over the ROOFTOPS OF PARIS

courtesy of Galeries Lafayette

... Paris seems to have discovered its rooftopss (no wonder you'll tell me, given how fantastically beautiful the city of lights is when seen from above), a discovery that makes more or less sense, according to what people decide to do with their rooftops. The Galeries Lafayette, for example, took this year's French Open tennis championships as an occasion to heap up some red sand and install a rather narrow-looking tennis court on its rooftop. Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Samantha Stosur and Ana Ivanovic were the players that hit some balls with a view to accompany the kick-off of Roland Garros. I'm not a tennis champ myself, but even my range of play would exceed this tiny little space, let me assure you ... Paris a découvert ses toits, ce qui ne surprendra pas, car les toits, c'est pratiquement ce qui se trouve immédiatement SOUS LE CIEL DE PARIS, et là, par contre, on sait bien que c'est ce qu'il y a de plus attirant et romantique, violons dans les nuages et tout. Bon, pour commencer, les Galeries Lafayette ont installé un court sur le toit de l'édifice, et pour inaugurer le championnat de Roland Garros, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Samantha Stosur et Ana Ivanovic ont frappé quelques balles, pas trop fort s'entend, sinon la place n'aurait pas suffi ... Parigi sembra aver scoperto i suoi tetti, cioè, anche in contesti più o meno comerciali, con qualche iniziativa svolgendosi sui tetti della città delle luci, ad esempio quello du GRAND MAGASIN delle GALERIES LAFAYETTE dove, all'occasione del campionato aperto di tennis, i FRENCH OPEN, è stato installato un campo piccolino, proprio delizioso sebbene ovviamento un po' stretto per i giocatori che vi si sono mostrati, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Samantha Stosur e Ana Ivanovic ...

courtesy of Hermès

... and then of course there's that Hermès rooftop garden that allegedly inspired the maison's legendary nose, Jean-Claude Ellena, to create the latest fragrance UN JARDIN SUR LE TOIT, where the aromas of rose, apple and pear unite. I mean, I was there for the launch of the perfume which sure smells very nice, and we were asked to prepare some stewed fruit and did some rose gardening and listened to Mr Ellena talk about his inspirations - but I couldn't help wondering whether the rooftop garden hadn't actually seen the light of day AFTER the fragrance was created. Anyhow, if you look at Google maps, it is still there apparently, so whether or not it existed before the perfume turns out to be (almost) unimportant ... et puis et puis il y a ce désormais fameux JARDIN SUR LE TOIT qui couronne l'immeuble sis 24, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, eh ben ouais, c'est le siège traditionnel de la maison Hermès, où, il paraîtrait, il existe depuis toujours (j'ai quelques petits doutes, mais bon) un jardin qui a inspiré le nez de la maison, Jean-Claude Ellena, lorsqu'il a entamé la création du nouveau parfum qui vient d'être présenté au grand public, UN JARDIN SUR LE TOIT notamment ... e poi c'è anche il giardino sul tetto dell'edificio 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, dove batte il cuore della famosissima maison di lusso HERMES, un giardino che sembra aver ispirato il celebre "naso" della griffe, Jean-Claude Ellena, quando ha creato il nuovo profumo UN JARDIN SUR LE TOIT - sono stato lì quando è stato presentato il profumo per la prima volta, e siamo stati invitati a fare un po' di giardinaggio con la simpaticissima giardiniera YASMINA - se cercate l'indirizzo su Google Maps, troverete persino l'immagine di questa macchia verde in piena città ...

that's what was sent to our office, a miniature version of the Hermès garden complete with
cress seeds, I tested my green thumb and - there we go:
a DIY version of a deluxe Parisian rooftop garden in Vienna's Ottakring district,
that's what I call bringing together different worlds ...