Paris Focus: Jardin des Plantes

The final post in my Paris series is another short walk in the 5th Arrondissement, taking in the markets and food shops along Rue Mouffetard en route to the Jardin des Plantes, a 400-year-old garden of science.

Our walk began at the Fountain of Guy Lartigue after exiting the Metro at Les Gobelins a short stroll away. First had to be the Rue Mouffetard market and a look at the lovely buildings in this area.

At the far end of the road we reached Place de la Contrescarpe and turned right onto Rue Lacépède. Crossing over Rue Monge, a busy road, we continued along

Rue Lacépède, stopping every now and then to photograph interesting shops and buildings. The lovely wrought-iron balconies a particular favourite of mine.

Practically at the end of the road we turned right again along Rue de Quatrefages as we were keen to have a look at the Grand Mosque of Paris along this street. The marble mosque with ornate square minaret, emerald-tiled courtyard & gardens, is rather beautiful. You could also go on guided tours, but we didn’t have time to do that and I’m not sure these are available today.

Opposite the mosque is a lovely little garden with a marble fountain.

We turned left onto Rue Daubenton alongside the mosque and entered into the Botanic Gardens or Garden of Plants – the literal translation from the French.

There is a Natural History Museum and the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology just inside the gates and also a zoo. We simply strolled through the gardens looking at the many sculptures and looking for flowers, of which there were few. Not quite like Kew Gardens in London.

There are two magnificent iron structured glasshouses that were unfortunately not open to the public.

Getting weary at last, we left and made our way to Place Monge to get a metro train back to Place d’Italie where we were staying for the week.

I hope you have enjoyed my reminisces of Paris. It is certainly a city that offers a lot more than the usual tourist places if you seek them out. The next city I will be having a closer look at is Lisbon in a couple of months time.

Jo’s Walks

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

26 thoughts on “Paris Focus: Jardin des Plantes”

  1. Just fabulous, Jude. I enjoyed your photography and what’s not to admire about Paris. I see London is now the top tourist destination now and not Paris. Go figure 🤔

    1. There are some lovely parts of London and the parks of course. Not a city I know though I did enjoy a few days wandering around there several years ago. All too frantic for me now.

  2. I’m going to linger by that fountain a while, Jude. I always like mosaics. 🙂 🙂 Many thanks for thinking of me. Have a good Sunday!

    1. Not a bad place to linger. Off to do some more gardening now, trying to sort out my Cornish hedge which is full of grass, nettles and brambles 😦

      1. Sounds grim! Being seriously indulgent in a roof top restaurant in Faro. Left the hire car at the airport. Train home and a bit of a wander to loose the calories 😎🌷🍰🍓🍹💖

  3. A lovely way to finish off, Jude. Such a French feel to those streets, they couldn’t be in any other city.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

  4. So beautiful, wonderful walk. Feel like you discovered the real Paris, cannot wait to see what you do in Lisboa 😊

  5. Wonderful walk and shots. I was in Paris in late September and it was all Autumn. Good to see some familiar streets.

      1. Thanks, Jude. You’re right, not long now. I am pretty much ready, and so waiting four more days gives me too much time on my hands to think of more things I might need!

  7. I would love to return to Paris and spend more time wandering, just like you did. Last time it was at the end of five weeks and we were a little tired. Next time we should go at the start of our trip.

    1. Cities can be very tiring, all that pavement walking. I simply chose a different area each day to explore and took the metro to the start.

        1. Very true! I thought I had comfortable shoes on for London, but my feet ached badly after one day!

  8. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Dramatic skies over Querença | restlessjo

  10. Paris -La Ville lumière, is one of my favorite city. I have been there many times. Great post. I do love it.

    Thank you.

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