Garden of the Queens – Part 1

On first blush, Jardin du Luxembourg – Luxembourg Gardens – may seem like any other royal Parisian garden – a beautiful green space surrounding a royal palais – palace. However, Luxembourg is so much more than that. During a recent visit to Paris, I had the great fortune to spend a month in a lovely rental apartment in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of the city – less than a 10 minute walk from Jardin du Luxembourg. (Another bonus: it was also right next door to the legendary Le Procope, the oldest café in Paris, having been founded in 1686.) My proximity to the gardens for this extended visit gave me the opportunity to explore them more fully than before and to enjoy them more like a Parisian would. It was during this time that I discovered many of the different features within the gardens.  It seems to offer something for everyone. For me though, I will always think of it as the Garden of the Queens.

The first reason for this is that the gardens and palace are the creation of Queen Marie de Medici. She commissioned them in 1612 shortly after the death of her husband King Henri IV while she was regent to her son Louis XIII. The second is that the gardens are home to 20 statues of French queens and other illustrious women including Mary, Queen of Scots, Saint Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, and Marie de Medici herself. These statues were commissioned by Louis-Philippe in 1848. Today, it is not unusual to see some of the statues reinterpreted as new pieces of art.

Inspired by the Boboli Gardens of de Medici’s native Florence, the gardens cover 25 hectares of land and are divided into French and English gardens. Between the two, lies a lovely parterre of gravel and lawn surrounding a large octagonal bassin – basin – of water. It is around this basin, on raised terraces, that the statues of the queens can be found, calming overlooking the scene below. And in the basin, one can see toy sailboats being sailed by children.

Beyond the basin lies an amazing geometric forest of plane trees, trimmed with the precision that the French do best. I have been taken with these trees since I first visited Paris over 20 years ago and came upon them in the Jardin des Plantes and along the Avenue du Champs Élysées. It is on the latter that they are decorated with lights at Christmastime to resemble glasses of sparkling champagne – truly a sight to behold! Another type of tree that you will find thriving in Luxembourg is palm – an indication of Paris’ moderate climate.

Read ‘Garden of the Queens – Part 2‘ to discover the amazing Fontaine Médicis, among other treasures found in the French Garden.

Jardin du Luxembourg, Rue de Médicis – Rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris

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