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| Forest of Vincennes |
Friday, 23rd June 2017
Cecile’s apartment is in the 10th arrondisement in an area named Vincennes for the Chateau de Vincennes. It is very near a large city forest, and park with a zoo, menagerie, lake and small island. For this day I decided to walk through this park and forest to get to the Chateau before taking the metro to Monmartre. I knew the area was very large, and yet for some crazy reason I thought it would be a good idea to take a hike in a forest before I hiked all over Monmartre. I also had blisters between my big and second toes, on the pads, and the heels of my feet from wearing sandals to Versailles. I did wear my sneakers this day, but still, I don’t know what I was thinking.
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| Lake in the center of the Park |
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| Can you spot the river rat? |
On my way to the park I passed a
vélib station (bike rental) and I stopped and thought for a long minute if it
would be a good idea, after all, I knew the green area was huge. But then, I
haven’t seen many vélib stations around the city, and what if I couldn’t find a
vélib parking place when I got to the Chateau? I didn’t want to be stuck biking
all over the city trying to find a place to park the thing. So I decided to
keep walking. (I know, I worry too much) I came to a very nice park but as I
walked further on, all the grass was yellow and dead. I think the heat wave
this week must have killed it. I made my way towards the lake where I passed a
group of swans. There were 5 in total, though I could only get 2 in the
picture. Swans are so gentle and regal, I felt bad for ever having eaten the one
Mike killed.
At the tip of the lake I started to
get tired. I pulled out my airplane blanket and took a nap on the grass. This
grass was a little greener. After my nap I discovered there is a road going
through the park which I had to cross to get to the forest part. On the other
side of the street. It was as if I was in Millcreek canyon at the start of a
hike. There were no hills, in fact it was a completely flat area, but the feel
of the trees and leaves and plants was the same. Not far inside there was a
stream where I saw something move. A squirrel? A rock chuck maybe? As my eyes
focused on him and saw past his camouflage, (he blended in very well with the
tree next to him) I met a river rat. Isn’t that lovely? Haven’t you ever wanted
to meet a river rat? He was very curious, as he stood and looked at me for
several minutes, but he must have been wary of humans, and he scampered across
the river when I got too close.
There were a lot of horse trails
through the forest as well, and I noticed as I got closer to the Chateau that
there was an equestrian park inside. As I walked by a parade of children started
to exit the building on their little ponies. It was very cute, and who knew you
could send your child to ride a pony in a forest if you live in Paris? I
didn’t, but it was wonderful.
Once outside the forest you can see
the Chateau de Vincennes, which I’m guessing must have been the home of some
royal relation. I thought it was going to be a very small palace, but it was
quite a bit larger than I expected. That has been the way with all the
chateau’s I’ve seen, except Moulin Rouge, it is quite a lot smaller than any one
expects. I didn’t go inside because I’d read most of the rooms were bare, and
it didn’t seem very interesting to go and see bare stone walls from the inside
for 9 Euros.
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