April 9th 2011, Forest of 52 Martinis, Kim of I Heart Paris and Adam of Invisible Paris hosted a fun and carefree Atlas Obscura event at Dorothy’s Gallery: 27 Rue Keller, 75011 Paris. It was a two part event, but alas, I didn’t get tickets in time for the morning event which was a guided tour by Adam of the garden of Jardin Tropical de Paris dating back to around 1900. Adam took participants around this obscure place that served as a spot for an”Colonial Exhibition” in 1907 for quite a large number of visitors. For more details of the morning event. it’s accessible right off of the RER A, and is worth a little day trip out there!

The evening even was a cocktail party held at Dorothy’s gallery in the Bastille quartier, serving gin cocktails made with a Scottish gin, Hendricks, (didn’t know they made gin!). Regardless, it was delish’ and refreshing on a un-typically warm April day. (Is that a word? Un-typically?)

There were images from the tropical garden projected onto a wall, and sound recordings of Des Coulam from the garden itself, which made for a nature-strewn atmosphere, plus there was a little patio in the courtyard and plenty of plants to make us feel like we were in a garden. It was a great way to catch up with fellow Paris bloggers : Jennyphoria Not Just Another Milla and Luxsure, as well as meet some new faces and got the chance to converse gluten and lactose free recipes with the waaay down-to-earth-but-she-totally-doesn’t-have-to-be Sherry Yard, who came with foodie, chef, author and blogger David Lebovitz. I was also ecstatic to meet real-life absintheur, Peter Schaf. By the way, absinthe is not illegal anymore…even in the USA! (but it has to adhere to certain recipe guidelines).

Among the guests there were the bloggers of Norton of Paris who brought some astonishing edible cobblestones :

For more pics of the evening, check out Melanie Vaz’s facebook album. Dorothy’s gallery host events continuously, so do check it out to see what’s new there.