Afternoon at the Children's Zoo
Parc de l'Acclimatation

I obviously blew or blue it.  

I am the only one who was not wearing a navy blue jacket.

Ponies for the children to ride.

You cannot tell from the photos but the wind was blowing and 

all of the pinwheels were spinning.

Japanese Garden

Horse races

Instead of a carrousel, these horses race along a track.

The Siege of Paris 1870-1871

Pigeon post[edit]

The Dove by Puvis de Chavannes. The companion painting in the Musée d'Orsay depicts a balloon.

A pigeon post was employed during the course of the siege, with pigeons being regularly taken out of Paris by balloon. Soon a regular service was in operation, based first at Tours and later at Poitiers. The pigeons were taken to their base after their arrival from Paris and when they had preened themselves, been fed and rested, they were ready for the return journey. Tours lies some 200 km from Paris and Poitiers some 300 km. Before release, they were loaded with their despatches. The first despatch was dated 27 September and reached Paris on 1 October. During the four months of the siege, 150,000 official and 1 million private communications were carried into Paris by this method.^[5] Balloon mail was also used to overcome the communications blockade, with a rate of 20 cents per letter. Letters were photographically reduced by René Dagron to save weight. A total of 66 balloon flights were made, including one that accidentally set a world distance record by ending up in Norway.^[6]