Continuing to Wander in Paris

We leave the Luxembourg Gardens, heading toward Place Saint-Michel.  As we wander down Boulevard Saint-Michel, we find a market on the sidewalk featuring all sorts of tempting foods, from cheeses to sausages to nougats and nuts.  We wander and eventually (after sampling several types) purchase a portion of traditional nougat to take home.

Sidewalk market

Continuing into the maze of streets around Place Saint-Michel, we walk past the shops and restaurants to a chocolate shop on the corner where we enter and admire the many Easter-themed chocolates throughout the store.

Chocolate shop

A brief rainshower passes through after we cross the Seine by Notre Dame (noting the cranes still in operation, although the reopening of the cathedral is scheduled with different celebrations from December 8, 2024 to June 8, 2025) and we stop at the next cafe and sit as a table outside under the awning, sipping a glass of wine, as the storm passes.

Notre Dame reconstruction continues

Waiting for the rain to pass

Perhaps the rain was a sign, we've been walking for a while and it's time to sit for a bit, sip some good wine, and watch the world scurry by in the rain.

Exploring Luxembourg Gardens in Paris

We stroll through the streets of the Left Bank of the Seine in Paris, finally ending up at Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg), owned by the French Senate which meets in a Palace in the corner of the gardens.  The gardens were started in 1612 when Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV, constructed the Luxembourg Palace as her new residence.  The gardens cover 23 hectares (57 acres) and are known for their lush lawns, tree-lined promenades, many tennis courts, beautiful flowerbeds, Medici Fountain, and model sailboats sailing on the octagonal Grand Bassin.

We enter the park and wander through the spring plantings.

Spring flowers in the gardens

It's early and the trees are just getting their leaves, but the ponies are out and ready for riders to come to the park.

Leaves emerging

Ponies ready

On this beautiful spring day, there are quite a few people walking in the park or sunning by the basin or in one of the clearings in the park

Relaxing in the park

Senate palace in the background

Lots of space

A brief rain shower passes through and we take refuge in the bandstand, along with others in the area, until the shower passes and the sun reemerges.

Hiding from the rain

It's a beautiful spring day in Luxembourg Gardens and we truly enjoy our stroll (even the hiding from the rain).

Wandering in Paris

We wake up our first morning in Paris and look out the window, watching the spring clouds drift acrosss the sky.  Heading out, we see the restaurants decorated with flowers, a great idea that we had noticed on our last visit

Clouds crossing the sky

Restaurants decorated

We walk down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde and see that the fountains are now working as the city prepares itself for the Olympics in a few months.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Fountains ready for spring (and the Olympics)

Crossing the Jardin des Tuileries (between Place de la Concorde and the Louvre), we view the spring plantings emerging from the flower beds with the Musée d'Orsay (and its incredible impressionist collection) in the background across the river one way, the Louvre the other way, and the l'Orangerie museum (with a whole room of Monet's Water Lilies) alongside us at the entrance.

Musée d'Orsay

Louvre

L'Orangerie

In 1664, André le Nôtre, gardener to King Louis XIV, designed the Tuileries Garden and created its "Grande Allée," the central walk way extending through the park from Place de la Concorde to the Louvre.  He also traced out the future Avenue des Champs-Élysées to be built in later, along with the Place de a Concorde (1763) and Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile(1806-1838).

Tuileries Garden

Map of the Tuileries Garden

We reach the Louvre and cross the Seine to wander through the Left Bank, generally in the direction of the Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg).

Crosssing the Seine

New art on the Seine across from the Louvre

Gardens on the Left Bank

And, we continue to wander.