During these nice (almost) summer days you have a tendency to look for parks. Another one is Parc Montsouris. I made a short reference to it in a previous post, talking about the French version of the Prime Meridian (the Rose Line). A “mire” is placed in this park. However this time, instead of being attracted by the park, I discovered by chance some small streets close to the park entry.
The 14th arrondissement where you can find these streets is generally not considered to be one of the more fashionable parts of Paris, but there are exceptions.
The street which really drew the attention to me is called Square Montsouris.One end of this small street opens on the park, the other on one of Paris’ seven water reservoirs. This one, constructed in 1863, is actually the biggest of Paris’ seven reservoirs and contains water from the rivers Vannes and Loing. The water is distributed to the southern part of Paris. The white building you can see in the background on the top picture is actually the first French building with Le Corbusier (see previous post) as architect - together with his cousin and still using his real name, C-E Jeanneret. It dates from 1923. Most of the other buildings are slightly older. Right now, the street is full of roses. The neighbouring streets have also some samples of interesting architecture. Maybe, it could be mentioned that the name Montsouris contains the French word “souris”, meaning "mice". The place was obviously inhabited by such in the past - hardly any more (I did not see any).
The 14th arrondissement where you can find these streets is generally not considered to be one of the more fashionable parts of Paris, but there are exceptions.
The street which really drew the attention to me is called Square Montsouris.One end of this small street opens on the park, the other on one of Paris’ seven water reservoirs. This one, constructed in 1863, is actually the biggest of Paris’ seven reservoirs and contains water from the rivers Vannes and Loing. The water is distributed to the southern part of Paris. The white building you can see in the background on the top picture is actually the first French building with Le Corbusier (see previous post) as architect - together with his cousin and still using his real name, C-E Jeanneret. It dates from 1923. Most of the other buildings are slightly older. Right now, the street is full of roses. The neighbouring streets have also some samples of interesting architecture. Maybe, it could be mentioned that the name Montsouris contains the French word “souris”, meaning "mice". The place was obviously inhabited by such in the past - hardly any more (I did not see any).
You can find some of these pictures on my photo-blog.
32 comments:
Your pictures are lovely....and you are a bit ahead of us in the Spring department! Are those roses?
Best wishes to you, Peter,
and thanks for your amazing post!
my first impression on the word souris is ... what a lovely word it is ...
mice?
can't imagine as it is a lovely word.
you know what ... come to think of it ... words in french are lovely!
Miceland:))
Je crois savoir qu'il y a un très bon restaurant dans le parc. Les réservoirs sont vraiment étonnants, et non loin de là la "cité universitaire" est un petit monde à part avec toutes ses constructions de styles différents.
La province à Paris avec toutes ces maisons individuelles...
ce parc est vraiment sublime (a Paris, vous avez de la chance, avec tous ces parcs). Evidement je ne pouvais pas eviter la chanson du pere Jacques Higelin.
"le parc montsouris c'est le domaine
où je promène mes anomalies
où j'm décrasse les antennes
des mesquineries de la vie
ya meme un kiosque à musique
où les militaires jouent à moitié faux
.....................
quand le parc Montsouris ramene sa fraise
les matins où le soleil vous mord la peau
le dos collé à la chaise
les pieds au bord de la piece d'eau
ca m'rappelle cette valse autrichienne
que papa jouait en rentrant du boulot
mon coeur est déchiré, séparé du tien
j'm sens comme un routier entre loup et chien
la vie c'est c'qui vous tombe dessus
toujours au moment où on y croit plus
ma coupe est pleine de nostalgie
devant le comptoir du tabac Montsouris
les clodos, le livreur, la marchande de journaux
m'offrent un pot, m'interpellent
et jacques tu viens de te lever ou tu rentres te coucher
je ne vis pas ma vie, je la reve
le soleil fait la greve et moi aussi
c'est comme une maladie que j'aurai chopé quand j'etais tout petit
et qui va pas m'lacher avant qu'elle m'acheve"
Hello Peter,
I have been watching your blog for a while, but never commented before.
I really like your photos and boy you know a lot about Paris.
Keep up the good work :)
Such green oasis in a city like Paris, with lots of roses, wonderful. (About the weather ... I answered at my place)
Des châteaux d'eau!
