Paris Day 13: Animals, Plants and Bones, oh my !!

We do so enjoy our walks through the Luxembourg Gardens as we head out for our daily adventures. The trees have leafed out and are now blooming just in the time we have been here.

Today was all about plants, animals and insects. We spent the day at the Jardin des Plantes
and two of it's museums.

In the morning we ambled through all the various gardens.

The bulbs were in full bloom, Genna and I enjoyed the colors and variations of the French gardeners. The air was thick with flower fragrance.

 

 Walking outdoors with my two scientists is always entertaining, they must have spent 20 minutes or more photographing different insects "in situ". Here is a bee fly that drew their attention.

Speaking of bees, Bob was enthralled with this "Bee Hotel" for native bees in the small ecology garden. I imagine a similar structure will appear in our yard soon.

Spring was in the air and the wind was helping these huge Japanese cherry trees to rain down petals.

We had been hearing wild parakeet sounds and finally witnessed this mother feeding her baby. Turns out they are rose ringed parakeets.

Our outdoor adventures took up the whole morning, we found sandwiches near the park, ate them in the park and then began our two museum afternoon.

 

This is the sight that greets you when you enter the museum of comparative paleontology. I know this wouldn't be on everyone's list of Paris top ten sites but for us it was.

Genna doing her imitation of baleen.

Looking down from the second floor.

Fossilized bones.

 

My two biologists were in heaven. Our time limit was blown and I was secretly pleased when I discovered that the geology museum was closed for repair. The large natural history museum was our next destination, also called the Grand Gallery of Evolution.

This four story museum was beautifully laid out, the dark lighting gives a great feel and helps preserve the specimens. Genna's BS is in Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity, another level of heaven for her here.

 Bob and I enjoyed the museum as well. The bittersweet highlight for me was seeing the Tasmania Tiger in the extinct and endangered species room.

 

By 5:30 we were finally full of science and went searching for dinner options. We found this cute street: Rue De Pot au Fer, which translates to "street of the iron pot".

Notice how clear and dry the street is in this photo. About half way through our meal the Paris weather put on a spectacular show. The clouds thickened, we had lightning, thunder, rain AND hail all in less than an hour. Our friendly hosts rolled the awning out to protect us and we had ringside seats !!

Here's what our "prix fixe" menus offered us.

Warm goat cheese salad.

Snails, what a great excuse for garlic !!

The grilled mackerel made Bob very happy.

My fish soup was rich and deep in flavor.

Genna wanted to go with the traditional beef bourguignon.

Chocolate mousse.

Classic creme caramel

We were all very happy with our choices, the location and the friendly service. 

Sunset on the walk home.