Paris can be kind of coy. Her people take a while to warm up to you (or at least to understand your pathetic attempts at speaking French) and lovely spots are often hidden behind locked gates. Short person that I am, I walked past this entrance many times without noticing a thing. Then one day, riding the bus and perched high above my usual vantage point, I noticed the staircase and greenery within. These residents seem to have the best of both worlds -- close to the action on the street but buffered from the noise and fumes. Pas mal.
There is so much that is hidden behind seemingly uninteresting doors in Paris. The courtyard of my apartment building is an example: http://flic.kr/p/9WEZKj
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to Paris, Starman. Sorry about the heat.
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