Mutti returns to England

Mother's stay in Paris has ended with a short farewell ceremony at Gare du Nord. Following a weekend in which I contrived to be busy nearly the whole time, except when Mutti herself was busy, we did manage to get out on Monday and do that whole mother-son quality time nonsense. This manifested itself in a Long Walk Looking at Things.

We walked to an arty shop at Bastille. Then embarked upon the viaduc des arts, which I hadn't done before. It's an old railway viaduct; instead of letting it run derelict, they filled the arches with boutiques and restaurants, and then topped it off with a promenade plantée, thusly:



Le viaduc des arts

We got off and crossed the river to the Jardin des Plantes (again, something I'd not properly visited before - I should have people over more often). Disastrously, mother happened upon a hut where they were selling warm beverages, which resulted in this horrific spectacle:


Mother enjoys afternoon tea in the park

The walk then meandered down via Boul'Mich to Gobelins (which I hadn't seen before) and eventually Place d'Italie. So that was a day of various achievements.