2.6.11

Champs Elysées Gardens

I was invited to make a tour of the ”Jardins des Champs Elysées”, guided by a horticultural expert from the City of Paris. I was impressed by his knowledge, not only of trees and plants, but also about history in general and of course also about this park. I already made a post about these Gardens, but I felt I had to do one more now.

The Park, or the Garden, was designed already during the 17th century, by the same architect as for the Versailles Park, the Tuileries Gardens… André Le Nôtre. On the map we can see how it was planned and that this part of the Champs Elysées still more or less follows the same plan.
It took some time before these Gardens came into fashion. During the 19th century several theatres, restaurants and other establishments were created, some of which are still around. The major architect was Jacques Hittorff (I talked about him in a post about the Montmartre Cemetery), assisted by names like Alphand, Davioud… which we find linked to many spots in Paris, which I will not repeat here. You will even find the oldest existing Guignol theatre in Paris.
This vast green land is not so much visited; people mostly walk by on the avenue. I would say that it’s worth to deviate on one side or the the other … or both. It’s easy to find a calm place to sit down.
There are a number of fountains and statues around, celebrating Churchill, de Gaulle, Clemenceau, Pompidou, Alphonse Daudet, Jean Moulin, Jacques Cartier, Alfred de Musset…
But… the purpose of the visit was to explore the great horticultural variety. The excellent guide was able to make a speech about each plant and tree… I will not repeat the details here (and I took no notes). So, I will just show you some of the trees….
… and some of the plants. (Please note the little bee coming in for landing on the first photo.)

27 comments:

Starman said...

I can't distinguish one tree from any other.

Olivier said...

nous sommes tous les deux dans de grands et magnifiques jardins. Superbe, on doit passer de bon moment dans ce jardin

French Girl in Seattle said...

Bonjour Peter,
I lived in Paris for 10 years and visit back once a year. I never enjoyed spending too much time on the Champs-Elysees, except in the lower section of the avenue. Now I know why, although I must confess I have never really taken the time to explore these beautiful gardens. Will do so on my next visit. Merci, from Veronique, aka French Girl in Seattle. www.frenchgirlinseattle.blogspot.com

Pierre BOYER said...

Superbe !
Merci beaucoup...

Pierre

Virginia said...

1. I did note the bee coming in for a landing and am very impressed with your macro skills!:)
2. Magnolias in Paris? I never knew that you Parisians "stole" our prize tree from Alabama.
3. I'll have you know I think i"ve been in that park. That yellow "building' looks very familiar.

Great post Peter. Next trip I'll take another side trip there. With all the tourists there in summer, one might hide away from them here!
V

Studio at the Farm said...

Peter, you are an artist! Your photos are magnificent! And what a beautiful garden!!

Maria O. Russell said...

Peter, some of your photos of the flowers remind me of Redoute´s watercolors for Josephine.

Thank you so much!

anla said...

will visit these gardens when I arrive Paris, but not on sunday 24/7 !

Delphinium said...

ahhhhhh c'est maya l'abeille!!!
J'en suis sûre. Et tous ces mecs pétrifiés dans ces jardins, zont la belle vie. Non?
Allez, j'ai un petit cadeau pour toi chez moi. A bientôt. Bises

Synne said...

Such variety, how colourful and inspiring!

Kate said...

Parks and gardens with their lush foliage, flowers, monuments and open spaces tend to civilize us! You captured many fine examples of all of these.

Shammickite said...

Only one word to say.... gorgeous.
I walked through this garedn when I was in Paris 5 years ago.
It was gorgous then too!
Thank you for the pictures, Peter.

Catherine said...

what a stunning visual post and how interesting to learn all the horticultural details!! wonderful! Greetings from Mexico....

Thérèse said...

Encore un superbe billet. Les souvenirs affluent. J'y passais souvent donc je suis de ceux qui faisaient facilement le détour, les jours de grèves en particulier... les marmitons du Pavillon Lenôtre étaient souvent à la fenêtre des cuisines... et les clochards, tels qu'on les appelait, allongés sur les bancs...

Jeanie said...

Oh, Peter, I can see why you were so eager to visit -- what a terrific guide, and as always, your photos are the best!

Macabre Kitty (Sara) said...

Amazing (as usual) Post!!

Amanda said...

I have never taken the time to actually visit this park. Such a shame as it is beautiful, but happy you are doing it for us.

caterpillar said...

Such beautiful pictures...and so much greenery...very pleasing to the eyes.

claude said...

Je connais un de ces jardins, celui près du Théâtre Marigny. J'y allais y casser la croûte quand je travaillais rue du Cirque près de la place Franklin Roosevelt.
Mon Pépé nous emmenait voir Guignol.
Ah ! Que de souvenirs !
Magnifique post, Peter !

M said...

Peter, Merci for taking me along on this delightful journey. The photos are wonderful -- love the little bee!! I am longing to stroll in this garden's coolness -- it's already blistering hot here in Houston -- we hit 100 today! Bises, Marie

hpy said...

Oeillet de poète, fleur de la passion, fuchsia, rose, digitale, kniphofia....
Bon weekend!

Vagabonde said...

I remember these gardens – I worked rue Lincoln near the corner of the Champs-Elysées and used to walk down there to meet my boyfriend. They are near le Rond Point des Champs Elysées, non? Beautiful pictures Peter. I hope the gardens are not hurting too much for lack of rain. How great to have been in the garden with an expert – it must have been so enlightening.

Parisbreakfasts said...

I love the de Gaulle statue...
Is Lenotre's main headquarters situated here as well?
Paris had endless parks.
New York does not.

Anonymous said...

This garden looks simply perfect. I will visit and explore one day!

nathalie said...

Un endroit facile à découvrir pour les touristes qui descendent les champs-élysées, et tu en as fait un vrai jardin botanique !

J'adore ton soldat (Clémenceau?) émergeant d'un pas décidé des eaux de la cascade. C'est ta meilleure photo à mon avis, je la trouve vraiment créative !

arabesque said...

sorry, but i'm just scared of bees,
like cockroaches, i get freaked out. ^0^
beautiful fotos peter, what a cool way to spend your lazy afternoon. ^0^

Trotter said...

It must have been a fabulous tour!!