Paris Walks : Tuileries Gardens to Place Concorde

From the Tuileries Gardens to Place de la Concorde:

From a royal playground to the people’s park, and a scenery fit for Kings!

Which other public garden can claim to extend all the way from the most famous museum in the world (the Louvre) to an internationally renowned example of urban planning (the Place de la Concorde)?

Born in the mid-1550’s of the longings of a homesick Italian Queen Mother, Catherine de Medicis, and redesigned hundreds of times throughout the centuries, following every latest gardening trend or ambitious botanical project, the Tuileries Gardens are inexorably linked to the history of a city that can boast only a very few green spaces.

Known for being the breathing space for Parisians of the Right Bank, the Tuileries have a long and animated history that follows the succession of regimes, illustrates ideals of landscaping and design, and reflects customs and fashions throughout the ages.

Strolling through the Tuileries’ many allées and groves, exploring the different levels and their origins, examining the urban furniture designs, and evoking the many transformations and uses of the celebrated ponds, we’ll try not to disturb Monsieur Le Notre as he directs his team of gardeners, surely come across the ghosts of Henri IVand Louis XIV.

In this splendid setting, we’ll cheer thrilled - just like Marie-Antoinette - the first ever hot air balloon flight! We’ll later watch Louis XVI’s young Dauphin skipping along on his daily promenade, before witnessing Tuileries’s directly connected to turbulent incidents and terrifying events in the Revolution, followed by grandiose yet totally confusing celebrations.

Keeping away from Empress Eugenie’s private enclave, we’ll mingle in our imagination with the audience at a free concert, along with well-known figures like Manet, Baudelaire, Rossini or Fantin-Latour.

Every little boy and girl who's grown up in the City of Lights knows that running along the central path brings the visitor to the garden’s gates opening onto the majestic Place de la Concorde.

This miracle of urban planning conceived in the 1760s, not so much to flatter Louis XV - by that time a deeply unpopular monarch - as to glorify him, is a miracle of homogeneity considering the endless transformations it has endured throughout its turbulent history.

From a semi-deserted platform at the edge of the city to the home of the dreaded guillotine, and decorated in the 19th century with an obelisk - the most apolitical symbol possible to celebrate a new era - this world-famous and elegant Parisian square is gradually succumbing to such chaotic traffic that it is becoming almost impossible to admire its excellent design; yet the perfect layout of Place de la Concorde still allows us to witness how the places royalesrelated directly to the architectural conception of the new sections of Paris and its attempt to cope with the city's ever-growing population. What a perfect way to launch the year of wonderful tours that awaits us!

Time: 10.15 – 12.30 (Please meet at 10.00 sharp, visit will start promptly)

Place: Meet in front of the entrance to the Tuileries Metro.

Metro: Tuileries

Note: Comfortable walking shoes, a jacket and scarf, a small bottle of water and possibly an energy bare, are recommended.

Registration deadline: Thursday 23/09/21, Participation: 20 Euros

Suggestion: With all that walking ahead, you surely need the extra take-away coffee from “Welcome Café” (210, Rue de Rivoli 75001) just opposite from where we start our tour!

Lunch: Finally (!), a nice place to have lunch in the Tuileries Gardens: without hesitation head to “Rosa Bonheur la Crêperie” (just by the gardens’ gates) and enjoy breton chef Sylvain Guillot (2 Michelin stars) fabulously tasty creations