Top Ten Items in French Pharmacies... well, my 10 anyway

Recently I have been reading a lot of "top 10 items" under this particular heading. The interesting part is now that we're all global and everything, these items are more or less available without having to step foot in a French pharmacy... which is a shame, to be honest.

I love shopping in Paris pharmacies and Monoprix cosmetic sections.

My favorite pharmacy is everyone's favorite: City-Pharma at 26 rue du Four. Here's the Yelp review. Why do I love it? Um, the prices (which are even better than Monoprix prices), the madness of the customers inside, and the variety of wacky stuff I can buy, including organic teas.

This place is NOT for the faint of heart. French women push and shove and call you names in an attempt to get around in an admittedly overcrowded store on two levels, where the aisles are barely wide enough for one skinny Frenchwoman, and there are 300 of you.

Make sure--if you go--that you hit both floors, the organic/vitamin area, and the baby product areas. Have a list. Be polite but shameless. Look into other women's baskets to find out what they are buying and what sales items they've discovered.

If you cannot take this (and you'll know in about 60 seconds whether you can), go to Monoprix. Many of the same products can be found there, again at bargain prices, and it is rarely quite so gladiatorial. Here is an article with City Pharma but two other suggestions; there are pharmacies all over Paris: wander in and browse. It is education!

My top 10 favorite products from City Pharma or any Parisian pharmacy include:

1. Crealine H2O from Bioderma. This micellar water removes makeup beautifully and is recommended by models everywhere (well, then!). Recently, US brands have caught on to this: don't be fooled. Also, I recommend the sensitive skin version (pink cap) but there is also a version for acne-prone skin (Crealine Sebium H2O) that I use (green cap) that smells faintly cucumber-y but works for my skin.

2. Vichy's Purete Thermale 3 en 1 is also a makeup remover, a milky, soft-smelling cream that removes eye makeup including mascara (without stinging), general makeup, and acts as a toner. One tube lasts forever: worth every penny, because it leaves your skin feeling silky and read for nighttime moisturizer.

3. Avene Cleanance is a moderately priced and very gentle but thorough cleaning gel. I use it every morning in the shower, and my skin loves it (I have combination skin, and I've over 40). It never makes my skin tight or flaky, and I can use it with my Clarisonic without stopping everything away. the regular size bottle lasts me 5-6 months. No nasty smell, either.

4. Avene Cold Cream lip balm. This is my go-to lip balm any more, and I've tried the Caudelie, Nuxe (stick), and multiple others. This works when my lips are wintry-flaky, dry from heated air or sun, and cools as well as heals. Now, it does nothing for you in terms of color or shine, but it is not waxy or sticky--a bonus, in my opinion--and last long time.

5. Nuxe Reve de Meil. Now, this is the Cadillac of lip balms. The version in the pot is much, much better than the stick, and feels oh so good going on. Tastes good, smells good, lasts a long time, and if you like pots (I get irritated with having sticky fingers), this will make you happy. I do recommend it if this is the version of lip balm you prefer. Beats everything America's got.

6. Nuxe Creme Fraiche. This is my everyday moisturizer for day; I started using it about eight years ago when I was having real trouble with flaking and dull winter skin. It has been the product I've used longest on this list: cannot live without it. If you need something slightly heavier, the Creme Prodigieuse is that one--I have used that too. Yum. Reviewers sometimes get stuck on the scent of this, which is definitely personal. If Creme Fraiche bothers you, try the Prodigieuse. One jar lasts me about 3 months. Both can be bought on drugstore.com.

7. Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse. I am obviously a big fan of the Nuxe line. Love the dry oil phenomenon? Nuxe was doing it with this way before everyone decided to jump on the bandwagon. And it has Vitamin E. This can be used on skin, hair, face... and smells great. It also comes in a version with gold flakes in it, but I go with the traditional. I use this on the dry skin on my arms, neck, décolleté, and it never makes me feel greasy, slick, or messy. Drys almost immediately; I often put it on in the morning right out of the shower, then finish putting on primer and moisturizer on my face, and by then I can dress and the oil doesn't track onto my clothing. If you;ve never tried a dry oil but were thinking about it, you might really love this one.

