Embracing the wonderful beauty of a landscaped garden is sheer heaven to the soul.
Whether you want to admire some awe inspiring sculptures or just take in the surrounding beauty, a walk through a park or the landscaped gardens of a grand building takes some beating.
Now, add the fact that you can find them in Paris, and you have a good idea on what a perfect experience can be.
Find below some truly wonderful places to visit on your next trip to Paris:
Parc Monceau is a public park situated in Paris at the junction of Rue de Prony, Boulevard de Courcelles and Rue Georges Berger. It is open daily from sunrise to sunset and has extended hours in the summer months. There are actually nine gated entrances to the park looked after by a park watchman who lives above the north entrance.
The park was established by Phillippe d'Orléans, the Duke of Chartres who was a cousin of King Louis XVI, as well as a a close friend of the Prince of Wales, later George IV. As a consequence, he loved all things English and so designed the park as an 'English garden'.
The park includes a collection of scaled-down architectural masonic references (Philippe d'Orléans was a leading freemason) which include, amongst many, an Egyptian pyramid and Chinese fort. There are also a number of statues of famous figures including a beautiful statue of the famous musician Frédéric Chopin, sculpted in 1906 by Jacques Froment Thomas.
The Jardin du Luxembourg or Luxembourg Garden was first created in 1612 by Marie de' Medici for the Luxembourg Palace.
The garden is known for its tree-lined promenades, lavish lawns and flowerbeds, the Medici Fountain and its large octagonal basin of water where you an sail model boats.
There is also a playground and vintage carousel, as well as live music seating to while away an afternoon.
The garden also houses over a hundred monuments, fountains and statues which include figures of French queens and Famous women and saints.
The Jardin des Plantes in Paris is the main botanical garden in France. It was founded in 1626, and first planted as a medicinal herb garden in 1635 by Guy de La Brosse, Louis XIII's physician.
The Jardin des Plantes includes four galleries of the Muséum: the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, the Paleontology Museum, the Entomology Museum and the Mineralogy Museum.
It also houses a small zoo, Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes which was founded in 1795 by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.
From the Alpine Garden to the Rose Garden, this botanical garden has it all!
If you fancy venturing out a little further from Paris, the Palace of Versailles and its opulent gardens is just a 20-minute ride away on the local RER line.
Famous because of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, this palace has up to five million visitors per year and its vast grounds attract over six million.
The construction of the Palace and its gardens lasted through three different reigns, from Louis XIV to Louis XVI, and undergone five major re-plantations.
Indeed, in 1774-1775 Louis XVI ordered a complete replanting of the gardens.
The entire grounds of Versailles now cover some 800 hectares of landscaped land.
