08.07.07
Moving Across the Seine
When we left Paris in late June we also left our former apartment in the Marais neighborhood. We returned to Paris and to a whole new daily life in our new place, in the Latin Quarter.
The Pantheon at sunset, just a few blocks away.
I’m still exploring the neighborhood: I took a “wrong” turn just last night and discovered a little cobblestone street I hadn’t noticed, down the block from the new apartment.
When we first scoped out the new place in the fifth arrondissement, we were thrilled with its proximity to the Jardin des Plantes, a botanical garden which has on its grounds the Museum of Natural History. Although many parts of it are geometrically arranged and well-manicured, the Jardin des Plantes tends to feel more wild and relaxed than the Jardin du Luxembourg on the other side of the arrodissement.
Across the street from one of the entrances to the garden is the Parisian Mosque (La Grande Mosquée de Paris), a beautiful structure built in the 1920s that has since been a cultural center for Parisian Muslim life. Muslim or not, anyone may sit in the peaceful courtyard restaurant and enjoy a glass of the best mint tea this side of the Mediterranean.
La Grande Mosquée de Paris
Wandering around has unveiled other treasures: hidden gardens, an antique arena, and the city wall from the reign of of Philippe Auguste (1180-1223), which happens to make up one of the walls in our building.
A little park we stumbled upon. The grass here is not off-limits…for once!
Best of all, we’re only a short walk from our old hang-outs in the Marais, so we can still have the best of both the left and the right bank.
Cleve said,
August 11, 2007 at 10:13 am
I like the area and the tea at the Mosque is fantastic, great pics!