Postcards from St Maurice: Marché aux fleurs, the Flower Market on the Île de la Cité, Paris

[Evan writes: I discovered this draft of a blog from about four years ago, back in the days when I was still writing to Mom. I have no idea why I never posted it, but think the photos are worth sharing, even years after I thought I had posted them for Mom.]

Dear Mother,

For as long as I can remember, you planted flowers. Things reached their peak at LeRoy Avenue before gardening at that level became too much of a challenge, but for my entire life, I have always enjoyed your flowers, whether in your garden or on the table.

Parisians adore cut flowers, as every single market attests, and they also buy potted flowers for window sills, window boxes and the like. The Île de la Cité is the larger of two islands in the middle of the Seine River where Paris proper was begun, long before the Romans arrived. For as long as anyone knows, the eastern end of the island was devoted to religious rites and the western end to government (palaces and now government buildings). The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris now dominates the eastern end. The equally famous Sainte Chapelle is more on the center on this historic island, along with many government buildings, restaurants and the inevitable tourist shops.

Strangely, there is also a rather large covered flower market which is set up as three long buildings parallel with the Rue de la Cité. These wooden/glass buildings serve as partial green houses, with sky lights from end to end, and shops where you can buy all kinds of plants. Just walking through is fun; Janice loved it. Since you know their names, I won't bother trying, but the cloudy day seemed just about right to make foliage dark and flowers bright. As soon as we left, it started to sprinkle, and no sooner were we looking for a restaurant for dinner, than it poured. But before the deluge, I got some nice photos to help me remember this lovely place in the midst of a bustling city.