8. Elgydium Toothbrushes. Ok, this may sound crazy, but my dental visits have been much better since I started using these toothbrushes. No idea why. I pick up a year's worth at a time. Maybe I like brushing my teeth more with a toothbrush from Paris? Who wouldn't... and they're dead cheap.

9. Topicrem Body Lotion. I had read about this body lotion on multiple websites and lists, and finally bought a bottle. Ooh la la, yes. It is all that and more. Love it! Plus, simply inexpensive but again works on that nasty winter heated air skin that makes me itchy and twitchy. I am finicky about body lotions--both smells and textures--and this one passed both tests. I like the light, not cloying scent that fades quickly and doesn't overwhelm my perfume. I also like the light, melt-in-quick texture. Great to wear to bed, because I don't wake up with lotion-slick sheets.And a bottle lasts a long time.

10. Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. This is another item that shows up on everyone's list. And deserves to. It is great for that second-day had you don't have time/can't wash (and Frenchwomen do not was their hair every day, n'est-ce pas?). Spray or squeeze in, brush out and voila! You're gone. Again, a nice, light scent that doesn't overwhelm. And by the way, the entire line of Klorane shampoos, conditioners, and hair products are fantastic--and come in sample sizes, if you want to experiment.

I haven't even included the great line of sunscreens from La Roche-Posay Anthelios, the Caudalie Beauty Elixir (big fan!), the Avene Eau Thermale sprays, the Homeoplasmine balm, Avibon Vitamin A cream, and on and on. Or cosmetics! My favorite lipstick comes from Monoprix's (now defunct) Miss Helen line; the in-house cosmetics are just as good (better?) than those by the name brands Monoprix also sells.

When you go to Paris, visit some pharmacies and try the lines by Vichy, Nuxe, La Roche-Posay, Caudalie, Klorane and other French brands. Or most of these are available thru either drugstore.com or amazon.com. Have a little splurge and see what these "top 10 lists" are all about.

2015 and back again

Well, despite everything 2014 turned out to be BIZZY (busy+dizzy).

Much got done, but I definitely dropped out of this blog. The good news is that I discovered how much I missed writing every day, sharing with readers and receiving back news and commentary from them as well.

I want to continue sharing tips and ideas about Paris, but also London. I've spent the last two summers there, and am starting to get to know it now.



New project: Writing a short play about Josephine Baker. Such an interesting character!

And so very Parisian!

Paris Museum Pass: 2, 4, or 6 days of bliss

This is the actual multi-day museum pass Frugal Scholar was referring to in her comment on my post on Musee D'Orsay this week.

I was simply suggesting you buy your tickets for the Musee D'Orsay on-line prior to the day you go, but she is right: the Museum Pass (which I have never used, fyi) does seem a great deal for the money: 4 days for 56euro? I think I'll buy one this summer when I am in Paris only for that short stay.

Researching the site further, I realize why I never bought one before: you can either have it shipped to you (for an additional cost, which lessens the economical appeal) ....or pick it up when arriving in Paris, on rue des Pyramids for free. Or buy it in the CDG airport, or FNAC outlets.

Okay, it's sounding better and easier.

Given that the pass includes entry to the Musee D'Orsay, the Musee national de l'Orangerie, the Musee Cluny (medieval art and culture), the Louvre, the Musee Rodin, and the Musees des arts decoratifs, when it costs me 16euro alone for the first two sites... and it will get me in without waiting on lines... and I'll have paid for all of my entries upfront and never have to worry/open my wallet again, this seems a worthwhile purchase.

It also means that I'll be bound and determined to get to at least 4-5 museums during my five-day stay, no matter what.

Musee D'Orsay: #1 tip for visitors to Paris

I have not exactly picked up the ball and run with it, or some other athletic metaphor. But January through mid-March has been another wild ride (why do I think my life will be quieter or run more smoothly or peacefully? It is a delusion I am consistently seduced by...)

But here is Paris share 1/50: The Musee D'Orsay.




