SHARING WITH ME

The Jardin de Plantes or the Botanical gardens make for a beautiful walk to the Salpetrière. I walked home slowly last week with Pierrette and could see that our Apple Blossom tree was about to explode into flower. The tree is a sight seeing piece by tourists and the French alike. I go to see it every years and am always taken aback by its beauty. Pierre and I wandered down yesterday to find this...... In front of part of the tree! In the evening looking out of my kitchen window, the sky was ablaze. Springtime is nearly here....

I don’t know if you have the same but there are periods when for no real reason, life becomes a little difficult. I found myself in the Salpêtrière for longer than expected. Thank goodness for iPads! This is not my first first visit but there have been many when I have gone to the Chapelle to see an exhibition. It was there in fact that I discovered Bill Viola. One day early in the piece I was permitted to go out on the strict understanding that I would not leave the grounds. It has quite a history. By the eve of the Revolution, it had become the world's largest hospital, with a capacity of 10,000 patients plus 300 prisoners, largely prostitutes swept from the streets of Paris. From La Salpêtrière they were paired with convicts and forcibly expatriated to New France. The Salpêtrière was originally a gunpowder factory ("salpêtre" being a constituent of gunpowder), but was converted to a dumping ground for the poor of Paris. It served as a prison for pros