The Luxembourg Garden

Another garden, another widowed queen, do I detect a pattern here? I just had to do a post on the Luxembourg Garden while it's still autumn and before all my beautiful memories of it get forgotten in the Christmas frenzy! It's definitely one of my most favorite places in all of Paris and just like the Tuileries, yet another garden with a rich history I had no clue about.

It's pretty easy to overlook the history of a place when every path is lined with flowers. I'll try to keep it brief but as usual, the story of how it came to be and has changed over the years is almost as fantastic as the garden itself. In 1600 Marie de' Medici was married off to Henry IV, King of France because he owed her father, Francesco de' Medici the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a whole pile of cash for financing his wars. The wedding took place in Florence and by all accounts the four thousand invited guests were lavishly fed and entertained. Henry didn't bother showing up for the event so they were married by proxy. Ten years and five children later, Henry was conveniently assassinated the day after Marie's official coronation as queen. Sounds a little Shakespearean, doesn't it?

Since her eldest son, the new King Louis XIII was still a child, Marie served as regent until he was sixteen. Much like her distant cousin, Catherine d' Medici (who created the Tuileries in the previous century) she ruled France for a number of years. Being from the Medici family, she was considerably wealthy in her own right so in 1612 she immediately began creating the Luxembourg Palace and gardens. Again, like Catherine, she had grown up at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence and wanted her new palace to be as much of a reflection of her Renaissance childhood as possible. The new palace wasn't a happy place however, she was always at odds with her son and constantly in the midst of political intrigue. Alexandre Dumas portrayed her as an evil mother-in-law in The Three Musketeers. Eventually Marie was exiled for attempting to discredit her son's advisor, Cardinal Richelieu (also a character in The Three Musketeers) and she continued to scheme against him until her dying day.

As with anything that's been around for several centuries, there have been changes over the years. In 1848 twenty statues of queens and illustrious women of France were added to the terraces around the formal garden, and in later years some monuments to artists and writers. I have to admit I was surprised to see statues of real women (not symbolical or mythological beings), honoured for who they were, and in an important public space no less! In Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol building each state in the union has two statues of individuals who made important contributions to that state. Of the one hundred statues, nine are of women. Don't you think that should change?

Today, the Palace is the home of the Senate, one of the two houses of the French Parliament. Pretty as it is, there's a tall fence and armed guards surrounding it. The other half of the government, the National Assembly meets at the nearby Bourbon Palace. It was built in 1722 by Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, a daughter of Louis XIV and one of his mistresses. It began as a country house surrounded by gardens, too. It's good to know that a significant number of women, who lived so long ago, continue to have an impact on the people of Paris and those who govern France.   

  

This massive red border of mixed annuals was awesome, and I usually don't like red flowers! HM had to wait while I made a list of all the plants so I can give it a try in our backyard. Using just the one bold color was a striking departure from the more traditional combinations of pastels and white.

   

As it turns out, this garden is a great place for people watching, too. I couldn't help but wonder how many years this couple have been picnicking on that bench. Obviously, there were quite a few tourists but no huge groups following a tour guide frantically waving an umbrella overhead. Being on the edge of the Latin Quarter there were a lot of students on their way to classes. Then there were the government workers, always in a hurry and deep in conversation with each other. Young and old, families and singles, and the biggest surprise - hardily anyone was staring at their phone! 

It always amazes me that we will sit outside and eat a meal in Paris in temperatures way lower than we would ever consider anywhere else. Of course, we thoroughly enjoyed the lunch we had at one of the restaurants in the garden and especially the view of the gorgeous chestnut trees. It was pretty chilly but the food was great and they served the best fries I've ever had in my whole life! 

The whole reason HM and I went to the garden in the first place was to take a little break from the museums, check out the fall foliage and maybe see some pretty flowers. As usual, it turned out to be a lot more than we expected and a place that was kind of hard to leave.  

Finally, I have to say something about all those chairs! It's terrific to be able to move them wherever you want but how do they not get stolen? There is definitely a correlation between how comfortable they feel to you and how long you have been on your feet. The most common theory on the internet is that Parisians are passionate about their public places and have a deep respect them. When it comes to things like cooking, art or technology they are all about the new but at the same time they are totally invested in preserving the architecture and cobblestone streets of the past. As for the history of those chairs, like most things in Paris, it's a long story that begins in another century. Seriously, it's a never ending story. I could keep writing about this garden forever.

Thank you for visiting!