Post by Bozur on Jul 13, 2008 14:16:37 GMT -5
Hidden Gardens of Paris
Intimate, lightly trafficked and often quirky, the small gardens of Paris can be ideal places to relax and to read. The trick is to find them. A couple in the secluded Jardin Alpin part of the Jardin des Plantes.
On spring and summer Sundays, the Jardin Tino Rossi, a sliver along the Seine, turns into an impromptu dance-a-thon. For more than two decades, an informal group of singers and dancers has been taking over amphitheaters, where they dance the musette until midnight.
With many leafy places in the city, Parisians and visitors can dine outdoors at garden cafes like La Muscade at the Palais Royal.
Even the city's large, formal gardens like the Luxembourg Garden proclaim hidden spaces.
The 17th-century Fountain of the Medicis is a peaceful oasis in the often bustling Luxembourg Gardens. It's named after Marie de Medicis (Louis XIV's grandmother), and inspired by the city of Florence.
Claude Bureau at the Jardin des Plantes, where he was chief gardener for more than two decades. At this vast garden, he took his first baby steps and met his wife. "Women always love gardeners," said Bureau. "We speak of roses and perfume. We can easily get their attention."
The Parc de la Turlure is next to Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
At the cafe-garden of the Petit-Palais, with its palm and banana trees and mosaic floors, marble tables and metal chairs offer the ideal setting to watch the museum's stone walls change from buff to tawny yellow as the sun moves.
One of more than a hundred water jets at Parc André Citroën.
A depiction of the poet Alfred de Musset next to the path to the Jardin de la Vallée Suisse.
Inside the nearby Hôtel-Dieu complex, which is still a working hospital, is a formal garden-courtyard with sculptured 30-year-old boxwoods. The hospital's gardener replants much of the space every May with fuchsias, sage, impatiens and Indian roses.
The Square René Viviani on the Left Bank across from Notre-Dame is another one of the city's tranquil spots.
Picnickers enjoy a meal and wine under the trees that line the Luxembourg Gardens.
www.nytimes.com/
Intimate, lightly trafficked and often quirky, the small gardens of Paris can be ideal places to relax and to read. The trick is to find them. A couple in the secluded Jardin Alpin part of the Jardin des Plantes.
On spring and summer Sundays, the Jardin Tino Rossi, a sliver along the Seine, turns into an impromptu dance-a-thon. For more than two decades, an informal group of singers and dancers has been taking over amphitheaters, where they dance the musette until midnight.
With many leafy places in the city, Parisians and visitors can dine outdoors at garden cafes like La Muscade at the Palais Royal.
Even the city's large, formal gardens like the Luxembourg Garden proclaim hidden spaces.
The 17th-century Fountain of the Medicis is a peaceful oasis in the often bustling Luxembourg Gardens. It's named after Marie de Medicis (Louis XIV's grandmother), and inspired by the city of Florence.
Claude Bureau at the Jardin des Plantes, where he was chief gardener for more than two decades. At this vast garden, he took his first baby steps and met his wife. "Women always love gardeners," said Bureau. "We speak of roses and perfume. We can easily get their attention."
The Parc de la Turlure is next to Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
At the cafe-garden of the Petit-Palais, with its palm and banana trees and mosaic floors, marble tables and metal chairs offer the ideal setting to watch the museum's stone walls change from buff to tawny yellow as the sun moves.
One of more than a hundred water jets at Parc André Citroën.
A depiction of the poet Alfred de Musset next to the path to the Jardin de la Vallée Suisse.
Inside the nearby Hôtel-Dieu complex, which is still a working hospital, is a formal garden-courtyard with sculptured 30-year-old boxwoods. The hospital's gardener replants much of the space every May with fuchsias, sage, impatiens and Indian roses.
The Square René Viviani on the Left Bank across from Notre-Dame is another one of the city's tranquil spots.
Picnickers enjoy a meal and wine under the trees that line the Luxembourg Gardens.
www.nytimes.com/