Le Jardin Ephémère à l'Hôtel de Ville

So, since arriving in Paris January 21st, I had seen the square in front of the Hotel de Ville turned into an ice skating rink and a tennis court/arena. So, truth be told, I shouldn't have been surprised to walk out of the Metro and see this:

The Ephemeral Gardens at Town Hall

Featuring...

Scarecrows

Grass you can actually sit on!!

Planter "boxes" that I wanted to steal (along with so many of the other things I'm going to show you. It made me want to garden).

This took my breath away. Clever and beautiful. Art made out of terra cotta pots drilled to a wall. Who'dathunk?

And the ever-present statues keeping tabs on everything...

I like to call these "succulent paintings." They are hanging on a wall, just so we're clear. This isn't just a really awkward shot of succulents in planter boxes on the ground.

Close up succulent painting. Nice, right? Is it weird that I think I might want succulents to be included in my wedding flowers? Maybe? At least they're hardy and would last through all of the festivities...

Because grass is often off-limits in Paris, even in public parks, there were signs posted on the patches of sod that had been lain for the exposition. "Pelouse Accessible" let everyone know that they could kick back and enjoy...

This was another display that just took my breath away. Who comes UP with this stuff?

More plant artwork. I absolutely love this idea.

And they covered an entire wall with it!

Wide shot

Hotel de Ville

Whoever originially had the idea to bring all of these different things to the Town Hall square is brilliant. Brilliant, I tell you.