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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 21:36:00 GMT
Yesterday was Mother's Day in France, and I decided that I needed to do something a bit more special than usual. I loaded my mother into my rental Smart but I had to leave the wheelchair at the nursing home, because there is no way to load such a thing into a two-seater Smart. And off we went to Bagatelle. The website said that they had loaner wheelchairs, and it was time to find out. Bagatelle is in the Bois de Boulogne and was created as a civilized park at the same time as the bois, which was left wild at the time. Well, let me say that there is still wildlife in the bois, because on a Sunday afternoon, you can still drive by professional entertainment women in blonde wigs, stiletto heels and not much else standing along the roads. Nothing to worry about at Bagatelle, though. It is a family place. I really need to see the whole park some day, because it is really huge, and the rose garden is quite small comparatively speaking. It is the little square on the right side of the map. I got the wheelchair in exchange for my national identity card, and we headed off on the shady lanes. It got warmer as we got out of the shade, especially after leaving the cement paths and pushing my well fed mother over loose gravel. I started regretting that I had not taken the direct route to the roses even though there were plenty of nice things to see.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 21:42:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 21:47:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 22:03:51 GMT
The rose garden has about 9500 bushes and more than 1100 varieties. It was created in 1905 although the rest of the park is considerably older. Time to leave, so I retreated from the roses. My mother asked me "Qu'est-ce qu'on est venu foutre ici?" ("Why the fuck did we come here?") Next stop McDonald's for her true love: a McFlurry.
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Post by mich64 on May 31, 2011 0:48:10 GMT
Your mom is as beautiful as the roses are. She reminds me of my of Great Auntie, when she went into care we never knew what to expect from her when we visited, we were just happy to visit with her, but I did hear words that I was not supposed to. Glad your mom enjoyed her beloved McFlurry with her wonderful son. Did you have one too? Your photos of the park are quite beautiful and I have always wanted to see the Bois de Boulogne maybe we will put this in the itinerary. My nana then my mom grew the most beautiful roses. Nana would always save the tea bags and egg shells and crush them up every couple of weeks and add them to the soil. Cheers, Mich
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Post by fumobici on May 31, 2011 3:20:37 GMT
My mother asked me "Qu'est-ce qu'on est venu foutre ici?" ("Why the fuck did we come here?") Next stop McDonald's for her true love: a McFlurry. [/center] [/quote] ;D What a lovely garden, I didn't know there was such a thing in the Bois de Boulogne.
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Post by bjd on May 31, 2011 7:26:03 GMT
How beautiful -- you certainly chose a good time to go -- when all the roses are at their most beautiful. It must have smelled wonderful.
I haven't been there either -- I was mixing it up with Malmaison.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 7:49:54 GMT
Yes, it did smell very nice. A lot of the roses are grown as much for their aroma as for the way they look, of course.
The bees were extremely busy also -- so much work to do!
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 11:13:21 GMT
I'm stunned. So many lovely flowers. I just love McDonald's flurries too, your mom looks so content. Sounds like a wonderful day for you both.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 31, 2011 21:02:09 GMT
Just fantastic. I'm not generally a perfect-hybrid-tea-rose person, but adore the species and antique roses. And of course, who could resist all that scented beauty en masse like that?!
Thanks for getting so many of the labels into the pictures, the kind of thing I always want to know.
That was quite a little hike you took. At what point did your mother get bored?
Any idea what the lovely "lodge" building might be?
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 21:16:57 GMT
I love the old roses the best myself. The fewer petals, the better is the way I feel about a large number of flowers. And yet I know that lots of people are completely enthralled by flowers with absolutely huge numbers of petals.
As for the building, I just think of it as a gardening shack.
I don't think my mother had much interest in the gardens at all, but there is a logical reason for that. Her greatest interest in life is looking at me, so she doesn't like it at all when I am behind her pushing the chair and she can't see me. "Where are you?" she kept saying. When I sat on a bench with her next to me, it was hardly better, because another thing about her is that she wants to keep moving.
So driving around aimlessly with her is the best thing that I can do.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 1, 2011 0:13:33 GMT
Just thought I would add some more roses, I love roses... Cheers, Mich
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Post by tod2 on Jun 2, 2011 14:28:49 GMT
What can I say..... You brought back the memory of our visit to that incredible rose garden -some years ago now! It is just the most stunning place. I wondered if you saw the peacocks mooching about on the lawns? I am also very happy to see the roses are in such profusion before June/July! I never miss a visit to Queen Mary's Rose Garden in Regents Park London but the roses don't really spurt until late June - early July, or was that just an odd year when I went last...
I've never had a McD's Flurry but I think I need to know why your mum enjoys them so much, so will remedy that soon!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 4, 2011 17:18:17 GMT
Someone loves Mich!
It has to be good for your mom to get out in the air and sunshine, Kerouac, even if she doesn't thrill to the flowers. And of course we here at the Port are benefiting from your kind Mothers Day trip.
Gad, looking at the (fabulous) pictures again, I really got an idea of how vast that garden is. Then, looking at the map, it's amazing to see that the rose garden is quite a small part of the whole.
I wonder how Paris stacks up with other major cities in terms of air pollution. It seems to have done all it can to reduce automobile use and to provide greenery.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2011 7:07:13 GMT
Exquisite images Kerouac, I really enjoyed this. The gardens look really beautifullly laid out and the plants are well tended and healthy...your Ma is the sweetest rose of them all ;D
I prefer the simpler old fashioned roses myself...as do the bees.
(I hope that my sons are as thoughtful as you are when I'm old(er) !)
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