Amusement Parks and Museums in Paris
BOTANICAL GARDEN (JARDIN DES PLANTES)
Address: place Jardin des Plantes – 57, rue Cuvier, metro station Gare d’Austerlitz or Place Monge. Open 7.30 to 19.45.
Royal Garden of Medicinal Herbs and Plants, the oldest garden in Paris. Thanks to the work of 16th-century botanists and the design of Henry IV, it was inaugurated in 1626 under the auspices of Louis XIII by two royal physicians. The garden was intended to teach students medicine and was the first garden open to the public in Paris. In the 18th century, when interest in the natural sciences arose, the site became a center of learning under the leadership of Buffon, intendant of the garden from 1739 to 1788. He was assisted by the botanist Jussier and the natural scientist Daubenton. Setne-Hilaire, Lamarck, Tuin, Lacepede, Cuvier, Becherelli worked here.
the entrance is free
GRANDE GALERIE DE L’EVOLUTION DU MUSEUM D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE AT THE JARDIN DES PLANTES BOTANICAL GARDEN
Address: 57 rue Cuvier ou 38 rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, metro Monge or Jussieu, open from 10.00 to 18.00 all days of the week except Tuesday, on Thursdays until 22.00
The former zoological gallery of 1877 was closed in 1965. In 1994, an exhibition was opened, which was devoted to the theme of evolution in nature. Information about the Gallery is available on the website of the Museum of Natural History www.mnhn.fr, you can choose for yourself exactly those expositions that will be of interest to your children and you. Next to the Gallery of Evolution in the Botanical Garden Jardin des Plantes are the buildings of the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, the Gallery of Minerals and Geology, as well as a small zoo. By the way, please note that you can take pictures in this museum (only without a flash). It is forbidden to touch the exhibits with your hands, be sure to explain this to the children – they must definitely touch everything. Moreover, a real mammoth…
Entrance ticket – 7 euros, for preferential categories 5 euros.
LUXEMBOURG GARDEN (JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG)
Location: Notre-Dame-des-Champs metro station or RER station. Luxembourg,
open from 7.30 to 21.30 in summer, from 8.15 to 17.00 in winter
A huge national park that meets every day crowds of young people and students from the neighboring Latin Quarter.
After the death of her husband, Henry IV, in 1615, Marie de’ Medici, who could not get used to the atmosphere of the Louvre, decided to change it to a place that would somehow remind her of her native Florence. To this end, she acquired the estate of the Duke Francois of Luxembourg, whose name the garden received in the future, along with a vast plot of land, and commissioned the architect Salomon de Bros to build a palace, the appearance of which would resemble the Florentine palaces as much as possible.
He erects the Luxembourg Palace, whose garden becomes open to the public in 1778. During the Revolution, the garden is enlarged by the territories of the Carthusian monastery, which were nationalized and reaches the Observatory. Under Napoleon, it was decorated with a balustrade, a pond and an English garden. The garden becomes truly accessible to everyone only in 1820, when the future King Louis XVIII becomes its owner.
Now in the Luxembourg Gardens you can see a series of statues of the queens of France and famous women, walking along the park terrace, copies of the famous sculptures of Dalu, Rodin, Bourdelle, Zadkin. In small groves scattered throughout the park, you can see beautiful fountains and sculptural groups.
The park is a popular holiday destination for Parisian families, students from neighboring schools and sports enthusiasts, and provides a variety of leisure and sports opportunities. The southeastern part of the park looks like an amusement park. For the youngest visitors to the garden, there is the Guignol miniature theater built of stone, the main character of which is Petrushka, a small old children’s carousel, praised by Rilke. Ponies and carriages are offered for walks. For older children there is a playground. In addition, there are tennis and basketball courts, as well as a jeu de paume ball court, the forerunner of tennis. In the garden there is a covered chess court and a bocce (ball game) court.
However, the most popular and traditional entertainment in the Luxembourg Gardens remains the fountain in front of the palace facade, where many generations of children, as well as their parents, grandparents, launched their own or rented boats. The music pavilion near the main entrance from Boulevard Saint-Michel hosts open-air concerts. The outer side of the pavilion lattice is used for regular photo exhibitions.
