Little bits of Paris

We are only a few hours from the end of our European vacation. So sad. Now we have two weeks in Maine before heading back to Berkeley. We're ready to come home but also sad that the trip is over; it really has been fantastic. 

I (Phil) was glancing through my Paris photos and realized that I have several that show similar things arranged next to each other, so that's the theme of this blog entry. I can't think of a good way to describe it: "similar things next to each other" just doesn't sound all that interesting. But it is! It is!

I've been to Europe enough times that I'm no longer thrown by the fact that you have to go up a level to reach the 1st floor. 

Cheeses.

Fruits and vegetables.

Locks on a bridge railing near Notre Dame. This was featured in one of our first blog entries, when we were in Paris at the very start of our trip.

There's a shop in the Marais district that is full of old stuff related to the airline industry. 

This looks like a compact history of two-wheeled transport, but in fact it is a sign that shows that all types of two-wheeled vehicles are allowed to use the adjacent parking spaces.

Children's books about nature.

A "bee hotel" in the Jardin des Plantes. The adjacent sign says that "all types of bees and insects are welcome." 

These were actually in a horizontal line but spaced too widely to show up well in a single photo. These are from a monument near the Jardin des Plantes that I think was dedicated to Georges Cuvier, the originator of comparative anatomy. I say "I think" because when I saw the name Cuvier on a plaque next to the fountain I assumed that's who it referred to; he was a hugely important figure in his time (although he was wrong about a lot of stuff). But Wikipedia says that Georges's brother Frederic was also a zoologist and was the head keeper of the menagerie (i.e. zoo) at the Paris Museum of Natural History, so maybe the monument is to him instead. Or maybe both of them. Alas, I don't have time to go back and look.