The last couple of weeks started with Lloyd and I being visited by two friends on their way back home to Perth at the end of a 15 month UK stint. We spent the next week exploring the new and re-exploring the things we already loved including Jardin du Luxembourg, our favourite bar Marlusse et Lapin and various other places. On this day in particular we spent our time in and around the 5th and 6th arrondissements searching through the gardens, seeing the Pantheon and unknowingly walking past the steps where Owen Wilson sits at midnight in Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris. What a day!
This is a statue at the little roundabout at the southern end of the Jardin Marco Polo section (also known as the Garden of the Great Explorers) of the Luxembourg Gardens...
...whilst this southern section isn't officially a part of the Jardin du Luxembourg, it is highly recommended to start from this end of town and slowly meander through the surroundings. You will find beautiful lawned areas, ping pong tables, statues, kids playing football with their dad and the Fountain of the Observatory (pictured above)
This little guy has copped a spraying. Possibly a homage to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Still walking through the Jardin Marco Polo...
The golden gates of one of the most beautiful parks you can be in on such a beautiful, sunny day.
I wouldn't want no one stampeding my turf if it was that green either.
Sophie looking impressed. Always impressed.
Zoe and Maynard walking through the garden.
Lloyd lurking in the shadows.
Some of the lazing locals.
The Luxembourg Palace in the background.
Shadow people. The colours here are amazing. We were fortunate to get a blue sky kind of day.
The flowers were all yellow and red. It seemed a theme and today the place was rife with gardeners planting for the new season, which despite these beautiful, clear skies, is fast approaching. Nights are getting colder.
The Luxembourg Gardens are always popular when the sun is shining in Paris. It's not uncommon to find hundreds of people lounging in what's left of the sun with a book and a cigarette. What a combo.
The Luxembourg Palace.
There were people on top of the Palace filming something.
This statue in the gardens was very confusing to us all. Not sure what's going on here... Though we all have our theories.
There were plenty of folk head to head in chess battles.
The above building was all locked up, but seemed to contain a greenhouse perhaps. I love an inside garden.
And this is the last photo of the Luxembourg Gardens and Palace from that day. This is the outside of the Palace. We have been to this place twice now and still have only covered around 50% of it. We will surely be back to explore the other parts of the garden when we get a chance.
Until then let us entertain you with various other photos of the 5th and 6th.
Until then let us entertain you with various other photos of the 5th and 6th.
A shop outside the Palace gates.
Doll house? Creepy.
The University of the Sorbonne.
The Pantheon can be seen in the background. We were on the street waiting for Zoe and Maynard to get ice-cream. Apparently very good ice cream.
Another University of Paris.
La Mairie Du Ve Arrondissement. Not sure what is was but it was a mirror image of the university pictured above this photo.
You could see the Eiffel Tower from this view.
The Pantheon. A very grande building that houses the remains of many a national icon. Figures ranging from Voltaire to Marie Curie, representing . We are yet to take a look inside, but we will be sure to do it one day soon.
Shot of the top of the dome of the Pantheon.
This is Saint Étienne du Mont. It is the church that plays home to the seemingly magic steps that Owen Wilson gets picked up from and transported through time in the 2011 Woody Allen film 'Midnight In Paris'.
However we didn't get a photo of the steps. You can vaguely see them in the photo below.
Those are the steps from the film on the right of Sophie, Zoe and Maynard. Unfortunately it was only when we got home that we realised those were the steps from the film and therefore didn't get a better shot, sorry. This is one of the great things about Paris - there is so much history, new and old, around every street corner and you just don't realise it unless you've researched. Film wise, we have unknowingly walked past famous locations from Inception and many from Amelie to name a few, without realising. I'm sure there are more that we don't know about.
Though Sophie has been researching this site on a regular basis
Movie locations!
Though Sophie has been researching this site on a regular basis
Movie locations!
We are in search of an afternoon drink and by golly there are many places to choose from in this student heavy area. You are guaranteed to find a nice little resting spot to drink, read and/or chat in this part of town regardless of whether you want a beer in an English pub or a snack in a bistro. It is here.
Ecole Polytechnique is a specialist engineering school.
And that was our day. As was said earlier the Latin Quarter is a great place to walk around and get lost in all the amazing pubs and cafes and grande buildings. The Luxembourg Gardens are not to be missed. Always be sure to check the opening hours for the garden, they do tend to get locked just before sunset and it is heavily guarded by the gendarmes.
Location of Pantheon:
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