Jardins de Paris

Les

jardins de paris Photographs by

Nancy Shanoff

S eek beauty and you shall be surrounded by beauty Peter B. Weis

Le Jardin du Luxembourg These formal gardens were occupied by the Italian monarch Marie de Medicis during the Renaissance.

The Palace now houses the French Senate, the members of which vie for the privilege of purchasing honey available for sale a mere two days a year from the park’s apiary.

Other attractions include the Medici Fountain pictured here, the Orangerie displaying Monet’s water lily paintings, and the carousel, which follows on the next page.

Children “go for the brass ring” in order to win a free ride, a practice deriving from the time of Louis XIV, who brought merrygo-rounds to Paris to amuse his courtiers.

Le Parc de Bagatelle

(right) Originally a hunting lodge, this estate was developed by the Comte D’Artois for his sister-in-law Marie-Antoinette as a beautifully landscaped park, including a castle. In 1905 Bagatelle was acquired by the city of Paris and redeveloped as a 59-acre horticultural wonderland. Today there are over 9,000 specimens in the famous rose gardens, the site of an annual competition for new roses. There’s also an excellent restaurant on site for those who work up an appetite during their rambles.

When we think of Paris we think of art and architecture, history and literature; we think of the public life of its cafĂŠs and the classic beauty of its monuments.

We don’t recognize that while this familiar culture was being established another side of the city flourished as well. There are over 400 parks, gardens, woods and squares in the city of light. In them, the creativity of nature and of man work together.

Versailles

Even Marie Antoinette tired of excess occasionally, and when she needed to get away from the opulence of the castle, she visited the Trianon.

For the weary tourist this intimate retreat, with its kitchen gardens and vineyards and its colorful flowers, provides a welcome break from artifice.

Because Versailles is easily accessible by public transit, we have included it among the gardens of Paris.

Carnavalet The museum of the city of Paris occupies two adjoining mansions in the Marais near the Place des Vosges, one of which was the home of the famous writer Madame de SĂŠvignĂŠ. Its walls enclose a mini-paradise in the form of a traditional French garden dominated by hundreds of boxwood trees flowing in symmetrical patterns.

Les Jardins des Plantes

The royal botanical garden was established in 1626 and is the oldest horticultural display in Paris. Originally it was used to cultivate medicinal herbs and it still houses a school of botany. After the French Revolution in 1789 it became the first public green space in the city, and Parisians continue to bring their children to enjoy its displays of European and tropical plants, its labyrinth, and the excellent Museum of Natural History.

Parc Monceau Marcel Proust loved Parc Monceau for its whimsy and elegance. This staircase is one of several architectural structures in the park; others include a Corinthian colonnade, a Roman temple, medieval ruins, a pagoda, and a Dutch windmill. The park was commissioned by the duc de Chartres et Orlèans in 1778, shortly before the French Revolution, when he was guillotined.

T

he true romance of Paris is that everywhere

you look you find beauty of one form or another.

Le Bois de Boulogne The remains of an ancient oak forest cover 2,090 acres along the western edge of Paris, 2.5 times larger than Central Park in New York. The site was made into a park by Napoleon III in 1852. In addition to the Bagatelle gardens it includes cycle paths, riding paths, two horse racecourses, tennis courts, two lakes and a waterfall.

Photographs by Nancy Shanoff text written with

Susan Glickman c o n ta c t :

nshanoff @ gmail.com tel 416.767.5933 Š200 9 N a n c y S h a n o f f All r i g h t s r e s e rv e d