Swan Saga at Park Montsouris

Park Montsouris is one of the prettiest parks in Paris nestled in the southern part of the city. In the fall of 2010, the country of Poland sent two black Australian and two white swans to grace our lovely park.    With much to do and fanfare consisting of an elaborate musical celebration the swans were formally welcomed to the pristine lake of parc Montsouris.

Initially all seemed well with Mathias and his lovely lady Stella, the two white mute swans,  gliding about the lake with graceful abandon.  Juliette and Julien the black Australian swans, likewise, had no problem adapting to their new habitats.  They all became the new darlings of the park.

By spring of 2011, things had taken a dark and sad turn when Mathias’ mate , Stella turned up sick and eventually died from what as diagnosed as a fulminating fungal infection. It was blamed on moldy bread given by some unassuming visitor.

Despite numerous signs along the park’s lake asking visitors to not feed the resident birds, consisting of various species of goose, ducks, herons, and seagulls, amongst others, one often sees hand to hand feeding of the park birds.  True there are  feeding huts in the lake, but I find it difficult to believe that any grains or food stored there would not be also given to mold.  In addition, I have often seen duckies chased away from these feeding huts by the huge fat carp that constantly cluster around surfacing with fat smacking lips.

Getting back to Mathias, the tragic hero of this story, he was left with predictable grief from losing his mate. He was briefly removed and ended up at some sort of ornithological rehabilitation center in order to ease his bereavement.   He eventually was returned to the lake, where he cast a sad sight to see.  His only solace seemed to be a goose buddy that he often swam around with.  Then one day his only friend was no longer seen, whereabouts unknown.                                                                                                                               Poor lonely Mathias, like the rest of us trying to survive, forms an incredible attachment with Mauricette, a wonderful warm yet unfeathered female of the human kind.  The warm days of summer turned into fall and then the bitter cold days of winter prevailed, even freezing the top of the lake. Religiously, Mauricette could be seen presiding over her bench with always a little lettuce, apples and occasional baguette, hand feeding Mathias.  Mathias welcomed her caresses and often reciprocated with nibbled kisses in her hair, her skirt and of course poking his huge beak into her sac looking for goodies.  He also was noted to put his heavy webbed foot on top of hers as to proclaimed her as his own. The lady and her swan became an idyllic pair that thrilled young and old alike, and were often photographed together.

But eventually Mauricette became the target of reprimands by the park agents and their cherished meetings became almost clandestine in nature, like two lovers seeking shelter for their secret trysts.  By this time I had formed a warm allegiance with Mauricette and had become a trusted member of her coterie to camouflage their encounters away from the punitive gazes of the guards.  I felt a sense of rebellious pride in doing whatever I could to help preserve their little tête à têtes.  I felt much empathy for both of them, alone, lonely and in need of companionship.

The wheels turn slowly here in France, and not surprisingly time lingered on , with no effort it seemed to find another lady swan for Mathias.  In late march, totally unannounced a young white swan from Park Vincennes suddenly appeared.  Smaller in stature , with a fanciful name of Fanny, she was soon seen trying to glide along Mathias.  Unfortunately, these days Mathias is acting practically oblivious to her.

Swans are known to mate for life, so only time will tell if Fanny can woo any affection out of our hero.  I find myself now feeling sad for Fanny too, who is being ignored with no other young swan to plant her affection.

Mathias, he continues to seek out his transitory sweetheart Mauricette with the same passion and conviction as before.  The song “you can’t hurry love”, could apply here too, and neither can we hurry grief, be it through death or divorce.   Maybe Mathias, unlike a lot of his unfeathered humankind, shows you have to close one chapter of life before forging ahead to create a new one.