I’m consistently awestruck every time we visit our ‘Jardin.’  We’re so lucky to have le Jardin du Luxumbourg as our backyard.   Even after more than a decade and a half of coming to this lovely city each year, I have always found this park and its gardens magical.  Lately, I’ve found myself reading more about the planning of the space.

The Project for Public Spaces, a major urban planning think tank, considers the Luxembourg Gardens to be one of the most successful parks in the world, partly because it is so well integrated into the fabric of the city around it, which makes it easily accessible. There are also many things to do there, evidenced by the wide range of people who use it: children, older people, Sorbonne students, people cutting through on a lunch break, etc. People come to stroll, play chess, to sit and read, people watch, to sit at one of the cafes or to bring their children or grandchildren to one of the many attractions.  During the past decade, it has also become ground zero for French runners and athletes, who run/walk laps around the perimeter roads in the Park.  In addition, an organic fruit garden has sprung up in the southern section of the park, with pears, lemons, and oranges in full harvest.  Organized activities at the park include tennis, pony rides, puppet theatres, and toy sailboat rental (children float them in the large central fountain). We have used them all.  I just realized that visitors can also stop inside the Palais and attend a hearing of the French Senate, which is open to the public.

The Gardens also host innovative exhibits, such as one of aerial photographs from around the world.  Twice or thrice a year,  the exhibits are mounted on its perimeter gates facing Rue de Vaugirard and Blvd. St Michel.  In addition, it has an intimate Musée where we have seen some of the most memorable expositions, like the exquisite and rare Modigliani show we saw a couple of years ago.

I can imagine why Marie de Medici, bereaved after the death of her husband, could no longer live in the Louvre, and wanted to have this palace and the gardens built to remind of her childhood home, Palazzo Pitti in Florence.  We all want to be ‘home.’  My husband and I walk through the Jardin daily, and talk about whether indeed, this can or cannot be ‘a moveable feast.’

I always thought the death of the Concorde was vastly unfair. Though I know post 9/11 and a cratering air travel market didn’t help, the Concorde flew without incident for 30 years before tarmac debris brought the first one down.

The Concorde to me, as to many others, was more than just a very fast plane. It was a combination of fantasy, luxury, and tech triumph. It also was an aging symbol of American barriers to free trade. The SST was banned from inter-continental flights across the US based on concerns for sonic booms (though promises were made not to fly at supersonic speeds).

I was lucky enough to fly on the Concorde over a Christmas holiday and the flight was everything I imagined. It was a rarefied world where only top shelf champagne and caviar were served. The cramped seats were mostly filled with time-obsessed executives who needed to buy the extra hours at whatever cost. I was lucky to be on vacation, on home leave from an international assignment, and happy to soak up all the luxurious attention.

I hope that despite the claim that they only want to see the Concorde roll on it’s own power on the Le Bourget tarmac, that someone has a plan to get the bird back in the air. It’s nice to think that technological marvels of the space age could still come back, and in finding the past, we could sew the seeds to a more hopeful future.

LE BOURGET, France — A French aeronautics association Saturday examined the engines of a Concorde passenger jet at an air museum outside Paris to determine if they could be used again.

“The objective is not to get it (Concorde) to fly again but to get the engines working again, hoping one day to see it taxi on the tarmac for the pleasure of visitors to the museum,” said Frederic Pinlet, head of Olympus 593, named after the Rolls Royce/Snecma engines used on the aircraft.

[From AFP: French air enthusiasts hope to restart Concorde engines]

Newly launched, The Paris Supper Club promises to replace both outdated guidebooks and raves from nostalgic friends when it comes to searching out some of the best and truest places to eat in the French capital.

The club is a project of former Gourmet European correspondent Alexander Lobrano, author of a book and blog called “Hungry for Paris” (hungryforparis.com), and Wendy Lyn, a “culinary concierge” whose blog, “The Paris Kitchen” (thepariskitchen.com), vows to have you eating and drinking like a local, not a tourist.

These all-inclusive, prix-fixe dinners are limited to eight guests, with Lyn and Lobrano acting as hosts. As Lyn puts it on her Web site, it’s about “sharing a meal and a conversation — where guests can ask us everything from the best restaurants, cafes, shops, markets, bakeries to living in Paris.”

Average cost is 100 euros (about $135) per person and includes a starter, main course, dessert and wine. Guests also will be sent a list of the duo’s six favorite bistros and restaurants before their visit. theparissupperclub@gmail.com

Bad timing if you have reservations this week.

[From Strike to disrupt French air traffic this week | Business News | Reuters]

Our friend Patrick Mikla always surprises us with ‘inside’ discoveries of Paris and France. From the time we met him some 15 year ago, I can remember each and every one of our adventures. The latest is France Miniature.

He took the day off and took us Élancourt, a town about an hour drive outside of Paris, where this miniature park attraction featuring scale models of major French landmarks and monuments is located in an outdoor park. It’s absolutely delightful, for both adults and children. For architecture and history buffs like my husband and me, the park has about 160 scale models of major French monuments and landmarks. Many of the models are animated and all of the country’s best known landmarks are represented (Lourdes, Eiffel Tower, Dungeons, etc). We reminisced about many of our trips to certain regions of France as well as discussed monuments and churches that we had never heard of.

For our daughter and and our son, the system of model trains that runs through the park kept them consistently delighted, and the animated boats and planes over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean were very amusing. Half way through the park, there is even an old fashion amusement park/respite and a restaurant, where the kids and parents can go on slides and the parents can take in a nice tea.

