Orangerie and Musée du Luxembourg

Entry 19 Rue de Vaugirard, 6th,M° Odéon,
Paris
IIe-de-France
France
01 42 34 25 95

http://www.museums-of-paris.com

Type: Museum
Addmission Fee: Entry Euro 9, Euro 6 for visitors 13-25, Euro 4 for kids ages eight to 12. Audio guide in English is Euro 4.50.
Hours: Open Friday through Monday, 11am to 10:30pm; Tuesday through Thursday, 11am to 7pm

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Pass around the east side of the theater to the entrance of the Jardins du Luxembourg (Rue de Vaugirard, 6th,M° Odéon). This was originally the private garden of Marie de Medicis’ Palais du Luxembourg, built in 1615 after the death of her husband Henri IV. Shortly after moving in she had a fallout with Richelieu over the Franco-Spanish alliance and was banished to Cologne, where she died penniless. The formal garden, tended by a nearby monastery until the Revolution, features a statuary (including a gallery of French queens) surrounding the main fountain, and the dramatic Fontaine de Medicis dating back to 1624. Around the edges of the garden are winding English-style paths (find the hidden mini Statue of Liberty), bee houses and trained fruit trees. Open to the public since Napoleon’s reign, the gardens are among the most popular in Paris. For kids there are pony rides, playgrounds, marionnettes, and a large basin where they can push around rented toy sailboats. Adults come to relax in the armchairs, enjoy a coffee in the garden café, or get in a bit of jogging. There are also open-air theater productions, free musical concerts, and temporary arts exhibitions held throughout the year. The queen’s Italian- style palace is now home to the French Senate (www.senat.fr), which oversees prominent arts and culture exhibitions in the Orangerie and Musée du Luxembourg.