Parks, Gardens, and Squares, Paris

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Urban community gardens have been springing up in most parts of Paris in the last 5 to 8 years. Mainly in the east of Paris, as these are traditionnaly working-class areas that genrally have a grounding in gardens and horticulture. This one on the corner of rues Clavel and Fessart is no exception. Overseen by a committee, which includes someone from the local town hall, as they own and provide the grounds, this is open Sundays and Wednesdays and open to all, not only proximity locals and known as "Le Jardin de Fessart".

Metro Pyrenées or Buttes-Chaumont.

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One of the emblematic symbols of Paris but sometimes link to the Louvre or the Tuileries,and it needs to be told as it is.
The arc de triomphe du Carrousel is a monument dating from 1809 built under Napoléon Bonaparte. It was built to honor the Grande Armée de Napoléon Bonaparte or the great army of Napoleon between 1807 and 1809, it is located in front of the palace (see my main paris page for the palais des tuileries) on an esplanade before the palace of Tuileries celebrating the French army victories at Austerlitz.

Its height is of 14,60 meters ( 48 feet) at the base there is a rectangle of 19,60 meters (65 feet by 6,65 meters ( 22 feet). It is crowned by an imposing marble statue sculptured and engrave.

East side :
The French army ship outin Boulogne threatens England
another coalision starts in the continent and the French return to the Danube
Bavaria is free and the austrian army is defeated at Ulm
Napoléon entered in Vienna, and wins at Austerlitz, in less than 100 days the coalision is dissolved
South side :
Honor to the Great Army, victorious at Austerlitz
In Moravia Dec 2 1805 anniversary day of crowning of Napoléon

West side :
on the road to victory at Austerlitz
the German empire falls,and the Rhine confederation begins
the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg are created
Venice is join at the crown of steel, the Italy surrended to the laws of the liberator
North side :
Master of the states of the enemy, Napoléon gives them back
signed peace treaty on December 27 1805
In the Hungarian capital, occupy by the victorious army

Its a nice picture taker and great walks into the louvre and tuileries. History from the original, the Napoleon foundation on all and have it on the arc de triomphe du carrousel page in English
http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/museums/files/Arc_Triomphe_Carrousel.asp

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The city has about 300 parks and gardens to enjoy your day in Paris very inexpensive and see the beautiful landscape of the city, a great time with the family or nice company ::)

you have a list in city of Paris of its gardens and parks by arrondissement or district of Paris (20)
http://equipement.paris.fr/?tid=7

and a more extensive list on same site in French above
http://parcsetjardins.equipement.paris.fr/

one of my favorites is the parc ranelagh just in the 16éme at chaussée de la muette behind my favorite resto la Gare. here is the tourist office take on it in French
http://www.parisinfo.com/sites-culturels/100105/jardin-du-ranelagh

and of course coming out of it into the wonderful 16 you are surrounded by gorgeous architecture, chic stores, wonderful restos and the lady Eiffel !

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200-300 kms is a long radius to travel and see gardens, there is a site that has them all ;its the offical committee site and have descriptions of thousands of toenjoy it, many in big towns too
http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/

and this site list what they say are the most beautiful in France Versailles included ::)
http://www.lesplusbeauxjardinsdefrance.com/

you have a list in city of Paris of its gardens and parks by arrondissement or district of Paris (20)
http://equipement.paris.fr/?tid=7

and a more extensive list on same site in French above
http://parcsetjardins.equipement.paris.fr/

My favorites over the years have been the Tuileries, Monceau, Luxembourg, Acclimmatation near porte maillot,, and many small squares such as Vert Galant behind Notre Dame.

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This was just a short walk from my hotel on Rue des Ecoles. It turns out that Place St Michel was part of the original remodelling carried out by Baron Haussman. The resulting square was Place St Michel, which today is a very busy crossroads.

The fountain at the center looked a bit different from other fountains you will see around Paris, but I couldn't exactly figure out why. Turns out it is because it uses different colors of stones from different parts of France. Gabriel Davioud was the designer, himself a neoclassical sculptor.