Le temps gris arrive par la côte. Tout à l'heure il pleuvait déjà en Basse-Normandie, dans le Calvados, ici il fait juste gris, et la seul couleur que je vois se trouve dans tes photos.
Et voilà ! Encore de sublimes photos d'un parc Parisien ! Il y a quand de beaux coins dans la Capitale !
The mice mountain? it´s a very beautiful name for a tale
Very nice homes. I think these are the first I have seen of homes in your city. I like your photos today and also enjoyed your post yesterday. Neat.
Such a beautiful neighborhood! Very charming buildings surrounded by much green! Wonderful photos as always. I will go soon to see your Photo-blog.
Un Paris comme on n'est pas generalement habitué a voir...
mais qui fait rever...
Surtout avec ce ciel bleu et cette profusion de verdure.
C'est vraiment joli ,Merci.
I love when vines overgrow buildings, especially in big cities. Nature still exists even where man asserts his power hardest. Beautiful pictures!
neva:
Yes, they are roses (most of them)! You will soon get them!
krystyna:
Thanks for taking the time still to visit my blog!
azer:
As often with names, I thik most of us forget the real meaning of the word! Anyhow, its mice... not rats!
susupetal:
Mice-mountain! No Mickey around! No Minnie either! (Waiting for Alex.:-))
alain:
Je vais sans doute finir par faire des posts aussi sur la Cité Universitaire ainsi que sur le parc (et je vérifie pour le restaurant).
alice:
Oui, c'est la campagne en ville, le rêve!
olivier:
Je faire un tour complet du parc plus tard! Merci pour JH!
bettina:
Welcome with you kind comments! Thanks!
april:
I'm also surprised to find the number of parks... we get more and more and they are doing a lot to make them nice!
hpy:
Un grand château d'eau, non peint!
claude:
Il y a aussi quelques coins moins beaux! … mais, j'ai tendance de faire des posts que sur les coins que je trouve beaux ! Je triche un peu !
matritensis:
Certainly better than rat mountain!
abraham:
Thanks for the compliments... but I think I have already showed some homes!
sonia:
Thanks!! ... and welcome to my photo-blog!
marie-noyale:
Oui, j'aimerai bien pouvoir m'offrir une de ces maisons!
So, you mean " a mice summer day"...
I've found that this name of "Montsouris" comes from an abandonned windmill that stood there and was known as "Moquesouris" so to say it was so poor that even the mice could'n find anything to eat inside.
Yeah rite! Mice-mountain is better than rat-mountain:)but Montsouris just perfect!
BTW,when you snap pictures,especially at crowd do you feel one kind or not? Bcoz when I try to snap some pics at Richmond hill at the weekend,I feel embarrassed when people look at me..hehhehe or just my feelings!
C'est vraiment à Paris tout cela? J'ai de la peine à le croire. :-))
Tu m'excuseras piteur mais je suis crevée alors pas trop le pep pour mettre un commentaire intelligent. En parlant de souris quand même, j'ai une souris rose en peluche, c'est une grosse souris. Elle s'appelle Docteur Pink. :-))
You have such vast collection of pictures. I invite you to contribute here too !
Not always but sometimes it'll be a change & fun also.
hahaa rat mountain! well, it will be a holy place por indian people.
Anyway, it´s a beautiful place with a interesting name
maxime:
I read this also, but found it was a bit complicated to put in my text, so I shortenend a bit. Thanks anyhow for the clarification!
noushy:
Yes, I have also always a bit of apprehension when taking photos of people... I try to make them "anonymous".
delphinium:
Alors tu dors avec Docteur Pink?
cuckoo:
OK, I will have a look!
matritensis:
Not rats, mice! :-)
Il y a bien longtemps je promenais mes enfants dans ce parc , j'habitais près du 14 ème et allais souvent à Monparnasse et près du Lion de Denfert.
Me encantaron tus fotos, siento que no conoci nada ...
saludos desde Caracas
Je remonte le temps....
J'y suis allée cet après-midi avec Catherine, le quartier est vraiment sympa, la rue du Parc Montsouris est sympa, quel bonheur une maison en plein Paris. Mais dit-moi, tu as oublié celle de Coluche ?
je fais mon possible pour la mettre sur mon blog...
ah j'oubliais, le reservoir, j'ai vu le reportage à la tv, à l'interieur c'est grandiose mais je ne crois pas qu'il se visite...
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