Luxembourg Gardens

If you've ever been to Florence, chances are you'll have flashbacks when visiting the Luxembourg Gardens. Inspired by the Boboli Garden, they were created for the Florentine queen Marie de Médicis. Half the garden is in the formal French style, and the other half in the English. Not half bad for a wannabe Italian garden, huh? The two halves are joined together by a large, beautiful basin. You'll also find an orchard, a rose garden and a puppet theater! There's even an orangery, a tradition among the Italian nobility, who built heated greenhouses to grow citrus fruits in winter. Marie de Médicis was looking for a place where she could enjoy life and unwind, well away from the intrigues of the court and the hustle and bustle of the Louvre. Her initial plan was to expand the garden, but the Carthusian monks refused to sell their land. So she focused on landscaping instead! As you stroll along the paths, you'll come across the beautiful Medici fountain and 102 statues, including the “20 Queens of France and Illustrious Women” statues, and a miniature replica of the famous Statue of Liberty! You'll also find beehives, installed here in 1854 to teach new beekeeping techniques. They're still in use today. As for the bandstand, it dates back to 1888 and still hosts a variety of concerts. While you're here, be sure to visit the Musée du Luxembourg, France's first public museum. Originally housing classical works by Rubens, De Vinci and Rembrandt, it is now a museum of contemporary art, hosting two exhibitions a year. These center around twentieth-century painting, photography and women artists. You'll find the museum at the park's northern entrance, on rue de Vaugirard.