I’m not saying that I don’t get goosebumps when I run by Notre Dame and the bells are ringing but the runs have become routine. Sorta like the runs you have when you leave work at lunchtime. You suit up, hit the road, and go on autopilot. Sure, you notice things like road works, a new car, a pretty woman but most of the time you’re thinking about pace and breathing. So I have to say that when Katherine took a short-cut through JdL last week after walking me to my bridge game on the rue Notre Dame des Champs in the 6th, I was taken aback by all that she encountered and reported on!
She asked me what I’ve seen at the JdL. “Everything” I said; I run there nearly 2-3 times a week. “Everything?” she asked. Have you seen L’Orangerie? NO. The Statue of Liberty? NO. The people playing chess? NO. The beehives? NO. The espaliered fruit orchard? NO. The pleached trees? NO. The children’s fairground? NO. The children sailing their rental sale boats? NO. The horse and mule rental? NO. The tennis courts? NO. The petanque courts? YES!! See, I do know JdL like the back of my hand!
So there it was, like the Emperor’s new clothing. I run around all these things but never really noticed what I was running around. It was time to take a walk through JdL with Katherine.
And what a walk it was. First of all, it must have been the hottest day of the year, 90°+. I dove from shade to shade, seeking shelter from the sun. And all the time, Katherine is asking me if I’ve seen this or that. NO, I run around the park. Only occasionally do I cut through the park. And that is true. The park is almost a perfect one mile circumference. Add to that, the one mile round-trip to/from our flat or our health club and my runs are perfectly measured. Add or subtract a circuit to suit your running distance.
The first thing we come upon is L’Orangerie. It’s a free museum that has changing exhibits. This time it was a painter who did impressionist floral work and a stained glass artist. From here, Katherine asks if I can see the tennis courts and the chess tables. I actually could but never when I was running. In fact, it was hard to see the tennis courts and chess tables because of all these damned trees which Katherine then informed me, were the pleached trees; row upon neatly laid out row…..
We walked through the pleached trees, past the tennis courts, and came out onto a wide dirt path. Here were all the kids with their parents paying their 2 euro to ride the Shetland ponies and mules. Walking past the ponies, you come out into the center of the JdL. There’s a large central, massive fountain here along with bed after bed of flower plantings, all in bloom…which I have actually run past, sort of. But what I didn’t see was the boat rental stand or the kids with their rented stick, pushing their rented sail boats into the fountain.
But it was hot. I needed shade. We went back into the trees surrounding either side of the central gardens, passing 4 or 5 impressive sculptures, which I had never seen, and then, there it was…….the Statue of Liberty! I actually knew that there was a liberty statue here; I even went looking for it on one of my runs but if it wasn’t very close to my circuit, well, you understand. This is actually the second Statue of Liberty in Paris. The other one is in the middle of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. The one in the JdL is actually Bartholdi’s maquette of the actual statue on the Hudson.
From the Statue of Liberty, it is literally a petanque’s throw away from the petanque courts. And this is a really nice place to be on a hot day. It is deeply shaded with loads of benches and chairs to watch the petanque matches. Anybody can play. The French are very friendly. You don’t even need to have your own petanques; they’ll let you play with theirs but don’t. This is one of those games that takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. Practice by yourself or with someone of your own caliber before trying to take one of these guys on. And they even have a creperie here making fresh sweet or salty crepes…and NO, I’ve never seen it before even though I’ve passed the petanque courts.
After cooling down, it’s time to continue walking south, towards the end of the JdL. There are large warning signs here, telling you not to cross the grass because they have their own beehive colonies….dozens of them. And the beehives are for the 800 varieties of apples and pears that they grow in the park on espaliered trees. I’ve actually run passed some of these trees, all the while noticing the large white bows which I assumed were tying the tree branches to the espalier wire. But, as Katherine pointed out, I was wrong….these were white paper bags that were placed around some, but not all, of the fruit. Neither of us knows exactly why but we think it had something to do with saving the fruit from spoiling on the vines.
It was getting kind of late. I asked if we could go by the chess tables. We walked around the tables and it reminded me of Washington Square or Dupont Circle, but with a difference. Some people were playing on the park-provided tables. Others just put two chairs together and place their board on the chairs. Some people had those wind-up chess clocks where that little red flag would drop indicating time expired. Other people had those expensive computer clocks while others had no clocks. Some people were playing chess. Others were playing checkers. And some were playing that French card game Belote-Rebelote. But the difference was the bottles of wine. No drunks. Just a little refreshment. They even sell and serve beer and wine from one of the concession stands! Very civilized. I didn’t order anything but I was invited to play so I sat down. I now go to the park on a regular basis to play chess. It’s a good way for me to practice my French. I don’t know which is worse, my French or my chess!
I still run around the JdL, on autopilot, but now I know what I am missing.
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