Color Me Paris: Les Fleurs du Printemps

Spring finally has arrived in New Jersey -- the world is "painfully green," as Katie said.  Pink and yellow tulips fill my flower beds.  Korean spice viburnum and lilacs perfume the air.  Tree wisterias droop with purple cascades of blossoms.  Cherry trees and dogwoods are in full flower. 

These sunny, clear days bring me back to France a month ago . . . when spring had not yet arrived at home.  I nearly fainted at every florist, planter, and garden.

Who could resist le fleuriste avec les belle fleurs?  I could not.

 Or, les tulipes?

 Perhaps, you prefer les roses?

Or, sweet little pots of sedums. . . And, everyone needs a carte postale or deux to write home about les jardins de Versaille, n'est-ce pas?

Perhaps, the Sun King once walked by and admired urns filled with fritellaria.  I would have.

But, if I sent a post card, I would write about this fleuriste a block or two from our appartement on rue Babylone . . . and about the perfect potting bench and cherub that I wanted to bring home to my garden.  It wouldn't fit in my suitcase.

Instead, I remember these roses, in a perfect bouquet, on a fine spring day in Paris.