Paris is generous with lush green parks and squares, small and big ones. They are an absolute necessity to get some rest from busy streets and ever-running transportation. I love this Parisian habit to have lunch on the park benches. Bigger parks usually have a playground for kids of different age groups, and quite often children go to the ones near their schools once the classes are over.
One particular square has surprised me more than others in my neighborhood, however. I have walked past its entrance on Rue de Babylone countless times and never paid much attention. Fortunately, one hot summer morning, I finally went there to seek some shade, and to my surprise I found it under the trees of apricots, quince and cherries. Being from Siberia, I had not seen a tree full of ripening quinces before. I looked around and saw little garden beds here and there. As it turned out, it was a special garden for kids to learn about agriculture, to see how beetroots and tomatoes grow with the Montparnasse Tower on the horizon.
There is also a wall covered with rich vegetation from ground to roof and cute flower beds everywhere. I visited this square in March to find an apricot tree in full blossom. It is wonderful to spot such a place to connect with nature in the bustling center of a busy European capital.
