Collège de France

In 2006 Barbara McClintock wrote a delightful children's book called "Simon and Adele". It tells the simple story of two Parisian children on their way home from school. Although Simon had been warned to take care of his things, somehow he manages to progressively lose everything he had been carrying. Each object is lost in a distinct part of central Paris.

Since we both love the book, Maggie had the idea of recreating the walk taken by Simon and Adele. The only trouble is that the book is set in the Paris of 1907 and the Paris of today has changed quite a bit. Nevertheless it seemed like a good way to pass a lovely autumn day and so we set off with map and notes in hand.

Our first stop was the Jardin de Plantes (Garden of Plants). This is a huge park which is devoted to the Sciences of Botany, Geology and Palaeontology. It is also home to the Menagerie (Zoo) of Paris. The warm sunshine combined with the huge distances we had walked yesterday to ensure that our energy levels started to wane rather rapidly.

I don't know how Simon and Adele walked such a long distance home each day, but by the time we had made our way back to the Luxembourg Gardens, we had realised that there was no way we were going to complete the entire walk in one day. We did however have fun placing a couple of little cutout figures of Simon and Adele in various locations and then photographing them for our grandkids.

While we were walking around the streets it was interesting to note all the diverse means of transport that were being used. Many locals like to move around the city on small scooters. Many of these scooters are now battery powered and can zoom along the footpaths quite fast. We also noticed several using the much more high tech approach by riding along on an air wheel. These are a sort of single wheeled version of a Segway. We even were passed by a girl riding a unicycle along the busy footpath. In Paris no one seems to raise an eyelid, no matter how unusual the means of transport is.

At the end of the afternoon we purchased some Apple Cider, a baguette and a large serving of tartiflette (a French dish containing potato, cheese, bacon and onion) from an outdoor market and had a picnic dinner in our hotel room. It was a lovely way to complete our second last day in Paris. After dark we went for yet another walk and stopped to listen to a saxophone player playing jazz in a small cafe. Hundreds of people were still out strolling the streets, taking full advantage of the warm evening. Paris is just like that.Read more