Parc Montsouris

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Mousehill Parc (that's what Parc Montsouris /paʁk mõsuʁi/ means) is the second-largest park within Paris itself (that is, excluding the two huge, external parks of the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes), after the Buttes Chaumont park. It is a rather hilly park that contains the highest point on the Left Bank, with an elevation of 76 metres above sea level. It was designed by Baron Haussmann, and, while it is not well known to tourists, it has several distinctive features besides its high elevation. For example, it is almost bisected by a line of the RER (the express subway system), and another line, that of the Petite Ceinture also crosses the park (both are quite well hidden, however, with the latter being confined mostly to a tunnel). And it is built on top of multiple underground stone quarries, which are quite common on the western side of the Left Bank.

However, the park's major claim to fame is the modest installation you see pictured here, near the highest point in the park. This is the weather station operated by Météo France, the national weather service. Anyone who listens to the recorded weather reports of Météo France on the telephone regularly has heard the latest weather readings from ”Mousehill Park“ a zillion times (”la température sous abri au parc Montsouris est de dix degrés …”). Well, all those weather readings are taken right here, with this little group of weather devices, enclosed by a modest wire fence. Given the celebrity of this tiny patch of lawn, I thought it would make a nice, representative photo (especially since an overall photo of the park is rather difficult to accomplish, given its terrain). I don't know who those people are inside the enclosure; it looked like a professional group (of meteorologists?) or something.

Photographed on February 15, 2001.