Musee D'Orsay, from across Seine

Forget the Louvre. well, don't "forget" it, but let's get real: the Louvre is a wonderful repository of artifacts and global art--but if you want to "know" Paris go to the Musee D'Orsay. Spend a morning there, after which your entire Paris experience will be richer, deeper, more complex and interesting.

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30*-6 (except Mondays); open Thursday nights to 9:45 pm.
Cafes: 3 inside; carts outside, and nearby cafes (tourist prices)

The museum is a renovated train station and it is one of the most difficult interiors to navigate. Pick up a map. To get to the 5th floor: go directly to the rear of the main floor and take the escalators at rear center all the way to the top. To get to the niveau median: go left (East) or right (West), up one set to steps and down the long hall of rooms which open into/through/around one another.

Interested in Monet? Manet? Degas? Van Gogh? Toulouse-Lautrec? Gaugin? Caillebotte? Renoir? Courbet? Corot? Any painter/sculptor/designer/photographer of the 19th century? You'll find them here, in juxtaposition with their peers. If you pay attention, this is as much about the evolution of Paris during the 19th century as it is about the evolution of art.



For Impressionist Rooms: walk down this central hall to rear, take escalators

When heading for the Impressionists, ignore everything else.

In specific order, here's what you must see:

1. The Impressionist section (fifth floor, SE corner). This is the intense collection of paintings and sculptures by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, and their associated pals between the 1860s and 1880s. Come early to avoid crowds, ignore the tourists filming (instead of looking at) the paintings, and find bliss.
2. The pastels and drawings of Degas, Lautrec, and others--same floor. Smaller, intimate dark rooms to preserve the materials/media.
3. Van Gogh, Lautrec and later post-Impressionists:W side, 1 staircase up from entry floor, Rms 71-2 (Niveau median).
4. Individual (free/unticketed) exhibitions.

Of course, if you have a ticket to a special exhibition, these are usually very popular and crowded, so go there after #1 (Impressionists are ALWAYS the most crowded and thus annoying rooms.)

Impressionist Rooms, Musee D'Orsay

If you are interested in decorative arts or early/mid-nineteenth century art, go there last. I say this because these rooms are always empty and you will not be battling crowds. You can then enjoy these spaces at your leisure. Both are rich, rich, rich in materials: you will find yourself nearly hypnotized by the holdings.

Last---but far from least!--go to the bookstore. Even if you are uninterested in art history books and textbooks, this is one of the best museums shops in Paris. It is filled with great gifts for children (or wonderful stuff for your children of all ages, if they're with you), mothers & mothers-in-law, and everyone else. This bookstore is not as good as it used to be, and yet it is superb.

My final recommendation: buy your ticket (or tickets) ahead of time. If you do so, you will eliminate all standing in line: you will sail by all those standing outside as if you were Queen Elizabeth (or Wills and Kate). I suggest buying through FNAC, if only because you can open an account and buy all your museum/event tickets early here, print them before you leave the US, and enjoy waving royally at the wilting peeps in the "line."

*If you do not have a ticket, be in line by 9:15 am to get in nearly as soon as the museum opens (May-Sept); if you do have the advance pre-ticket... see "Wills/Kate" note above.

Directions: The museum is located on the Left (South) Bank of the Deine, directly across from the Louvre. It can most easily be reached by taking the #12Metro to Solferino, or the RER C to Musee D'Orsay, or walking across the Passarelle Solferino from the Quai des Tuileries. Here's a map. It is a longer, but lovely walk from the Place de la Concorde across the Pont de la Concorde and along the Seine.

Associated museums:
Musee Marmottan Monet, 16th arrondissment: Monet, Morisot, Renoir in small museum
Musee Victor Hugo, 4th arrondissment: Hugo's home with special exhibitions. Bonus: located in the Place des Vosges!
Musee de l'Orangerie: 1st arrondissement: special exhibitions of Impressionist painters
Musee Carnavalet, 3rd arrondissement: a museum of the culture of Paris, medieval to modern times. Bonus: location in the Marais district!

2014... and now what?

I have definitely been absent for a while. 2013 turned out to be a complicated, crazy year full of twists and turns.