The fountain shows the Archangel Micheal wrestling with the devil, which is from various places in the Bible where he fights Satan and defeats him.

One thing I found out that was interesting, the winged dragons were the work of Henri A Jacquemart. Is this the same Jacquemart that has a museum today (Jacquemart Andre Museum?)

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The Column in the middle of the Place de la Bastille honors the Revolution of 1830, 3 glorious days that saw the fall of Charles X. The column is engraved with the names of Parisians who died during this revolution. At the top of the column (154 feet, 47 meters) is the "spirit of liberty"(Génie de la Liberté ) by August Dumont.

Désert du Retz-- VERY off the beaten path!

The experts call this place a “ jardin anglo-chinois” (English/Chinese garden)—I call it a surrealist theme park from the 18th Century. Located about 20 km west of Paris, this park will blow your mind. The park contains a series of artificial ruins, Roman temples, pyramids, Chinese houses, all designed to surprise and inspire. There is a “fragment” of a Greek column that is oversized, several stories high—and was actually inhabitable.

As it dates from 1774, the Désert du Retz’s artificial ruins eventually became real ruins. Many of the works in the park were totally lost. In the early 1970’s, restoration work began in order to save what remained.

See the website for the fairly complex info on when you can visit.

Désert de Retz
Allée Frédéric Passy
78 240 - CHAMBOURCY

from outside France call 331 39 76 90 37

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I was on my way to the Guimet Museum, the Asian Art museum in the 16th arr. Coming out of the subway (Iena) and I had to stop and look at the statue. I did a double take, thinking to myself that the man in the statue sure looked like George Washington, the first President of the United States. As it turns out it was George Washington!

The statue was erected in 1900. The American revolution was well supported by the French and in many significant ways drew its inspiration from the French Revolution. The plaque reads:
"gift of the women of the United States of America in memory of the brotherly help given by France to their fathers in the fight for Independence."

Located at Place d'Iéna (line 9) 16th Arr.
Metro Iéna (one stop up from Trocadero, since youre going to see the Eiffel Tower, might as well stop by while you're in the neighborhood

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This is the third biggest park in Paris, after Tuileries and Villette, and it includes such unusual features as man-made cliffs (the only cliffs in Paris, as far as I know), a man-made lake, a man-made grotto and lots of exotic plants all labeled with their name and place of origin.

For several centuries the Buttes-Chaumont area was the site of the gallows, where condemned people were hung. Esmeralda in Victor Hugo’s novel Notre-Dame de Paris 1482 was not hung here, but I think this was where they disposed of her body afterwards, and where Quasimodo found her.

In any case, the site was long used as a public dump for garbage and dead horses, also for dead people who were not entitled to a proper burial. Also there were lots of gypsum quarries here, so there area was quite a mess when it was incorporated into the city of Paris in 1860. The emperor Napoleon III and his city planner, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, decided it had to be cleaned up, so it was gradually re-developed into a city park with a fantasy landscape (they used dynamite to make the cliffs) and an imitation Roman temple at the highest point.

It all looks a bit phony, but no one seems to mind. The park is very popular with joggers and people just strolling around.

Vélib' 19021, 19024
Location on the Vélib' map
Métro Buttes Chaumont

Next review from July 2012: Autolib’

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Belleville is a traditionally working- class district in the east of Paris.

I think I first heard of Belleville from Puccini's opera Il tabarro (the first of the three short operas of Il trittico), in which the illicit lovers Giorgetta and Luigi discover that they both grew up in Belleville. This gives them something in common right from the start, and establishes their working-class background.

If you climb the hill to Belleville Park -- or ride up on a Velib' as I did -- you can get some wide views out over Paris.

I took this photo on a beautiful but -- err -- somewhat cloudy day with the Eiffel Tower sticking up on the right and the Montparnasse Tower on the left.

Second photo: Pavilion at the top of the hill in Belleville Park.

Third photo: The hillside in Belleville Park.

Fourth photo: The Eiffel Tower from Belleville Park.

Vélib' 20113
Métro Pyrénées
GPS 48°52'17.62" North; 2°23'5.88" East