I have written plenty on my backyard garden for several years, the Jardin des Tuileries, I took this nostalgic post to update text links using old pictures, Many come for exciting and impressive buildings and expositions, but to me the real beauty of Paris lies in its streets and architectures, the bohemian look at the places, the wrinkle in the eye, and the km of wonderful walk in street or garden areas. One of my favorites of all time is the Jardin des Tuileries, and would like to take you on a tour around and close to it. Sit back and enjoy my eternal Paris !
The Jardin des Tuileries is located in the 1éme arrondissement of Paris, and was created in the 16C. It is the oldest and largest garden in Paris, It is, in fact, at the crossroads of the Louvre Palace/Museum, the Place de la Concorde, the Seine river, and the rue de Rivoli. Right along the Terrasse des Feuillants exit onto rue de Rivoli It was the grand design of king Henri IV who wanted to link the Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries (today gone due to the communards of 1871) . It is 27 hectares or 66.7acres full of history and beauty. In or around it ,you have the Carrousel was in honor of the son of king Louis XIV of which a great feast was held here with a horse race. It was eventually done as an arch by Napoleon I in 1806 to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz in 1805. This is the wonderful Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
Right at its Marsan wing of the Louvre museum you have from 1905 the musée des Arts Décoratifs,(see post) It has 9 levels of exhibition showing work from the middle ages to our days. Objects from Sévres and Meissen as well as a room from the hôtel de Serres of the 18C. In the Pavillon Marsan (the one link to the previous palais des tuileries) you have two more museums; In the first and second floor you have the musée de la Mode et du Textile, fashion and fabric museum with dresses going back to the 14C. At the third floor you have the Musée de la Publicité or marketing/commercials. Dont missed to see in the second floor (3fl US) the galerie des Bijoux or about 800 pieces of jewerly of the best creators from the world over.
Descend now to the glorious gardens ,Jardin des Tuileries, it look like in the 17C all reminders of the Second Empire period (Napoleon III) . They look just like André Le Nôtre the gardener envision it. It was shortly on july 1559 after the sudden death of king Henri II that his wife Catherine de Médicis ordered build a palace, work began in 1564 on the verge of the old tuileries (this was a roof tile maker outfit on the bank of the river Seine in the middle ages, the tiles were use for the Louvre and others, then it disappeared to make room for the palace and garden hence the name Tuileries =rooftiles). The garden at its time was considered the prettiest in the West, done 500 by 300 meters (1650 x990 feet). So in 1789 king Louis XVI left Versailles for this palace. it was the seat of the royals in the restauration period and the second empire periods. Napoleon III ordered built two building at the west of the garden, the Orangerie (1853) and Jeu de Paume (1862) both now museums. In March 28 ,1871 the communard set fire on the palace des tuileries and the city of Paris razed it down in 1883. Now you see the terrace between the building or pavillon Flore and Marsan that link it to the Louvre.
You come out into the Grand carré, geometric parcels of garden in the central alley and two small fountains on the sides. It is here that was the center of Le Nôtre ‘s garden. Royal gardener Le Nôtre carefully studied painting and optical effects to redesign the Grand Carré, which is remarkable for its play on perspective. He corrected the distortion due to the distance by shifting towards the East the small round basins of the reserved gardens, located to the left and to the right of the round basin (on the Place du Carrousel side), which seems much larger than the Octagonal Basin while it is twice as small ! In the center of the Jardin des Tuileries, stands the octagonal Basin, near which chairs have been placed so that you can rest, read, chat, and even sunbathe! You can also daydream and stroll on the Terrasse du Bord de l’Eau or Waterfront Terrace which overlooks the elegant Orangerie museum , building and borders the Seine river ! The tree lined part is the Grand Couvert with some sculptures including bronzes by Rodin,the Grand Bassin or fountain is surrounded by sculptures as it was in Le Notre’s time as well. At the south of the jardin des tuileries you will see the new passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor (old pont de sulférino) , a bridge of 106 meters (350 feet) allowing pedestrians to go from the museum of Louvre to the Orsay. Right underneath the passarelle next to the river, you have a grill doors against the wall that remind you of the passage in the “Les Misérables” of Victor Hugo. At the other extreme you have the Pont de la Concorde (1791) that was widen from 14 meters to 35 meters in 1931. passing under the bridge the river bergers that goes to the level of the quai de la conference or the cours de la reine began here at the southwest angle of the place de la Concorde.
The large octagonal pool located near the Pont de la Concorde gate is the largest of all the pools in the Jardin des Tuileries. It is adorned with a powerful central jet that reaches 12 meters high and eight inclined jets placed in each of the angles of the octagon. Located at the other end of the park near the Louvre, a large round pool has a basin supported by four consoles. It is a privileged place for children who take great joy in sailing the small sailing boats. Two smaller round waterholes are found on the surrounding lawns. The statue of the Tigress bringing a peacock to her ; work by Auguste Cain dating from 1873, decorates the surroundings of the small round basin located on the south side, The small round basin on the north side faces the Marsan pavilion of the Louvre. It is the statue of the Tiger slaying a crocodile sculpted by Auguste Caïn in 1873, which marks this place.The two rectangular basins, the one on the north side and the one on the south side, are decorated with copies of two statues representing Atalanta and Hippomenes. The works were commissioned by Louis XIV to decorate the park of the Château de Marly. After the destruction of the Château de Marly, they were placed in the garden of the Tuileries Palace(also gone). They are respective works of Pierre Lepautre and Guillaume Coustou (father) dating from 1705. The originals are exhibited at the Louvre Museum . The basin located to the north also hosts in its round part the statue of the Faun with a kid, the work of Pierre Lepautre from 1685.
Entering the garden from the place de la Concorde you will see right away the equetrian statue of Coysevox brough from Marly-le-roi (78) in 1719. These are imitations the original ones are in the Louvre. By your left going in,you see statues by Paul Belmondo (brother of actor Jean Paul Belmondo) and a statue of Charles Perrault because it was this famous actor of children stories who we owe the opening of the jardin des tuileries to the public. Afterward, you can indulge in my favorite cafe, the Cafe L’Imperiale (see post) at rue de Rivoli. A must hangout for many years including now.
The Paris tourist office on the Jardin des Tuileries : https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71304/Jardin-des-Tuileries
The city of Paris on the Jardin des Tuileries: https://www.paris.fr/lieux/jardin-des-tuileries-1795
There you go folks, awonderful, sublime Jardin des Tuileries in my eternal Paris, a must to visit while in Paris. I have enjoyed over the years my walks and road warrior rides around these places and each time is like the first time on them ! Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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