For 2014, I look forward to a return to, well, calmer waters. I have plans to spend the summer in England, teaching in both London and Oxford. I hope to take a bookbinding class, starting to learn a new skill... an "old school" kind of one.

I am also continuing my attempts to de-clutter my house and life, to get and stay healthy, to develop and strengthen my personal community, and to be more creative on all levels.

What's new, then, in the Pearl 2014 blog?

Recently I've been asked by no less than five friends to give them advice about what to see and do, where to stay and eat, and similar questions about Paris. Not surprising, really, since I've lived there twice (1999 and 2008) and visited multiple times since 1981. I know the city, although I am always learning more. Most importantly, I give great advice about things to do and see and buy while there.

I've decided to post my favorite 50 tips about visiting Paris. This will include information about travel, hotels, cafes and restaurants, shopping, museums and monuments, and even day trips. Since my travel budget was usually small, most of these will be inexpensive (verging on cheap), but some will be splurges worth every euro. I'll also point out etiquette along the way, manners and attitudes that will keep you from standing out as an Ugly American.

To my mind,the whole point of visiting someplace away from home is to engage with that place and its culture--not your own reproduced. Travelling broadens us because we aren't at home and can't act like it.

I'll also include a list of movies, books, and music that you can use to prepare yourself for visting Paris, or simply to indulge in a virtual visit.

This means every week will see a new tip plus new materials about Paris. So if you can't visit in person, you can still enjoy the City of Light.

If I were in Paris... Friday, March 29, 2013

The weather in Paris today is 47 degrees and rainy... not the best weather for a flaneur or flaneuse, enjoying the streets or views of Paris.

In which case, let's consider indoor entertainments near each other.

Starting in the 4th arrondissement, there is an exhibition at th Hotel de Ville, Paris Haute Couture, celebrating Paris fashion and including key examples from the collection of the Musee Galliera. This free exhibition is open from 10 am to 7 pm Monday through Saturday.

A short walk from there along Rue du Rivoli is the Louvre, which right now has some really interesting special exhibitions.

For example, through June the museum is celebrating the opening of its new exhibition rooms for Islamic Arts. In connection with this, through June 8, is an exhibition on Walid Raad, a Lebanese installation artist. Here is a video of the exhibition.

And of course, a rainy, chilly day might be the perfect day to fully explore the Louvre, on a week outside the tourist season. On a day like this, one could wander through the museum and really enjoy the paintings, sculptures and rooms full of decorative arts, precious items and history.

Another short walk down Rue du Rivoli is the Musee des Arts decoratifs, which has an exhibition on Fashioning Fashion: Two Centuries of Fashion 1700-1915. This show runs until April 14 and includes changing styles from France, Italy and England.

What else can you do in this area of the tightly-knit 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th arrondissements?

• You can wander the Tuileries Gardens.
• You can have hot chocolate at Angelina.
• You can eat and shop at the Louvre Carrousel.
• You can visit the bookstores at the Louvre, the Musee des Arts decoratifs and the Comedie Francaise.
• You can stroll the Palais Royal gardens.
• You can stroll up to the Opera Garnier and tour that gorgeous building, as well as their current exhibition.
• You

Simple pleasures: Red tea or Rooibos tea

This is a delicious alternative to black tea (which I mostly don't care for) or green tea (which I do like). This red-colored tisane is also called red bush tea, comes from South Africa and first came to my attention in the mystery series by Alexander McCall, starting with The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

I love the stuff.

Red bush tea, rooibos tea or red tea, the result is a slightly sweet and nutty hot drink that is surprisingly good for you. The tea has LOTS of antioxidents while being low in caffeine and tannins found in black or green teas. It might also contain flavonoids known to be cancer-fighting elements.

Gorgeous color, right? Most of the time it is difficult to find rooibos without extensive flavoring, so it is difficult to find a red tea that really allows one to savor the taste.

Some of my favorites include Mariage Freres teas Marco Polo Rouge (rooibos with fruit and flowers from China and Tibet -- hence, Marco Polo) and Nil Rouge (citrus, spices and marigold flowers). Another source here in the states that is easy to find are the Republic of Tea choices: Good Hope Vanilla red tea, Safari Sunset red tea, Cinnamon Orange red tea (yum!), etc.

