C'est quoi, ce truc rond et jaune ?

Paris is currently all abuzz about the weather. After a cold, wet spring that I think was technically called "late winter", the sun came out and the earth heated up and we've had a stunning past couple weeks.

Picnics and festivals and concerts outside are all much better without getting pelted by rain, and having to layer your cute summer dress with wool tights and layers of sweaters. Rather optimistically, I picked up bottles of fancy sunscreen during the Soldes and this year, I've actually gotten to use them.

I totally get the magic of Paris now. It's truly a spectacular place with shadows and long, low light in the extended afternoons into evening. The sun doesn't set until almost 10pm still, which means you can laze around in a park until security chases you away.

I've barely eaten anything that wasn't picnic food lately. I do miss having a BBQ. Even in NYC, I had a little bucket grill that I would haul out to Prospect Park to fire up on nice weekends. In Paris, there are no fires permitted in the city, so you can't even grill if you have a little backyard. I miss that.

Cafe business is booming.

But mostly, I am in love with the light.

Last summer, we barely saw the light until August. This is just refreshing.

And people here are out, and the attitude adjustment has been remarkable. How can you be having a bad day with the sun smiling down upon you? Everyone hates a killjoy on days like this.

There's barely any outdoor space devoid of picnickers. In theory, having a bottle of wine will get you a ticket, but I've never seen it happen. It's just what you do here. You sit out, you drink your wine, you chat with friends while clouds of cigarette smoke drift by. Which, lately, has been replaced by electronic cigarette vapor, which is just not the same.

I hope you are having a fantastic summer. Take a lesson from Paris and enjoy it!

April in Paris

Yes, I am aware that it's May. I'm behind, and Count Basie just didn't write the song for any month but April, now did he.

The weather in April is a bit manic- we get these really sunny bright days that the wind will be incredible, and a constant barrage of rain and hail will catch you by surprise, because the sun will be shining the entire time. Ah, Paris. A crafty vistor will have an umbrella at their side the entire time they are here.

The gardens become lovely places- the hidden courtyard at the Petit Palais is one of my favorites, if only because you can run in and use the bathroom if you are in the need.

My favorite thing about the Louvre is going on a Friday night. They are open late, and it's as quiet as you are going to get in the most visited museum in the world.

But Paris is really the greatest city if you love walking around and exploring. I'm still surprised at what I find.

At night, the area around the eiffel tower swarms with tourist and pushy souvenir-hawkers with their glow-in-the-dark handfuls of nighttime wares. You see dozens of them, like fireflies, darting from one group to the next with their wares.

A sure sign of spring: Swarms of Beekeepers in the gardens.

And the models in very little clothing posing for the camera:

Another place to catch a free view of the city is the rooftop of Galleries Lafayette.

Heritage Days

For one weekend a year in September, you can see all sorts of things in Paris that you normally couldn't. It's the Journées du Patrimoine, the Heritage Days, when some notable closed-to-the-public spaces become public.

We headed over to the Palais du Luxembourg to see the Sénat. A pleasant surprise on the way there was that the Garden's Greenhouses were open as well.

So many honeybees!

I always feel like the bees know the days for collecting are numbered this time of year.

They do keep hives on the other side of the Garden. I'm sure that's why they have the most spectacular blooms.

The Sénat was a long wait to get in and packed with people.

The palais du Luxembourg was built for Catherine de Medici and it was appropriately fit for a queen before being repurposed into the Senate.