What a find. Our friends Jean-Jacques and Jane, my husband and I had a dinner out at Chez Michel, in the 10th arrondisement. Cuisine is Breton, and the atmosphere breezy. According to our discriminating friend Jean-Jacques, Chez Michel is one of the top 10 traditional bistros in Paris, and indeed, I think it lives up to its status. My fish on top of ratatouille was delicious, and the entrée course of salade, with sprigs of Breton seaweed that tasted more like dill was very intriguing. Their dessert specialité is Paris-Brest, a classic cream filled choux pastry.

10 rue de Belzunce, 75010 Paris (00 33 1 44 53 06 20

We leave on Sunday for Paris, so I’m hoping we’ll be cruising into Fall weather by then. It’s slightly cooler in Paris, but pretty unbearable in a city with almost no air conditioning.

In Paris, where temperatures reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, crowds kept cool by splashing and relaxing in the Trocadero fountains near the Eiffel Tower.

[From The Associated Press: Heat wave drives French into fountains, onto beach]

Two ladies in Camelot.…. Who knew… Just read in the Vanity Fair article of how the 1963 American exhibition of the Mona Lisa in New York City and Washington, D.C., was America’s first blockbuster art show. The writer Davids recounts in numbing detail the negotiations, preparations, flummoxes and successes of the exhibit. The exhibition was masterminded by the diplomatically savvy Mrs. Kennedy, whose personal relationships with French cultural minister André Malraux and National Gallery director John Walker overcame negative French press and concerns over subjecting a fragile artwork to a transatlantic journey. Heavily guarded and packed in a custom strong box, the Mona Lisa traveled in a first-class cabin on the USS France. Imagine…

This three-floor, 16,000-square-foot general store near the Marais offers shopping with a conscience; all of the profits are donated to children’s charities in Madagascar. The couple behind Bonpoint children’s clothing fame have put together an irresistible array of cutting-edge design, in-house collections, vintage furniture and kitchen and tableware finds, plus fashion, lowers, a perfume bar, and a used book café. 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais.

I remember when my husband first took me on a canal ride on Canal St. Martin. A canal that is only open to boat rides during the summer. A canal that cuts through the 4th and 10th arrondisements, that is the heart of the bohemian Paris. Of course, as I read this article in NY Times, I was reminded once again, the democratic pleasures of Paris… that the Proustian aspects of Paris need not be costly….

IF YOU GO HOW TO GET AROUND

The Vélib’ bicycle-rental system has become exceedingly popular. Rental stations are located all around the city, and a one-hour rental costs only 1 euro.

The Métro is the best alternative (besides walking). Tickets are 1.60 euros each, but can be bought in packets of 10 (un carnet) for 11.40 euros, about $16 at $1.41 to the euro. If you’re going to be in Paris from Monday through Sunday, or plan to ride the Métro frequently, invest in a swipable Navigo card. The card itself costs 5 euros, and a weeklong unlimited credit is 16.80 euros. Hold on to the card when the week is up — you can use it on your next visit.

WHERE TO STAY

Hipotel Paris Belleville, 21, rue Vicq d’Azir, (33-1) 4208-0670; singles from 32 euros.

Hôtel des Arts Bastille, 2, rue Godefroy Cavaignac; (33-1) 4379-7257, www.paris-hotel-desarts.com; doubles from 59 euros.

Les Chansonniers, 113, boulevard de Ménilmontant; (33-1) 4357-0058, doubles with shared bathroom from 46 euros, with ensuite bathroom from 59 euros.

WHAT TO SEE

Musée Carnavalet , 23, rue de Sévigné;(33-1) 4459-5858; www.carnavalet.paris.fr, free admission.

Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8, rue Elzévir; (33-1) 4027-0721; www.cognacq-jay.paris.fr., free admission.

Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, 62, rue des Archives; (33-1) 5301-9240, www.chassenature.org; admission 6 euros, free the first Sunday of every month.

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Pink Flamingo, 67, rue Bichat; (33-1) 4202-3170; www.pinkflamingopizza.com

Le Verre Volé, 67, rue de Lancry; (33-1) 4803-1734; www.leverrevole.fr.

Bistrot Victoires, 6, rue de la Vrillière; (33-1) 4261-4378.

Chez Georges, 11, rue des Canettes; (33-1) 4326-7915.

Le Baron Rouge, 1, rue Théophile-Roussel, (33-1) 4343-1432.

Churrasqueira Galo, 69, rue de Dunkerque, (33-1) 4874-4940

Le Garde Robe, 41, rue de l’Arbre Sec, (33-1) 4926-9060.

Le Cul de Poule, 53, rue des Martyrs, (33-1) 5316-1307, is super-playful from its name (literally, chicken butt; figuratively, double-boiler) to its décor (orange chairs, bed-like banquette). But the cooking is serious, precise, creative and affordable, with two courses 23 euros, and three for 26.

Le Bar à Soupes, 33, rue de Charonne; (33-1) 4357-5379; www.lebarasoupes.com, offers an excellent lunch deal: a fresh market soup, two types of cheese, bread and a glass of wine for 9.90 euros.

WHERE TO SHOP

À Chacun Son Image, 35-37, rue Charlot, (33-665) 2395-0300; achacunsonimage.wordpress.com.

Native Kingdom, 24, rue de Poitou

A.P.C. Surplus, 20, rue Andre del Sarte; (33-1) 4262-1088; www.apc.fr.