This is a great afternoon/early evening tea, because it has plenty of flavor but not so much caffeine. So you don't get a jump from it. It's a great tea with fruit and cheese, for example, but not really an after-dinner tea or a breakfast tea. Make a pot and enjoy!

La vie en rose: Edith Piaf in Paris

Piaf is now known globally to an entire new generation thanks to the 2007 French film La vie en rose, for which Marion Cotillard received the Oscar and the Golden Globe. It is a tremendous film and Cotillard's performance is magnificent. I highly recommend it.

Piaf herself is also magnificent. And confusing, and mysterious, and compelling.

Born in 1915, Piaf lived the first part of her life in Paris in the 20th arrondissment -- Belleville.She died in 1963 at the age of 47 having lived a passionate and troubling life.

This is a clip of Piaf singing "La vie en rose," considered by many to be her signature song:

As an alternative, here is Mirielle Mathieu singing the same song nearly 50 years later. Matthieu is also a fine French singer, with a completely different style.

From 1929 to 1935 Piaf sang in the streets of Paris as a street performer, at first with her biological father, who was a street acrobat. After she parted ways with him, Piaf performed in the 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements as well as the suburbs of Paris. In 1935 she was discovered by the club owner and impresario Louis Leplee, who supposedly gave her the signature style of stage presence, costuming (the little black dress) and gestures she used for the rest of her life.

Piaf performed in clubs in Paris until World War II and began changing her street image. She met and made friends with influential people.

During the war, Piaf lived in Marseilles, but performed in Paris at Nazi-sponsored events. She also claimed to be a member of the Resistance and to have aided those targeted by the Nazis to escape in various ways.

After the war, Piaf was an international celebrity. She aided several actors and singers to fame, including Yves Montand and Charles Aznevour. Her love life was complicated: she had one child who died with an early lover, then later married after the war twice. The great love of her life was boxer Marcel Cerdan, who was killed in an airplane crash after little more than a year of their relationship.

Piaf is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetary.

One of the quirkiest museums in Paris is dedicated to her. This article in The Guardian reviews it clearly. This Time Out review gives another angle.

This article is a kind of virtual tour of Piaf's Paris. If one wanted to walk in the singer's shoes, these are great resources. The fact is, her voice was a treasure, and her life was the kind of messy, troubled voyage we've come to expect of great artists, espeically women artists perhaps... but it is also sad and ridiculous on some level.

From another direction, Piaf's story is the story of Paris in the first half of the 20th century. Her movement from abandoned child to street performer to singing star is also the story of Paris's own history and geography, even to her interment in the city's most famous cemetary, perhaps ironically located in the same arrondissement where she was born.

Her great legacy is the gorgeous recordings we have and, as in the clip, the sense of Piaf as a performer. It is clear that she loved performing and felt more alive while singing than at any other time.

Parisian market bike

If I were in Paris... Friday, February 8, 2013

Two of my favorite "heights" in Paris are the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame's belltowers. Both give a great view of the complete city, giving spectators a broad awareness of the city's geography and narrative.

And each one gives a different view of the city in terms of history and location, as well.

Gargoyles!

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, of course, is a Gothic masterpiece found in the earliest part of the city, the Ile de la Cite, one of the two islands in the Seine where the original city was founded/grounded. Built between 1163 and 1267 (yes, over the course of a century), the towers complete the west-facing facade.

A visit to the towers is separate from a visit to the cathedral: prepare to stand in line. Get there early and you'll still stand in line, but the wait will be significantly shorter. It opens at 10 am: get there at least thirty minutes prior (make it 45!). And it costs 7.50 euros. The stairs are narrow and well-used (monks have been running up and down for eight centuries), so beware. It's all foot-power, baby, so have some coffee and a croissant to get you fueled up.


The view is phenomenal. You'll see gargoyles up close (just like "The Hunchback" stuff), and a brilliant, north-towest-to-south sweep of The City. Plus a close-up of the eight bells in the towers.

Winter might seem an odd time to suggest climbing these towers and stand outside, but the last rise of the sun and the crispness of the air? Perfect compliments to this adventure. (Plus smaller crowds.)

