Parks & Recreation

I've been spending some time at the beautiful parks around the city because the weather has been so nice.  The first shot comes from the largest park in Paris, the Bois des Vincennes.  When Paris hosted the summer Olympics in 1900, most of the events were held at this park.  At three times the size of Central Park, I haven't even come close to seeing all of it.  And I've probably been there five or six times since it's right up the street from my apartment.  I just can't get enough of it!

In addition to an aquarium, a zoo, a cycling track, fairgrounds, several lakes, a horse track, botanical gardens, and a restaurant, there is a Buddhist Temple at the park. I have tried to explore it, but somehow the gates are always closed when I go.  I've checked their hours and even pushed the buzzer, but I can't get into this place. So instead I'll share a picture of the cool statue in front of it.

Another of my favorites is the Parc des Buttes Chaumont.  As seen in the following picture, the landscape is very eclectic.

One of the main features of the park is this Temple of Sybil, which is up on a hill on an island.

On the way up to the temple, I noticed that the wooden fences were really interesting.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were actually artificial, yet each section of fence was completely unique.  You can see the metal insides of the crossbeam in the foreground of this shot:

The temple, which is almost 150 years old, offers a great view of northern Paris.  These two found a perfect spot facing the Sacre Coeur.

Back at the Bois des Vincennes today, the peacocks were out.  I didn't manage to get this guy with his tail feathers spread, but he still looks pretty cool.

As a counterpart to the Temple of Sybil, the Bois des Vincennes has its own circular monument on an island: the Temple of Love.  I'll leave you with that so that you know how much I love this park and how lucky I am to be just a few blocks away.