I’m crazy in love with birds and despite Paris being a city, birds are everywhere. Some are just pigeons. I quite like pigeons despite the bad rap they get as flying rats. There were some pretty fancy ones, it being Paris and all.
Sparrows were hanging around Nôtre Dame most of the time. Turns out they adore croissants too.
On Sunday mornings there is a bird market on the Île de la Cité. The rest of the week it’s a flower market, but Sundays are special. The birds at the bird market are the kind you keep as pets; a few chickens but most are caged birds.
While I feel slightly bad for birds in cages, they’re so charming that it’s hard to resist. I’m not a fan of endless squawking so I prefer not to have any as pets.
My absolute favorite bird is the Gouldian Finch. They’re a bit uncommon as pets here in the States but I think they must appeal to the French and their love of style. They’re such striking birds, but without the annoying shrieks and twitters of a Parakeet.
There were also some lovely canaries. Such a pretty orange variety. The bird market was certainly one of my favorite things to see in Paris.