After the fun, but hectic, whirlwind of the Angouleme festival, the first few days in Paris were time to relax.
My first stop was a walk out to my favorite Paris location, the Jardin des Plantes. Here's the Cuvier Fountain near one of the main gates..
The Jardin des Plantes is a garden walk mall of museums. You can feel swallowed up by the tree-lined, super wide walkways -- until you remember they were designed for the horse-and-carriage eras of Paris!
The grounds are home to several Natural history collections. Two of my all-time favorite museums are here. The Grand Gallery of Evolution...
and the Hall of Paleontology/Comparative Anatomy...
There are two enormous greenhouses at the JdP. Entering these offers a great escape from winter temps if you're visiting during the coldest months.
I like to use this side entrance to the JdP. Every time I visit, I return to see favorite spots, and I often get opportunities to learn new things...
My first favorite spot is this "Tree of Buffon." It was planted by him in 1785!
George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (generally known as Buffon) was accomplished in many many fields. His pioneering work as a naturalist and author shaped generations of scientists who followed. He was appointed the director of the Jardin des Plantes (then the Jardin du Roi) in 1739.
It stands near this building. Another favorite spot I rush to visit like an old friend ....
The lower floor is now the home offices for the "Societe des Amis du Museum Natural d'Historie Naturelle et du Jardin des Plantes" (friends of the Museums Membership office -- the blue door).
The upper floor of this building was the laboratory of Henri Becquerel.
Here's a side view of the building, where a special window can be seen.
Becquerel was from a distinguished family of scientists. His greatest discovery came from a nearly abandoned accident. He produced photographic evidence of rays from uranium samples. This unexpected outcome came from a forgotten experiment that started in the window sill of this building. He named his discovery "Becquerel rays," but quickly tired of this finding and pronounced it a dead end. Marie Curie was a young researcher who saw more potential in these rays. She and her husband Pierre weren't famous yet, but Marie's experiments on the rays required unique talents they each possessed. In the end, the Curies and Becquerel shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of radiation. Three titans of science became legends... and it all started in a tiny room of this building.
This area is also near an entrance to the labyrinth. A winding trail up a hill..
There are these lion statues at one entrance...
You'll see monuments to past directors of the Jardin des Plantes throughout, along with a number of impressive trees. Here's the Cedar of Jussieau, planted by him in 1734 (he was one of the directors of the Jardin des Plantes museums)
Near the top of the path, you'll find this monument to director Daubenton, who served from 1793-94 and 1796-97. The monuments are a pole, that lists his passing as 1800....
...and this marker, that lists 1799.
Both are correct because he actually died in the middle of the night on December 31st! -- straddling both centuries! I had never gone on this path before, but learned about it (and this fun Daubenton trivia) when I met Norbert, the Secretary of the Amis du Museums. He happened to be in his office on a day when it's usually closed. I happened to be peering at a sign on the door, trying to read it. He opened the door, we started chatting, and quickly realized we shared a geekdom for all things JdP. He knew some amazing stories about the grounds. He inspired me to make my first-ever hike through the Labyrinth. I became a member of the Friends of the Museum. It was a win-win encounter.
I did make it all the way to the top of the Labyrinth path, where you'll find the oldest metal monument in Paris. The view from there is mostly treetops.
This trip to Paris was my first using a translation app. What a modern miracle. So many mysteries unlocked!
While I have only seen the Jardin grounds in February.... the last few trips have had such mild weather (global warming, I think), I have seen hints of spring time in spite of the calendar dates.
The Jardin des Plantes also includes a famous Menagerie. This small, well-tended zoo was founded in 1794, making it the second oldest public zoo in the world. The Vienna zoo in Austria opened in 1752. (Thank you again Norbert of the Amis du Museum for this gem of JdP history).
Your visit to sites in Paris puts you in a historical setting juxtaposed with modern amenities (and in this case, comforts for the animals). If these walls could talk! This zoo was the home of Zarafa.. the giraffe who started a craze with her journey to and arrival in Paris in 1827. The menagerie was also home to animals from the Palace of Versailles who were evacuated during the French Revolution. I didn't visit this zoo this year, but you can see images from this post. https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2017/02/paris-menagerie-at-jardin-des-plantes.html
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