At least he left something on

We’ve had some very nice (and some not so nice) weather here lately. It’s not surprising that when it’s sunny, Parisians go outside in droves and apparently some people are more “comfortable” with their sunbathing than others.

I was having lunch with a few colleagues in a small park, when I noticed a shirtless man walk by. I didn’t pay him much attention but a few minutes later one of my colleagues motioned in his direction. I looked over and saw him removing his trousers (I didn’t think to take a photo until after the trousers were off). He was in the park, wearing nothing but his boxers. My initial reaction was ça se fait pas, but apparently ça does se fait. I suppose I should be grateful that he wasn’t wearing a speedo or tighty whities.

The Arènes de Lutèce

This past weekend, the Brit and I finally made it to the Arènes de Lutèce - a park in Paris that was once a Gallo-Roman amphitheater. There were some kids who appeared to be training for parkour and other kids played soccer in the middle of the park. There was one boy with glasses playing with a ball by himself. I felt bad that the other kids weren't including him in their game. But he'll probably grow up to start some tech company, make gazillions of euros and hire the other kids to mow his multi-acre lawn.

Read about Les Arènes de Lutèce here or here.

Buttes

A couple weekends ago I went to Buttes Chaumont with my roommate to take advantage of the great weather. Buttes Chaumont is quite different from the more popular and manicured parcs of Paris like Tuileries and Jardin du Luxembourg that are famous with tourists. Going to the Buttes was another reminder of how much I’ve been missing the presence of nature everywhere in Seattle. I was in France for a few years before I began to realize how much I took the ever-present greenery for granted in my home city while I was still there. In a recent Guardian article, English-born write Jonathan Raban perfectly described Seattle this way “By day, it doesn't look like a city at all. The trees out-number the houses…You can't quite tell: is it a city, is it a suburb, is the forest growing back?”

(The photo is from Gasworks Park in Seattle)

The Grass Is Resting

Paris weekend weather has been amazing lately and to catch some sun I decided to go to a park near my apartment. I expected the park to be flooded with people (as it always is when there’s even a tiny bit of sun). What I didn’t expect, because I forgot about this annoying French quirk, was for the grass to be resting. Those of you who live here or have visited know what I’m talking about - the signs that signal the grass is “en repos”, or in other words “Stay Off!”.

This is something that I still don’t understand. If the grass needs to rest when the weather is crappy – fine, but when it’s sunny and in the 70s the grass is meant to be enjoyed. The French are so strict about this that they even have grass police in some parks. I was having lunch in a well known, large park near the office (I was on a bench) when 2 women appeared blowing whistles and motioning to people who were lunching on the grass to get off. It’s times like these when I miss Seattle and it’s abundance of non-resting greenery…