Green Spaces

Each week, for my second blog post of the week, I’ll be focusing on France’s incorporation of greenery and green spaces into a very urban landscape. Since the first day, I’ve been overwhelmed by how “citified” Paris is. There is concrete, sandstone, brick, metal, and various other materials everywhere I look. Sometimes, the amount of stone surrounding me is overwhelming. Yet, with all these full beige colors around, the French have still managed to maintain a very green place.

One quick example is the view from my window.

My room is pretty dull inside. I won’t be here long enough to have my own plants. But that’s ok because right outside my window, the ivy creates a beauty view. This is a very controlled growth and it brings me joy to see it.

Throughout the city, the shops, apartment buildings, and streets are littered with greenery.

We went on a cruise and I found the green didn’t stop at the water.

It’s really important to note that greenery doesn’t grow where it’s not wanted. Or at least, if it does, I haven’t seen it. The French appear to have strict gardening and weed control practices. There is so much city space here that the gardens and parks area welcome oasis. My eyes rejoice everytime they see the color green here.

When traveling around the Île de la Cité, I found greenery, often behind gates. I’m getting good at taking photos through the gates. I guess these are private gardens used only by the residents since most of them were locked.

The historic gardens are something out of this world. I haven’t seen anything in America that can even compare. The amount of gardeners, money, water, etc. needed to help these gardens flourishing must be astronomical. The only way to achieve this sort of excellence is to gave the government recognize it as necessary and fund it. Depending on grants and such to green our historic areas in the states will never quite cut it.

 

Luxembourg Gardens

The greatest garden space I visited was the gardens of Versailles. It was spectacular. There were probably thousands of people there but the space was so large that I often found my little group alone in the gardens. We walked today for more than 4 miles, for hours upon hours, and still didn’t see it all. But we tried.

Overall, I’m so impressed with the intricate garden plans. Even small gardens are beautiful, like the ones we visited in Bercy.

The gardens are well-kept and well-used. People are everywhere. Despite this, I’m still able to find spaces with almost no people. That’s how I got these awesome photos. The French seem to understand space in a way I haven’t seen in the US. The gardens are large enough to accommodate hundreds and even thousands of people in some cases. But the spaces are arranged in such a way as to give separation, silence, privacy, fun, whatever you need.

Yes, the gardens are truly something else. Still, I find myself drawn to the balcony and rooftop gardens. I hope to share more about those in the upcoming posts.