Paris…

A stone’s throw from the Musée du Louvre lies the Palais-Royal and its central garden, which I think of as the quieter, more contemplative cousin of the Jardin des Tuileries. Though it serves as a public park, it feels intimate and restrained—a place to sit with a book or wander beneath the trees. Its serene simplicity is what draws me back time and time again.

I am always drawn to the backbone of good garden design: the underlying structure that endures through the seasons. There is something deeply satisfying about a scheme stripped back to its winter bones, where strong lines of trees and hedging stand firm, holding their ground until nature reawakens. Here, avenues of lime trees line the garden like sentries, offering dappled shade and the first fresh greens of spring.

After a stroll, linger in the shops and cafés that frame the garden, or step just beyond to the charming Place Colette. From a table at the ever-busy Café Nemours, a drink in hand, Parisian people-watching becomes an art form in itself.

View from the colonnade arcades that run along three sides of the garden.

The simple and elegant lime tree avenues.

Site plan showing the gardens re-design around 1674.

Cafe Nemours is situated by the entrance to the Palais-Royal