Technology.

The Eiffel Tower is one great salute to late nineteenth-century building, architecture and the arrival of the modern age. It has become synonymous not only with Paris but with France itself, the soignee culture of an entire country.

I absolutely love going up in the tower, all the way to the top. Again, the view of the city is amazing. Get to the Tower early--again, lines are long on any reular day, even in winter. You can walk up or take the elevator, on either stage. I recommend walking down.

Again, simply stunning views of the city from the top, in 360 degrees.

If I were in Paris... Friday, October 5, 2012

If I were in Paris today...

I'd go to the exhibit on Bohemes at the Grand Palais. This exhibit is dedicated to the myth of Bohemia as the "home" of artists, starting in the mid-19th century. The exhibition includes the work of such artists as de la Tour, Degas, Corot, Turner, Matisse, Van Gogh and Picasso and traces the intersections of artistic life not only in the visual arts but in literature, criticism and music.

This is one of the new brand of exhibitions curated to connect grand themes across and through and between artists and media and styles.

There's a music festival and exhibition dedicated to Django Reinhardt starting tomorrow, as well. At the Cite de la Musique, it includes concerts through next week. Reinhardt was the jazz guitarist who introduced and made world-famous that distinctive French sound evoking French gypsy music. Reinhardt was born into a family of gypsies living in Paris, and started recording as early as age 18.

By the way if you are a fan of the film Chocolat, you'll recognize the style.

And yes, in both cases, I'd wind up the day in the bookstores.

But this is the perfect day to be walking along the Seine or through the Jardins du Luxembourg, to enjoy autumn. To take a lunch of French baguette, cheese, grapes or figs and an Orangina or split of wine, along with your best book and a camera. Yum!

Saturday's agenda

With only seven more days in Paris, tomorrow is all about hitting the small exhibitions. I plan to return to the Musee D'Orsay for the exhibit on Misia, reine de Paris, the Impressionists and one last view of the bookstore.

Then the Musee Malliol for the Artemisia Gentileschi exhibit.

Then lunch at the Galeries Lafayette cafe and souvenir shopping.

Then the exihibit of opera tragedy queens at the Opera Garnier next door.

Then a quick walk to visit La Madeleine, and home. Exhausted, no doubt.

More Passerelle

The Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir is a bridge intended only for passage to walkers or bike riders. When crossing, you can choose to walk low or high, or a combination.

Not my photo! But a good overall picture

I choose to walk high, all the way.




First length, higher and steeper than it looks in the top photo

Second length, cresting up toward middle of bridge

On the other side, the top arch dumps you into a park, which was filled with sunbathers, families, and kids out of school. This stone staircase has a fountain running through the middle, which the kids loved.

From here, I walked through the surprisingly untended park (unlike the Tuileries or Luxembourg gardens, just a lot of green space and dirt paths to a cafe and finally the Metro home.

I want to talk some more pictures of the Passerelle and the Tolbiac side. It is a very peaceful place to sit and consider the day, the Seine, and the work one is doing deep within the stacks.

Simple Pleasures: Passerelle

Oh, today...

I am staying in the apartment. Doing laundry, cleaning, sweeping, and finally blogging.

I have been in the archives all week, from 9 am to about 4 pm everyday... and I am exhausted. So many people, such hard chairs, writing and researching and writing. I get back to the apartment at about 6pm, and I am done for. Didn't see anything, didn't enjoy anything, didn't even have fun researching: the encyclopedia entries I am working on right now are pretty cut and dried. Mostly fact-checking, and not particularly interesting. But it is paying for about half of my Paris apartment rental, so necessary.

I went to bed early last night, and got up late this morning. In the middle of the night I thought, I don't want to go there t'morrow. I'm not going.

After my roommate left, I went back to sleep for another three hours, then woke, took a shower, and stuffed sheets and towels into washer (the wash cycle takes about two hours). Then sat down to catch up on whatever is happening on the internet.

