Is there nature in Paris?

That was the question during my European vacation.  Where would I find nature?  I wasn't expecting much in Paris; after all, it is a huge city with 83 million visitors annually.  And I wasn't disappointed.

The view was spectacular...and I viewed the city from the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower (shown here).  You could see some parks and tree-lined streets, but when you saw these at street level, they were highly manicured.  Even the trees were pruned to create an effect.

Of course, a city this size had the usual "wildlife".  A pigeon in the park----or should I say, many.  And most disgusting was the rat I saw near the Louvre.

But inside the Louvre and other museums, I finally found nature:

This looked like the Coca-Cola bear!

I most enjoyed the mythical creatures on Notre Dame:

My goal was also to become aware of environmental issues in each place I visited.  Besides the rat issue--apparently some don't want them killed---I was aware of the lock issue.  Many tourists have bought or brought locks, attached them to these old city bridges and thrown the key in the river.  There is some romantic notion behind this, but I was only aware of the pollution to the river and the damage to these bridges.  Apparently the government spends lots of money taking them off to ensure the integrity of the bridge.

The cost is borne by the taxpayers of the city.  As I was explaining the problem to a visitor, this rationale did not seem to quell the romantic drive to place a lock on the bridge.  Later, though, I learned of the visitor's change of heart when a facebook friend had said a fine of $300 could be imposed on the visitor.  With this I learned a valuable lesson in human behavior and environmental change.  If costs are shared, it does not deter negative behavior, but if a cost is borne by the individual, behavior does change.  Interesting.

So much for my adventures in Paris.  Next we would go to Germany.

Seeing Nature in Europe

I have been away from this blog all summer--my how time flies! Now is time to write about "What I did on my summer vacation"---remember all those grade school prompts!  I spent much of June in Europe with three traveling companions.  It was a marvelous, once-in-a-lifetime trip.  During the adventure, my goal was to find nature and find out about conservation issues in other countries.  The problem is, there was so much to see and do, and so little nature in my estimation, that I often forgot that goal until reminded by the companions. So what follows (and the next couple of blogs) is what I observed on my summer vacation.

We flew into Rome on an overnight flight (I didn't sleep), checked into the hotel and lined up for our first tour of the Colosseum and Roman ruins.  I know I was bleary-eyed but saw little to speak of at first.

Then we went to Palatine Hill, the birthplace of Rome, and immediately I noticed this tree.  Its familiar leaf shape and sheen was apparent to me.  An olive tree!  I am familiar with the autumn olive that is the invasive species in the midwest, and this tree was so similar.  We would see many groves of olive trees and vineyards in the landscape of Rome and Tuscany.

As it so happens, we stayed in a B and B overlooking the countryside.  Across the road was a grove of olive trees and I noticed the farmer cultivating these fields like mid western farmers would for a corn field.  As I walked through the grove, I saw many beautiful flowers....some resembled the roadside plants (wild carrot and chickory) in the U.S., but I don't know what any of them were.

Notice the bright blue sky.  It was rather warm in Italy, much like home.  This leguminous plant was growing wild everywhere.  If you know what it is, let me know. 

And I like the way the sun is shining on this purple flower.











Also in the grove were insects and spiders.  I soon spied this web.  The bowl and doily web contained a small spider which I could not identify.  I did not take field guides on the trip because I packed so light--just a small backpack. 

From our B and B I heard a few birds, not many, and this was surprising to me.  We were a couple of miles from a small medieval village, and there were plants all around.  Where were the birds and other animals? I heard the collared dove, which is an invasive in the U.S. and probably in Italy as well.  It's loud coo tends to cover up any other birds.

We saw pigeons in the village....many of them, around a polluted fountain. 

And I finally was able to photograph a lizard.  I had seen many, but they scurried too fast.  This one had lost part of its tail, perhaps slowing it down..





In general I had been disappointed in the amount of wildlife I could easily observe, but it made me appreciate what we have back home.



Soon, we would go to Cinque Terra....the National Park in Italy.  Maybe that would lead to more animal sightings!