Today is my last day in Paris, so it’s pack up the apartment first, then wander around Paris for the last time on this trip, before I bid au revoir to Paris. It’s pretty cool and windy in Paris today, so the normal crowds are missing from the Jardin du Luxembourg. It’s a good day to feed the ducks some dried out baguette. The French are justifiably proud of their bread, and would never eat stale bread. But the ends of two and three day old baguette are so dry I have to stomp on them with my heel to break them up enough to feed the ducks.
The iron railings, or ‘grilles’ of the gardens are also hosting a photography exhibition, which features the restoration, renovation and historical importance of all of the regions of France. It’s like doing a city by city visit of France just by walking around the railings of the gardens. One of the many free things to do in Paris that also don’t have queues of people!
It’s only by wandering the streets of the Marais in the rain earlier in the week that I discover that BHV has a separate pet shop called La Niche. Everything the spoiled Parisienne cat or dog could possibly need. They even have a line of dog coats especially for French bulldogs – almost like a female’s plus size range but cut to fit the wider body of the bulldog. There is a gorgeous French bulldog puppy being fitted for his winter coat as I browse. He has yet to learn the art of French aloofness, and licks my hand enthusiastically. I buy my two dogs a winter coat each, much to the surprise of the elderly couple behind me at the register. “You have TWO dogs…and they get a coat each? What a good Christmas they must have!” I don’t tell them I have two cats as well :-).
It’s looking like a beautiful evening in Paris – there is a sunset for a change with a relatively clear sky, but it’s time to head to the airport, and back to Melbourne!
