We strolled along the Seine to visit Notre Dame and passed numerous shops opening up and in one particular zone they seemed to be all either pet shops or plant shops. We wandered in and out of some of them; some specialised in fish and aquariums, others with pretty standard but generally pure-bred 4-legged pets, and some offered exotic birds like parrots bizarre fancy pigeons and a myriad of finches; and budgies were everywhere. We saw lots of wonderful plants, many of which we knew, and other different ones like this one, a Tacca, caught our imaginiation and attention. The aubergine-like colour was real – nothing plastic about this beauty. If it can be grown in Paris we are sure it can be in Uruguay and will try to get something like it there.