Paris Plus: Les Jardins

SOMEWHERE I READ that Paris is the 2nd greenest city in the world in terms of parks and gardens. I believe it. Beyond the well-known ones (Tuileries, Bois de Bologne, etc.) are innumerable ‘hidden’ gardens — down a few steps, behind a gate, inside a courtyard — and vest-pocket parks at many corners and intersections. I’m sure I only scratched the surface on last month’s visit.

<- In the Jardins de Luxembourg

Best parts of French landscape art: topiaries, roses, other flowers, statuary, fountains, pools, allees, planted containers, lawns. In other words, everything.

Above: The gardens of the Rodin Museum, often overlooked. Parts are formal, while other areas are shady and wooded, with deck chairs for visitors. Admission to the gardens alone is 1 little euro.

Inside the enclosed courtyard of Louis XIV’s Palais Royal, a peaceful haven in the busy 2nd arr. on the Right Bank. Again, a place even frequent visitors to Paris may not realize exists.

A flower border and urns with geraniums at the Luxembourg Gardens, a huge, well-utilized park on the Left Bank that is all things to all people.

Wattle-edged herb beds and classical knot gardens inside the courtyards of the fascinating Musee Carnavalet, history museum of the City of Paris.

Above, the sort of thing one stumbles upon while ambling through the Marais: the tiny but exquisite Square Georges Cain. Was there ever a pleasanter place to read the newspaper…er, iPhone?

Delphiniums bursting through a fence in Montmartre.

Above, in the Latin Quarter. I’m not sure what the park is called or if it’s even on a map.Maybe it’s historic and well-known, or maybe it’s just taken for granted.