Paris can really show off about its wide variety of parks, ranging from the very largest to the smallest. One could have never imagined that the city of Paris would have so much green and open space throughout. Most parts of Paris have at least one park or square, whether it is just a small pool with surrounding trees or a huge park of several hundred acres.
Paris is not famous for its 400 gardens and parks. Though it should be as the Town has an army of gardeners at Notre-Dame who plant,change and manage several tons of flowers throughout the capital. Each small piece of grass is looked after with care.Paris has 2 large green areas - Bois de Boulogne at the West and Bois de Vincennes at the East. There are within the city several large gardens - Buttes Chaumont, Luxembourg, Montsouris, Tuileries, plenty of average dimensions (Monceau, Champs Elysées, Trinité,) and numerous small size gardens but always pretty.
A spectacular variety of gardens with unexpected gardens ranging from the Romantic Parc Monceau to the ultramodern Parc André Citroen and the Jardin d'Atlantique on the roof of a busy train station. Not to be forgotten is Paris's answer to the hanging gardens of Babylon, the innovative "planted promenade," which was built above an abandoned viaduct. Or if one is looking to discover more traditional formal gardens - the elegant Rose garden of Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne with its prize-winning roses, or the Luxembourg Gardens that were created by the Queen Catherine de Medicis are the places to visit.
A city of cities – and a city of parks - Paris is full of green glimpses and in the parks ease of access has usually been successfully incorporated in the larger whole – with some exceptions. This is the tale of a trip along "Le Grand Axe" and visits to some other city parks. Planned by the landscape architect, Le Nôtre, as early as the 17th century, Le Grand Axe emerges from the courtyard of the Louvre and ends eight kilometers to the north-west, in the suburb of La Défense.
From the small triumphal arch in the Louvre courtyard, the Arc du Carrousel, the axis goes through the Gardens of the Tuileries, which complies with Le Nôtre's 1664 plan in a slightly modernized version, with its trim lawns, wide paths of white gravel and long rows of chestnut trees? The Tuileries Gardens are the oldest park in Paris and rank with the Luxembourg Gardens as the city's classic gardens. Convenience of way is excellent in both gardens.
Napoleon's Triumphal Way is the axis which crosses Place de la Con-corde and continues along Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris' most fashionable shopping street. The paving of this 71 meter wide thoroughfare has recently been renovated and all the street furniture gathered within defined spaces, away from the walking areas. At the end of the Champs-Elysées, at Place Charles de Gaulle (the Etoile), stands the celebrated Arc de Triomphe.
In several of Paris' new parks, efforts have been made to incorporate accessibility in the architectural considerations from the planning stage. Rails, ramps, skid-proof coatings and lifts have become integrated parts of a harmonious whole.
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