Last weekend Rach and I did some leisurely exploring around the 6eme arrondissement. We happened upon some of the few Roman ruins remaining in Paris. We were somewhat surprised to find kids playing soccer in them, but then noticed a sign marking the area as an official municipal recreational field. Attached to the Roman ruin playground was 
another playground sitting in what looked like the highly manicured courtyard of a French countryside chateau. I thought my childhood playground made of wooden 2x4’s was snazzy… It appears French kids don’t have to worry about getting splinters up their ass.Near the antique play-places is the Jardin des Plantes, or Garden of Plants. This name is meant quite literally; the place is full of beautiful flowers in orderly rows, and lined with trees trimmed hedge-style. All in all a little over-regimented for my taste, but impressive
nonetheless. A sweet stegosaurus stands by the entrance to the Museum of Natural History. (It bothers me a little bit that my elementary school intellect remembers exactly what a stegosaurus looks like yet has forgotten most of the details about the Articles of Confederation.)
nonetheless. A sweet stegosaurus stands by the entrance to the Museum of Natural History. (It bothers me a little bit that my elementary school intellect remembers exactly what a stegosaurus looks like yet has forgotten most of the details about the Articles of Confederation.)Next I convinced Rach and our friend Aly to wander over to check out the Bibliotheque National 
de France (BNF). Honestly, I wanted to the see the BNF because in my favorite book on Paris, Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik writes about how it is an absolutely preposterous monument—a total ego project by François Mitterand, complete with pentagon-like security measures and a whole lotta ugly. I believed Adam, but wanted to see for myself. Indeed I dragged poor Rach and Aly along to see a depressing monstrosity of a library. There are a few attempts at welcoming organic life-forms to the dreary campus—one might term them “courtyards”—but they reminded me
mostly of the velociraptor cages from Jurassic Park. Somehow the picture makes it look a lot nicer than it really is; I'm just that good of a photographer... If anything I'd give it credit for being imposing. The bridge to the other side of the Seine is cool though.
de France (BNF). Honestly, I wanted to the see the BNF because in my favorite book on Paris, Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik writes about how it is an absolutely preposterous monument—a total ego project by François Mitterand, complete with pentagon-like security measures and a whole lotta ugly. I believed Adam, but wanted to see for myself. Indeed I dragged poor Rach and Aly along to see a depressing monstrosity of a library. There are a few attempts at welcoming organic life-forms to the dreary campus—one might term them “courtyards”—but they reminded me
mostly of the velociraptor cages from Jurassic Park. Somehow the picture makes it look a lot nicer than it really is; I'm just that good of a photographer... If anything I'd give it credit for being imposing. The bridge to the other side of the Seine is cool though.
1 comment:
You're not missing much forgetting the articles of confederation. They were an important step in the thinking towards a more powerful central government but the government it set up was pretty pointless in and of itself and still relied on state militias. Some of the representatives to it didn't even bother showing up. The biggest practical highlight of the articles of confederation was that it set up the beginnings of the US postal system which was pretty cool. I'm sure there were a few other things but I'm tired.
-Alex
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