Notes to self:

• back home in the Big D, start back with yoga and walking regularly. You are out of shape, madame!
• add in some core exercises as well as strength and flexibility workouts. Because.
• working all the time is boring and makes you boring and cranky.
• a good view makes everything better

But yesterday when I was leaving the Tolbiac, I walked across the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir, which crosses the Seine just behind (in front of?) Tolbiac and links the right bank with the left there. Wikipedia tells me it is the 37th bridge on the Seine, but nothing about the loveliness of it.

My early morning view from Tolbiac of the Passerelle: misty and mysterious

A better, fancier view of the whole thing

I plan to take more, better pictures myself.

Fountains

One of the essential points of the baroque garden as imagined and designed by Andre Le Notre ( the gardener behind Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Fontainebleau, St. Germain en Laye, and countless other gardens of the period in France, England, and Italy, including the Vatican), is that it be interesting not only intellectually in its scope, symmetry, and mathematical use of landscape (vertical and horizontal) but that it be sensual.

So the baroque garden includes texture, movement, rhythm, stillness, variation, sound, and, in the case of Versailles, color. Most baroque gardens used only green, but Louis XIV loved flowers, both for color and scent, so flowers as well as flowering and fruit-bearing trees were integrated into the overall design.

Movement, reflection, and sound were added by the inclusion of fountains and pools throughout the garden. And of course the Grand Canal.

Pools offered serene, cool spaces of water countering the green parterres, trees, and topiaries and the paths. Theyalso reflected the blue skies above. Fountains shot water vertically or diagonally and gave life to the silent, still gardens.

At Versailles, the messages of the garden's fountains and pools carries the stories of Apollo, n'est-ce pas? sweeping upward toward Louis's palace, even into Louis's bedchamber.

The Latona Fountain at the head of the Allee Royal: Latona was the mother of Apollo and Diana in Roman mythology, a goddess.

Ovid tells the story of the fountain: when Latona was looking for refuge after having given birth, the Lycian peasants refused her water. In return, being a goddess, she turned them into frogs who had to live in the mud and water ever after. So there. So the fountain depicts Latona, Apollo and Diana on top, then descending/widening rings with fountains and figures of peasants transforming or transformed. Ha!

This is what it looks like with the water turned on, which it wasn't last Wednesday.

The fountains arch up and out, filling the basin, but also causing the water to flow down the layers of the wedding-cake style construction. The figures of Latone, Apollo and Diana are marble, but the others are brass, I think, a golden-colored metal in any case.

More pictures of Versailles

Since I took about 150 during the one day I was there, I'll add them in slowly...
These first pictures are of the approach to the palace, from my hotel, then the rear of thepalace (but only part of it) and a view from that level (the palace level) down towards the Grand Canal. Where I was headed.

The palace is on a hill, by the way, which you should get from the pictures. You walk up to get to get to the entrance of the palace, then down into the gardens. Three villages were razed to create the expansive gardens around and behind Versailles.

Around the corner from my hotel, walking down the main street toward the gates of the palace 

The crowds at 10 am on a Wednesday morning

The chapel and a wing added after Louis XIV's time

The northern side of the rear of the palace, with some of the southern reflecting pool

Basically, to get to this point directly behind the palace took me about 35-40 minutes. I hadn't yet had to show my ticket, just walked into the gardens. The gardens and park are free weekdays and open to the Versailles public everyday.

In the summer, on weekends they have the Grands Eaux Musicales, where they blast baroque music in the gardens and shoot all the fountains about 15 minutes on the hour.

See the little blue within the green? That's where I am going.

A great picture of the Allee Royale, from the Palace level, looking from the Latona Fountain to the Grand Canal.
Where I'm going.

Topiaries: each one different

Approaching the Apollo Fountain at the bottom of the Royal Allee 

This was part 2 of the walk. From the palace to the Grand Canal.

This is what the palace looks like from the Apollo Fountain.
That's how far I came.

In the gardens...

I saw this...

L'Allee Royal, the central allee leading from the palace to the Grand Canal

and this...

One of the figures of the Latona Fountain, a man transforming into a frog

and this...

The Apollo Fountain, modeled after a young Louis XIV

and this.

The very 21st century gardener, taking pictures of the flowers on his cell

 All pretty.