“The Luxembourg garden in the centre of Paris, is the world’s beautifullest garden.” (p. 40, “Third Day Afternoon”).
For this site, I have a feeling the guide might very well be correct (though a grammatical disaster).* Beyond the Palace and its immediate grounds, the Jardin du Luxembourg presents a fascinating mixed-use space that feels like a cleaner, more idealized version of New York’s Central Park (sorry! I had to!). Between the wholesome game of Pétanque happening in the more adult-oriented section of the garden to the super cool old carousel (it had a hoop and stick game that I wanted to try SO BADLY), this garden truly has it all! Though today the activity options are unmatched, that isn’t what the Guilmin Guide had to offer of the 1940s garden– rather, it lists the numerous and beautiful ways that art is displayed within the gates of Luxembourg.** From the ornate arrangements of plant life (including the palm trees brought in from the coast seasonally and the aggressively perfect topiaries) to the breathtaking sculptures and fountains, the Guilmin Guide spared no expense talking about the peace and beauty found in the art of the garden. There’s only so much that can be said about these gardens in a page, however, so they skipped over a vast majority of the land and stuck to only the highlights.
What I think is my favorite part of the Jardin du Luxembourg (aside from the cool chairs found throughout) is its proximity to literally everything else. It is super accessible from multiple forms of transportation, as well as the Latin Quarter, making it incredibly convenient to stop by, grab a coffee at one of the stands within the garden, and have a brief (or not-so-brief) respite from Parisian city-life. I think that if I were to choose to spend my life in any one place, it would have to be this garden, because there is nowhere else in the world in which I could feel both so wholly at peace and deeply un-lonely.
**I reserve the right to amend this statement after the excursion to Versailles on Saturday.
***Not to be confused with the Gates of Hell, which I also saw this week at the Musée Rodin.
Did the guide mention the carousel? It’s the world’s most coolest carousel (trying to follow their grammar standards lol). So cool this was in the guide!
Love this theme. It’s extra-preservation-y. I’d really like to read more quotes from the book. And if there are illustrations, maybe you could try to replicate with photos? Anyway, looking forward to reading more.