The Great Outdoors on a Beautiful Day in Paris
Bonjour and Happy Labor Day Weekend!
We wish for all of you a pleasant, safe weekend of rest and relaxation, though we know many of you are suffering from some of the unpleasantries which COVID has created. What strange times these are!
Yesterday was an adventure day with our neighbor, Chantal, who has become a dear friend. She lives directly across the hall from us, and we are trying to convince her to visit us in America in the spring, depending on the state of the pandemic.
We have always had trouble getting into the huge forest in Paris, Bois de Boulogne which Chantal called “one of the lungs of Paris.” The other being the Bois de Vincennes. It is illegal to cut down any of the growth in either forest. We asked her to be our tour guide since she is a native Parisian and used to go to the area as a young person. There were many memories for her, but she was a bit disappointed at what we found.
First, a bit of history and general information which you can choose to read or not from Wikipedia. 
After a long bus ride, we walked quite a distance into the park to the area which she called the island. It was hot, dry, and dusty. The park is all natural, and it suffers from neglect. What we most enjoyed was the time with Chantal. Access to the island and restaurant is by ferry boat.
The restaurant shows its age and reeks of golden times gone by. Service was terrible but we enjoyed our time anyway.
Merci, Chantal, for sharing your entire afternoon with us. We left at 1 and returned home at 5:45 just in time to wash our feet (!) and meet Richard Nahem and his partner Vincent for snacks and drinks (which turned into dinner). Dummy me, we were so engrossed in good conversation that I forgot to take any pictures.
Lovers briefly on the subway but of course, we missed the kiss.
I will probably take a break tomorrow and will see you again next week!
À bientôt
L & B
September 4, 2021 @ 12:12 pm
Beautiful outing.
September 4, 2021 @ 1:37 pm
It may not have been acceptable but it looked like a pleasant outing. Good friends make any environs enjoyable. I’m sure it was a nice change of pace. Football begins in a few hours. Charles is ready!!! Roll Tide.
September 4, 2021 @ 2:45 pm
Are they playing at home and if so, is the stadium at capacity?
September 4, 2021 @ 2:57 pm
How did you get there and how did you get into the park? We love visiting the Bois de Boulogne, but have yet to figure out an easy way in and out. We seem to have to walk forever to get to the center, and when we are ready to leave we walk forever again to try to reach a bus stop, which seems to have impossibly long times between buses. I am glad you enjoyed your outing and that you were able to spend time with Chantal. Did you walk through the Parc de Aclimatation? That is also a lovely area.
September 4, 2021 @ 6:19 pm
Well, the best way is the way we came back. Go to Pont Alma by Metro, get off, and take Bus 63 which takes you right to one of the entrances to the Bois. We walked quite a way into the woods and then went off to the left to find the island. It would have been more pleasant had we had a good rain the night before to curb the dust and dryness. I’m just not a fan of the Bois, I’ve decided.
September 4, 2021 @ 2:59 pm
And thank you for posting the information on the Bois! Lots of information we didn’t know. However, we did know about the ‘ladies’ vans parked along the way since that seems to be how we always end up leaving the area.
September 4, 2021 @ 3:14 pm
Looks like a great new discovery! It was interesting to read that the park hosted the croquet and tug of war events in the 1900 Olympics. From what I found is that croquet was an event for only the 1900 games and tug of war began in 1900 Paris Games and ended in 1920. Thank you for sharing. Pat
September 4, 2021 @ 5:15 pm
Interesting history on Napoleon’s influence regarding the parks. Perhaps not the beauty you all were anticipating however an afternoon with a friend is beauty in and of itself.
September 4, 2021 @ 6:10 pm
You are so correct!
September 4, 2021 @ 5:45 pm
In Atlanta. Tix we’re still available last night.