Bois de Vincennes

Green, leafy places make me happy. It's totally restorative to my sanity.

While we were looking for neighborhoods we liked and deemed livable we did a ton of walking. We saw a lot of parks. Some were nice, others, eh. You might get mugged. Other neighborhoods had not a single square or place to lounge at all- it was just endless concrete and sprawling boulevards.

I planted my feet at the edge of the Bois de Vincennes and declared my intentions to live next to this park in my idealized world.

It's an enormous, sprawling park that reaches far out into the Parisan suburbs. It was formally a royal hunting ground, but once the revolution happened most of those were turned into public parks. It's quiet without being too secluded. Unlike our adventures in the Bois de Boulonge last year, no one came creeping out of the woods and there were no groves of prostitutes looking for company. Or, maybe there are, but we didn't find them.

There were a lot of dog-free islands on the lake, which made for great cygnet and gosling watching.

Also... Parisians don't clean up after their dogs so it is nice to wander around without having to be intently staring at the ground in front of you, dodging and pushing to avoid stepping in reprocessed alpo. Dog-free havens are something to really seek out.

Rather mysteriously, there was a peacock wandering around as well. They are my favorite freakshows of avian splendor.

I deemed it a Very Nice Park. The fact that I keep moving to really dense urban centers is kind of puzzling to me when all I really want is woods and grass and birds and maybe some creatures to mow the lawn for me. One of these days, I'll figure it out. Until that day presents itself, I'm glad we found a place to live within walking distance of a green space.