The Parc Sainte Périne -- pretty and serene

After a good lunch outdoors at Le Cosmos Café, we strolled down the Avenue Emile Zola in the warm afternoon air.  We paused on the Pont Mirabeau to take in the spectacular river views. 

Flowerbeds in the Parc St. Périne are well tended.  Note
the hot air balloon rising above the Parc André Citroen, across
the river.

I told Tom the story behind the bridge.  He told me that Pont Mirabeau is named in literature, history, and song as the site of a number of suicides.  I noted that the railing seemed like it would be easily surmountable.  He said the choice as a suicide site had something to do with the power of the river there, and the strength of the currents.  I recalled that at the time the Pont Mirabeau was designed and built, it was the tallest and longest bridge in Paris.  As we stood at the midpoint of the bridge, we could clearly see how wide the Seine is in that reach to the west of the Île aux Cygnes.   The river must be deep there, too, if the rolling wave action is any indicator.

We continued on to the right bank and the Rue Mirabeau until we reached number 41, a gateway into the recently expanded and improved Parc Sainte Périne.  The site of the park and the surrounding hospitals (Sainte-Perine - Chardon - Lagache - Rossini) was once a huge estate occupied by the monks of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.  The monks were there from 1109 until the French Revolution. 

The woods in the Parc St. Périne (above and below).

Eventually, the daughters of the Countess of Aubusson owned a diminished version of the estate.  They gave it to the public hospital system in the 1850s.

The park was called Square Sainte Périne until last year when it was doubled in size and greatly improved. 

Tom and I had never been to the square/park, so we decided to explore it yesterday. 

Three sides of the park are hillside; St. Perine is the patron saint of mountain travelers, after all.  The middle of the park, which is the original Square, has stunningly beautiful flowerbeds and curving, paved walkways.  There are two inviting playgrounds for kids.  The once green lawns are being allowed to go natural to save water, reduce fertilizer and pesticide use, and encourage growth of wildflowers for the bees and butterflies.  This is a phenomenon throughout public spaces in Paris.

It is not unusual to see palm trees in Paris parks.

For adults, there is some acreage of raw woodland with unpaved trails on each end of the park.  I think this wooded land is probably what was recently added to this public space.  Educational plaques in the woods explain the importance of various elements in the wooded ecosystem.

This distorted tree in the Parc St. Périne has the remnants
of some kid's improvised "treehouse."  The park's
gardeners have allowed it to remain.

The total size of the park is now a little over 9 acres, we calculated (3.7 hectares).  Even on a perfect summer afternoon, the park was uncrowded and serene.  The park is also open through the night during the warm summer months.  As part of the renovation and expansion, low-energy lights were added to the park so that neighbors can enjoy it after dark.  In addition to a couple long-stay hospitals, some apartment buildings overlook the park.  Tom and I think this would be a fine place to live in Paris.

Do not play ball against this wall! -- That's the message.

After exploring the park, we walked up to see the façade of the Notre Dame d'Auteuil church because Tom had not seen it in a while.  We amused ourselves by looking at a sign on the side of the church -- a message that confused and bemused us in 1998, before we improved our French.

Decades ago, I thought that the walk to Auteuil and back was very far; now I think nothing of this five-mile round-trip.  It is just a walk in the park.

The Parc Sainte Périne.

Swan's Way to OZ, then dinner in the Cosmos

The somewhat neglected but nevertheless lovely Île aux Cygnes is getting the attention it deserves, at last.

Here's a translation of recent happy events announced in the town hall's magazine for the 15th arrondissement:

The Seine, on the 15th arrondissement side.

The Île is now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Following a vote taken in the Paris Council in November 2018 by the municipal majority of the 15th at the initiative of Claire de Clermont-Tonnerre, the emblematic island of our arrondissement has just been integrated into the protected perimeter of the Banks of the Seine project, following a vote of the Paris Council in June. This artificial dike, dominated by the famous Statue of Liberty illuminating the world, is an exceptional place of biodiversity with the presence of 250 trees, including about sixty different species from the whole world (China, Japan, ...).  It should be noted that a renovation project was submitted as part of the 2019 Partial Budget by the Emeriau/Zola Neighborhood Council.

