Sometimes spring creeps on slowly and almost imperceptibly.  At other times there’s a day when suddenly the season feels different. Newly arrived in Paris, I’d got to know Place des Vosges in winter with the severe geometry of its tightly pruned lime allées on stark display. Then one April morning I walked into the square and met a haze of delicate green, new leaves. By the time I visited again, a few days later, the leaves were fully open and casting a more solid shade. The next April I visited the Place regularly, hoping to catch that magical green haze on a sunny morning. The headline photo on this post was the nearest I came to that elusive goal.

 

A haze of green – Place des Vosges – April 2015
Spring morning – Place des Vosges – April 2015
Spring – Place des Vosges – April 2016
Magnolias at the Palais Royal – April 2015
Early magnolias – Palais Royal – March 2016
Magnolias and garden geometry – Palais Royal – March 29th 2017

Another of my favourite Parisian green spaces is the garden of the Palais Royal. Here the magic moment comes in spring when the twelve magnificent magnolia trees burst into bloom. In 2015 I didn’t discover the garden until early April when the magnolia flowers had already started to fade. The next year I was there on a cold, sunny, March day, in time to see the magnolia flowers newly opened.  A year later I was exploring the same views with different camera angles.

For the Lens-Artists Challenge #92 John invited us to revisit a favourite place from our previous travels.  Here are some memories of two Parisian gardens Second Time Around.