After weeks of dank, dismal weather, Parisians awoke this morning to brilliant sunshine and a cobalt-blue sky.  I went for a brisk walk around my neighbourhood.  I’ve been gazing at cakes lately through the windows of my local pastry shops.  I think the best word to describe them is…ethereal.  Perfect with a glass of champagne.

Here’s the perfect place to take children: the Jardin d’Acclimatation located on the fringes of the Bois de Boulogne.  The 49-acre zoo and amusement park includes an archery range, house of mirrors, miniature-golf course, a miniature train, pony rides, a puppet theater, shooting galleries, a petting zoo and a science museum called the Exploradome.  Grown-ups also enjoy this place.  I go often during the summer months, with or without my godchildren.

Entire families were actually lined up to get inside, which surprised me for a cold albeit sunny February Sunday.

I then headed over to the Frank Gehry building that has been under construction since 2006.  Called the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, it is intended to be an art museum and cultural center when it finally opens.  But when will it open?  The $143 million museum was expected to open in 2014, but there have been legal problems.  It’s incongruously tucked behind the horse stables on a patch of land.  The stable is located beside the Jardin d’Acclimatation.

Incidentally, I recommend this fish restaurant.  There’s a chain of them throughout France and several in Paris.  The fish is fresh, prices are reasonable and service is efficient.