The "Swan's Way" (Allée des Cygnes) is the walkway that courses straight down the middle of the long, narrow island, connecting the Bir Hakeim and Grenelle bridges.  Swan's Way is our favorite place to walk during the late afternoon rush hour on a warm summer day.  The Allée is lined by those 250 trees, and the island is surrounded by the serene waters of the Seine instead of automobiles driven by people in a hurry.

Allée des Cygnes, or Swan's Way.

The headquarters of UNESCO are not far away -- they're even partly in the same arrondissement.  I wonder what took so long for this recognition to happen.

For a while, it was unclear as to which arrondissement the island belongs to.  Neither one seemed to take much responsibility for it.  The island has probably always been officially in the 15th, because it was created as part of a project to benefit the ports on the 15th's side of the Seine.  Nevertheless, several French journalists would refer to it as a part of the 16th, perhaps because so many people from the 16th use it for their daily walks and jogs.

That part of the 16th is deprived because it does not have a decent place to walk on the bank of the Seine; instead, it has a highway named for Georges Pompidou.  This stretch of the 15th, however, has -- in addition to the Île aux Cygnes --  a very walkable bank where two long ports are located -- the ports of Javel and Grenelle, which are home to many houseboats, a yacht club, sightseeing boats, and even river cruise ships.  This bank is an awesome place to walk and to ride a bike -- never-mind the cobblestones.

Last night, Tom and I walked the length of the island and strolled back toward home on the Rue Saint Charles.   Tom came to a standstill in front of 18 Rue Saint Charles.  What stopped him was a sign on a barbershop offering haircuts to men for only 12 euros.

Tree on the Rue Saint Charles.

That's even less than the 13 euros he's been paying at Look Coiffeur, a barbershop on the considerably less scenic Rue de la Croix Nivert.

This barber shop on the Rue Saint Charles -- named Coiffeur OZ -- is a little bigger and a little nicer than Look, too.  The owner came to the doorway to see if Tom was a customer, and Tom asked if the shop was going to be open long enough for him to get a much-needed haircut.  The answer was yes, so I promptly said I'd wait down at the square (intersection of the rues Saint Charles and Théatre).  The barber in the doorway seemed to be relieved when I said this.  

I think that wives do not wait inside barber shops like Look and OZ, which are run by men from North Africa.  How do I know this?  Just by instinct, I guess.  At any rate, I'd rather have a small glass of wine on a brasserie terrace on the peaceful square while I wait, thank you.

I'd not even finished that small glass when Tom came strutting down the street, newly and neatly shorn.  He described a funny conversation he'd had with the barbers as he tried to explain why his hair was growing in wildly different directions -- it is because of the medication he's taking.  It took a while for the mystified barbers to understand the relationship between the medication and Tom's crazy hair.

But they did seem to be satisfied with the explanation after a while.  Then the haircut was quick and efficient, resulting in very short hair.  I call Tom my Velveteen Rabbit, partly because of his short, silver hair, and partly because he is like the Energizer bunny (complete with drums and cymbals), and partly because Tom really likes rabbits.  He used to have a pet rabbit when he was a kid.

I digress.  

As we walked from the square toward home, we decided to try one of the brasseries very close to our apartment, on the Avenue Emile Zola.  We selected Cosmos, where all the tables on the sidewalk were occupied, and one nice table in the corner window seemed to be available.

Le Cosmos Café, a neighborhood brasserie where people drink cold beer on warm evenings.

We were welcomed and seated at that table, which had no other tables near it.  The bar was close by.

At the bar, a woman in flip flops was seated, with her two quiet, little, fluffy dogs nestled beneath her barstool.

The dogs were quiet until food arrived at our table -- a rack of lamb for me, and a burger with fries for Tom.

Two little dogs, trying to behave in the brasserie.

The dogs then began to whimper, whine, and beg.  After several minutes of listening to this pathetic serenade, Tom and I began to laugh.  We couldn't help it.

The food?  My rack of lamb and green beans were delicious, and the sautéed potatoes were terrible.  Tom's hamburger and fries were good.  Cosmos is obviously popular in the neighborhood.  Most people there were drinking large glasses of beer.

Rack of Lamb at Le Cosmos.

Hamburger and fries at Le Cosmos.

What a fine way to finish a warm summer day.