Luxembourg Gardens

This beautiful sculpture from the 1800’s greats visitors at one entrance to the park.

One first-time visitor to Luxembourg Gardens was overheard saying, “There’s something going on here we don’t see much of anymore — it’s called ‘relaxing.’” Even though it’s midweek, the vibe here is clearly Sunday afternoon. One would guess it’s like this every day.  Parisians lay in the grass underneath huge topiary trees, trimmed to perfection. They don’t seem to notice the stunning 17th century palace surrounded by beautiful beds of annuals planted too close together (but in the best way possible). The French love to pack their growing spaces and in all of these gardens it works like a charm. It’s the first public garden I’ve ever seen to highlight tithonia, or Mexican sunflower. The tall orange flowers are a centerpiece of many beds around the palace. There are hundreds of six-foot-tall stalks circling the ornate building.
Things slow down here; there are chairs and benches everywhere for visitors to lounge in. People like to get three or four together, creating the most comfortable place to sit in the park.
There’s full sun for tanning and shady nooks too. Children get pony rides around the gardens and artists carefully draw likenesses of the many statues which fill the gardens.
The park covers nearly 60 acres and was built in 1611 by Marie de’ Medici to resemble her native Florence, Italy.
The Medici Fountain is one of the highlights, proven by the number of selfies taken there every few seconds.
It’s a wonderful place to stroll, sit and enjoy life and that’s what all gardens are all about.

An artist draws the likeness of a statue in the garden.

Curved beds of flowers packed tightly together surround the palace.

It’s the middle of the week, but it feels like Sunday as visitors enjoy the lawn in front of the palace.

The gardens are punctuated with oval beds like this one filled with beautiful begonias.

It was wonderful to see children getting pony rides around the park.

Medici Fountain is one of the big draws of the park. It’s a nice place for a selfie, which happened every few seconds.

The park is filled with amazing statuary. This one was created in the late 1800’s.

There are lots of pictures taken in front of the palace. This girl was being directed by her father to find just the right spot.

Can you see the large tithonia or Mexican sunflowers in the center of the bed?