to blame that for my mood today. From the very first second I sat down at my desk I couldn't seem to focus. My head felt foggy and I didn't feel like I was really understanding anything. I won't bore you with the specifics of my studying, but lets just say that it was labored.
I took a break to have lunch at about one. I heated up my other meal from Picard, which was some kind of chicken with red sauce and bell peppers with a side of white rice. It was just okayish, but at least it had protein. I settled in to watch some People's Court and avoiding finishing the rest of my to-do list. I finally convinced myself to read my histories paper for one last time before taking it to Nic tomorrow. It just feels so blah that I don't know what to do with it anymore. After I read the paper it was already about two o'clock.
I was going to go to Versailles today but scrapped the plan yesterday considering that it was suppose to rain today and I didn't have a whole day to devote to it. I hadn't come up with another idea yet and thought I'd come up with something today. When we went to Nuit Blanche we passed the Jardin des Plantes which I thought was the name of the raised garden on the viaduct. I had already crossed it off my list thinking that I had already been there. After I found out that it was in fact not the viaduct, I put it back on the list. I googled the times that it is open, and found out that the park might be closed at 5:30 if October is considered winter (is it winter or summer, and what happened to the other two seasons?). I figured that was out since it was already two.
I thought back to when I was on the metro before and remembered seeing a stop called Monceau just like the name of the park that I had trouble finding a few weeks ago. I googled the park's address and found out that there is a metro stop for the park, and it was fairly easy to get to. I checked the weather report, that said it should be raining by five, got dressed, and hit the road. I have been sick and tired of dragging around a coat everywhere for it not to be cold. I went out wearing only my blue, long sleeved shirt with my black sweater over it. I threw on my gray scarf for good measure and shoved my oversized gray sweater into my purse along with my umbrella.
I got downstairs to find out that the inner glass door has been broken! The door system in the building is really complicated. There is an outer door that opens with a keypad. Then you enter into a small room where the mailboxes are. The open the door into the lobby you have to use an electronic key that you touch to a small pad on the wall. The door that leads to the lobby is the one that was assalted. The glass looks like it was kicked near the bottom left hand corner, and it has spider cracked into a thousand sections. It's still technically intact, but the glass has obviously been bent away from the door frame.
I walked to Gare de Lyon as a few sprinkles fell from the sky. I crossed my fingers that it would stop raining as I got on the one to Charles de Gaulle-étoile. The train was packed and people just kept piling on. At one of the stops a very good looking man with a stylish blue coat and headphones got onto the train. He seemed adorable until he moved to sit in a seat near me. He was wearing baggy sweatpants and bright pink running shoes. I couldn't help but find him a little less attractive after that. A few stops later I got off the train and onto the two. The train was empty, but I stood anyhow considering that I was only on the train for two or three stops.
The metro stop was right in front of the park so I had no trouble finding it. It started sprinkling the second I got there and hoped that it wouldn't continue for long. The pictures of the park were all beautiful, and I was really excited to finally get to see it. It was the strangest, yet one of the most beautiful, parks I've seen yet. The gray day and drops of rain made it particularly mysterious and beautiful. Immediately there's a carousel and small snack stand near the entrance, and I could see statuary in the background.
The carousel
I walked to a statue and then saw a bridge next to it. I'm not quite sure why there was a need for a bridge, but it was pretty nonetheless. I bypassed the bridge and went to the lake. It's a small lake/pond in a corner of the park that has a large weeping willow in the center and a family of ducks in it. Behind the willow is a semi-circular colonade that looks like its old and decayed. Part of some of the end columns were missing, and the columns had the black patena on it that makes it look ancient. I'm not sure if the park intentionally wanted to look abandoned and ruined or if it has happened over time and the park keepers just let it go. It seemed so strange to have ruins popping out of the ground everywhere. All of the structures were isolated with no connection to each other. There was a statue here, a dilapidated stone doorway there. It was all so odd.
The bridge over a small stream
The colonnaded semi-circle around the lake
An entrance to nowhere
"Ruins"
I stumbled upon a plaque that was dedicated to the first time a hot air balloon was flown. There's even a street in the park named after the man who flew in the first balloon. There's also a mountain like area covered in vines that looks both real in fake like it was created for a Disney ride. The most mysterious structure to me was a pyramid in the back of the park. The pyramid is almost perfect, and constructed out of stones. I found it odd that there were four, small columns near each of its corners, and there was a small pediment attached to one side. It was very puzzling. I was also intrigued to find a small house with a garage hidden down one of the pathways.
The plaque to the first balloonist
The pyramid with its pediment
A statue to Chopin
Besides the more troubling finds there was also a playground and a cemented area where kids were having rollerskating lessons. When I approached the end of the park that contained the playset I had heard a man's voice that sounded like it was some kind of carnival ride. As I got closer I realized that it was a puppet show! I've never seen a real, old-fashioned puppet show before, and I wanted to watch. There was a plastic sheet around the audience so that onlookers couldn't see the stage. However, there was a spot on the grass near the show where I could just barely see the heads of the puppets as one puppet beat the other over the head. I couldn't help but smile.
The puppet theater
The park doesn't have many flowers, but I made sure to take pictures of all the flowers that I found. I must have looked like a crazy woman tramping into the mud to take pictures of flowers. I didn't care at all. I got some great pictures of dewy flowers. After about an hour the rain was really picking up. I finished exploring the last few inches of the park and got back on the metro.
The park
It was so worth it
I transferred from the empty two to the crowded one and tried to stay calm as more people crowded onto the train. I think the weather was making everything worse today. At one stop I was sitting in a seat near the backdoor, shielded by several standing men, when an Asian man got onto the train. He was followed by a girl that was trying to fight him. She fell to the ground and the man hit me on the head during their scuffle. The girl got up, said something about the man being a baby, and got off the train with her female companion and she looked very angry. The man who had been in the fight started checking his wallet as other people around me asked if he was okay and then commented to their companions about how crazy that was. I guess the man was a Chinese tourist and the girl tried to rob him. Yikes.
I made it home to gare de lyon to find it pouring down rain. I got home in the shivering rain as fast as I could. I won't bother you with the details of my finishing my reading (I will say that I shouldn't have chugged that extra strong cup of coffee) and subsequent snacking and tv watching. I finally got myself up to clean my apartment before Mr. Lany comes tomorrow to clean. I also listened to the assigned songs for pop this week. I was shocked to find out that "rock alternatif" actually meant punk and included a band with pig masks shouting porcherie. I was scared from here, and the performance took place some 30 years ago. This is going to be an interesting week.
I'm participating in a language exchange tomorrow tomorrow at 8:45 am so I have to get myself to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment