Paris and Nicholas Flamel of the Philosopher Stone

Now that we are on the subject of Paris and eating, here is an interesting tidbit.

The kids have been into the Harry Potter series of books and movies since it all began and as a parent I have been tagging along. One of the titles is associated with the Philosopher Stone an alchemist device for achieving immortality and much more. According to Harry Potter a guy named Nicholas Flamel is supposed to have managed the creation of the Philosophers Stone.

rue Nicholas Flamel in Paris

One day in 2005 eating dinner at a Parisian cafe I happened to look around in a bored manner while waiting for the food. That photo above was taken from my chair with a video camera. It kind of caused a double take, the street could not possibly be named after a Harry Potter character could it? Maybe there was more to this Nicholas Flamel than Harry Potter. It turns out that Nicholas Flamel was a real 15th century alchemist that had worked on the Philosopher Stone.

Also according to Wkipedia… “Flamel’s house, where he lived with his wife Perenelle Flamel, an alchemist in her own right, still stands in Paris, at 51 rue de Montmorency, and is the oldest house in the city. The ground floor currently contains a restaurant. A Paris road near the Louvre Museum, the rue Nicolas Flamel, has been named for him; it intersects with the rue Perenelle, named for his wife.”

The whole episode added a little spice to that evenings meal.

rue Nicholas Flamel in Paris, Map, click for big

Since we are in Paris I need to write down some info that I can never remember. Left Bank (Rive Gauche) and Right Bank (Rive Droite).

Left Bank is the southern side of the Seine river (Remember that maps keep north at the top and south at the bottom). This is almost useless unless you constrain yourself to just the tourist center. The Seine winds itself all over Paris, sometimes south is left and sometime not and all depends on facing downstream.

The Eiffel Tower is on the left bank while the Louvre and Nicholas are on the right bank.

Another thing that might help me keep track of right and left is that this Parisian left and right bank thing is contrary to the ideas of river navigation where left and right are determined by the flow of water based on facing upstream. Red Right Returning, which means when returning to harbour or going upstream keep red marks on the right hand side.

Dinner After the Garden

Cutting out of the gardens at 7:00 PM left a strong desire to hit the feed trough. In preparation for this moment I had brought several pages of restaurant reviews. In short order one had been selected and we were off.

You know you’re getting close to the food when this vision of a Paris eatery appears.

Parisian Eatery?, Click photo for big ones

Then a little Joie de Vivre.

Fun, Click photo for big ones

Still couldn’t figure the parking situation in Montreal, very annoying. The restaurant we had picked out turned out to be closed. So back to rue St. Denis where all the popular eateries were located to find something trendy and banal.

I know that Montreal has to have great restaurants but so far I haven’t figured out how to make the that scene.

Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 1
Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 2
Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 3
After the Gardens.

Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review Part 3

There were two gardens that I thought stood out from the rest. These were the Rhododendron and Azeleas garden along with the Alpine garden.

The Rhododendrons were craftily placed within a forest in a way that almost made it seem as if it wasn’t a garden. Unfortunately, the forest aspect had also attracted a few mosquitoes that only the hardy would endure. It was also the furthest away from the main gate and separated from the rest of the gardens by a short trek through the arboretum. I suspect for these reasons it suffered fewer visitors, in fact I only spotted a single group of admirers.

Rhododendron Forest, Click photo for big ones

Even the paths were designed to be forest like.

Rhododendron Forest, Click photo for big ones

The Alpine garden seemed to be newish, but the landscape architect had had his way and there was both a vision of the large as well as of the small. Despite it’s small size it had many unique nooks and crannies where the plants were presented as part of the landscape.

Small Vista, Click photo for big ones

Here in the Alpine garden there were various larger vistas that were easy to enjoy and photograph.

Alpine Vista, Click photo for big ones

One of the most annoying features of the gardens were the name plates describing the growing vegetation. These were prominently on display, typically directly in front of the plant of interest in a way that interfered with observation and photography. On the other hand most of the plants had plates supplying relevant information for those imbued with a sense of taxonomy. I would suggest that the plates be on the surface of the ground and parallel to the ground. this would make them substantially more discrete and for the most part invisible to photographers but still available for those interested.

Wide Angle Alpine Vista, Click photo for big ones

In the Alpine garden there were even smaller vistas that for some reason reminded me of Japanese Bonzai.

Really Small Vista, Click photo for big ones

The arboretum taking up a good 1/3 of the gardens was the least attractive of all. It suffered from a two dimensional approach with everything on level ground. It also gave me the impression of a collection of trees planted with the idea that each should have it’s own growing space rather than with an attempt to create a visually impressive scene. There were very few visitors strolling the arboretum. I suspect this had something to do with natures marketing i.e. not the artificial kind.

The shot below was not part of the arboretum but does show an interesting way to present a tree.

Interesting Tree, Click photo for big ones

That’s it for my mini review, giving my impressions of the things I saw. Keep in mind that there are many other sites that i have not yet had the time to visit.

The gardens are forever associated with the big O in my mind, so I’ll leave this last reminder.

Lasting Impression, Click photo for big ones

Next up is a post on what to do when you’ve finished with the gardens.

Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 1
Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 2
Montreal Botanical Gardens – Review part 3
After the Gardens.