Category: nature

Jardin de l’Infante, Paris

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My favorite flower display in Paris last week was at the entrance to the Cour Carrée of the Louvre, near the Pont des Arts.

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But I’m a pushover for massed dahlias — these were yellow, white, orange, and dark red, mixed with some burgundy amaranth and caster bean plants in the back.

Jardin de l'infante, Louvre, Paris, Sept 2015, by enclos*ure

Jardin de l'Infante, The Louvre, Paris, September 2015, by enclos*ure

Unfortunately, a tall iron fence blocked them off from close inspection.

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 I didn’t have a zoom lens, so I did the best I could to get some useable photos by pushing the camera through the bars and holding it out.

Jardin de l'infante,detail 2, Louvre, Paris, Sept 2015, by enclos*ure

The space is named “Garden of the Princess” for Mariana Victoria of Spain.  The three-year-old Infante was brought to live in the Louvre in 1721 when she was engaged to the preteen King Louis XV.

Jardin de l'infante,detail, Louvre, Paris, Sept 2015, by enclos*ure

Although she was deemed the “sweetest and prettiest little thing,” four years later, Louis broke off the match in order to marry an older Polish princess.

Jardin de l'infante,detail 3, Louvre, Paris, Sept 2015, by enclos*ure

Mariana was sent back to Spain and later married King Joseph I of Portugal.

The Tuileries, Paris

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We were lucky enough to be in Paris and Brussels all last week. The weather was wonderful: slightly cooler than Stuttgart and — my photos below not withstanding — very sunny.

Tuileries fountain, ca. 1900, photochrom via Library of CongressWhile taking pictures at the grand bassin rond in the Tuileries Garden, I remembered this turn-of-the-century photochrom (above) from the Library of Congress.

Last Tuesday, a bit “antiqued.”My slightly “antiqued” version, the first Saturday of September.

There are more photos below — click on any thumbnail in the gallery.

Looking back to the Louvre and Rue de Rivoli.
Hedges radiating out from the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
Last Saturday, a bit “antiqued.”

Vintage landscape: Ambleside

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“Ambleside, stepping stones, Lake District, England,” ca. 1890 – ca. 1900, a photochrom print by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Addendum: Below, two more views of the same type of stream crossing. . .

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“Abbey stepping stones, . . . Bolton Abbey, England,” ca. 1890 – ca. 1900, photochrom prints by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The three images are from the Library’s photochrom collection “Views of the British Isles.”

The Sunday porch: grandstand

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India House, 1880s, Nantucket Historical Association“India House. A yard filled with diversions, ca. 1880s,” Nantucket, Massachusetts, via Nantucket Historical Association Commons on flickr.

India House, detail, 1880s, Nantucket Historical Association
Detail. These two families were very well equipped to enjoy their summer vacation.

You can click on either photo to enlarge it. I particularly like the striped skirts on the two older girls.

Life in gardens: tea stop

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Tea and bicycle, ca. 1900, Univ. of Washington Libraries“Two women with bicycle,” Hoquiam, Washington, photographer unknown, via University of Washington Libraries Commons on flickr.

Modern and stylish, ca. 1900.   That’s an interesting device for keeping the kettle warm.

Young women of that time must have been pretty desperate to get out on their own — to bicycle in corsets, puffy high-necked blouses, and large hats.

Beautiful, thick vines on the porch behind them. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

. . .Tell, tell your griefs ; attentive will I stay,
Tho’ time is precious, and I want some tea.

— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, from “Thursday; the Bassette- Table“