Category: European gardens

The Sunday porch: paint and vines

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Ste-Catherine, Brussels, Sept. 2015, enclos*ure

These are not really porches, of course, but two café doorways and a storefront.

They caught my eye while we were walking around the Sainte-Catherine or Sint Katelijne neighborhood of Brussels, which is just northwest of the Grand’Place and La Bourse.

Rue de Flandre, Brussels, Sept. 2015, enclos*ure

The one pictured above is on Rue de Flandre.

Rue de Flandre, Brussels, Sept. 2015, enclos*ure

I believe I snapped this blue café, above, on Quai au Bois à Brûler, facing the site of the old Saint-Catherine Bassin or canal port, covered over since the 1870s.

Ste-Catherine, Brussels, Sept. 2015, enclos*ure

I like the way the ivy is used as both a decorative windowbox planting and low privacy screen.

A vine-covered storefront, also along Rue de Flandre.
Above, a mass of vines shades a closed storefront, also along Rue de Flandre.

Detail.
Detail of photo above.

Rue de Flandre is a good street on which to find an interesting restaurant.  We liked Viva M’Boma (old-fashioned Belgian food, emphasis on meat/offal) and Domaine de Lintillac (dishes from the southwest of France, emphasis on duck).

Click on any photo above to enlarge it.

Marais garden, Paris

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The “hidden garden” of  the Musée des Archives Nationale in early September.

A quiet place to retreat to while exploring the popular Marais section of Paris.

I particularly liked the row of wire grid columns just inside the entrance from Rue des Quatre-Fils.  They enclosed upright pyracantha bushes and were underplanted with fountain grass.

Grassline, Brussels

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This week, I’m just sharing a lot of little garden walk-by sightings from our trip to Paris and Brussels earlier this month. . .

I liked the simple elegance of this roofline planting on an apartment building in the Châtelain neighborhood in Brussels. It appeared to be all one variety of fountain grass. I couldn’t tell if the plants were growing in a container along the edge or if they were at the front of a larger terrace garden.

Canal Saint-Martin, Paris

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On this visit to Paris we walked along the Canal Saint-Martin for the first time — starting at the Jaurès metro stop and then leaving it near the Place de la Républic (where the canal goes into a tunnel and then re-emerges after Place de la Bastille).

Along the way, the little derelict enclosed garden* above caught my attention. I found it touching and rather beautiful in its neglected state.

The canal was built between 1802 and 1825 to bring more fresh water into the growing city. Boats also transported grain and other materials.  Traffic declined after the mid- 20th century, and there was talk of paving it over in the 1960s.  Since 1993, it has been designated as an Historical Monument.

Today, the formerly working class, now gentrifying area is very picturesque, if still a little down-at-heel in spots. It’s definitely worth a detour from the more usual Paris sights.

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Above, Square des Récollets.

ADDENDUM: There’s an interesting video clip of the canal in 1926 here.

*It was at Rue Eugène Varlin and Quai de Valmy.

La Madeleine, Paris

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Floral display on the south steps of the church of the Madeleine, early September.

The flowers were petunias and nicotiana, between rows of dwarf fountain grass. A sign said the arrangement was sponsored by the Paris Mayor’s Office and installed by “l’atelier de jardinage des Champs Élysées.”