Jardins de Tuileries

Jardins de Tuileries

Beginning at the Place de la Concorde entrance, the Jardins des Tuileries stretches roughly a half mile along the Seine. On its west end are the Musée de L’Orangerie, and the Jeu de Paume museums. The garden then transitions to the Jardin du Carrousel and terminates in the Musée de Louvre.

The Musée de L’Orangerie is an absolute must-see that might get passing mention in most guide books of Paris. If you enjoy the Impressionists and Post Impressionists such as Monet, Renoir, Rousseau, Matisse, Utrillo, Cézanne, Modigliani and others you simply must see this museum with works from Walter Guillaume’s personal collection. The collection wraps you in capsule where you can remember how the pastel sensation of each slight breeze wafted the smell of fresh flowers and turned the corners of your mouth up just a bit as you realized what a wonderful gift your senses really are.

This is also where Monet and architect Camille Lefèvre designed two elliptical shaped rooms to display his Nymphéas (water-lilies) panels. These are monumental wall panels covering (by my estimation) 500 feet of wall (between the two rooms). That’s a lot of painting! The rooms, roughly 100’ by 30’ each, were created to mimic the natural diffused light of two different seasons of the area where he painted, as well as to provide an uninterrupted, uncluttered viewing space.

Unfortunately, photography is not permitted (hence the flowery description).

Moving back outside, the Tuileries gardens are yet another Parisian landscaped marvel that includes pathways through canopies of chestnut tree colonnades, exemplary fountains, didactic and heroic statuary, meter after meter of pruned hedge rows and topiary, flower beds and a comfortable place to sit and relax just about everywhere you look.

There’re plenty of examples of true pain and anguish expressed so deeply in stone that whatever your problems, it would seem they pale in comparison. I can’t think of a woman alive who wouldn’t appreciate this somewhat zaftig woman immortalized in bronze.

If you’d like to get away from the crowds in a bit of personal space there are row after row of hedges punctuated with statuary that simply beg you to lay out a blanket and enjoy a picnic.

Let's not forget the pets. There’s plenty of room for dogs of all sizes to play fetch with their neighbors.

Of course there are the ever-present Eiffel Tower key ring hawkers.

But French police are all over the park on foot and bikes keeping order.

And there are the "artists" nearby on the Seine. I'm not really certain they're doing anything to the painting other than applying a color wash but...

Or perhaps it's a balloon you'd like, from a vendor who looks as if he's got a lot of other things to do.

While French parks typically include some wonderful modern playground equipment, Parisians make a concerted effort to retain the simple memories of youth such as a puppet show stage and theater (picture from Parc de Buttes-Chaumont), to glider chair swings. Even the very contemporary Parc de Villette has its pedal-powered surreys.

The Tuileries garden is especially noted for its toy sailboat rental fleet. Children plead for an opportunity to shepherd their colorful craft around the base of the fountain. You simply can’t miss the giddy smiles and squeals of delight, or the intensity of effort directed toward setting a wind-powered craft off to discover the other side of the fountain. 

Ultimately though, boys (being boys) simply have to take the opportunity to explain the finer points of seamanship to a willing girl’s satisfaction.

The parks are for kids of all ages. Maybe you want to soak up some long absent sun with a few friends.

On our most recent trip back one area of the garden looked like they took the boardwalk from Seaside Heights, New Jersey and transported it to Paris, France.

Pretty exhausted from yet another full day, somehow we seem often to finish the day with ice cream!