Jardin des Plantes in Paris

It's nowhere near as pretty, but at one end, there are interesting museums.

I saw a lot of gardens my few days in Paris, but will admit I had to give this one a miss. Now after 12 years I can't remember if it was by choice or not having heard about it. There are so many gardens in the city, it's hard to choose. Next time.

I loved the Jardin des Plantes. Smaller than the other popular gardens in Paris but I found it very helpful in identifying flowers and plants because many of them are marked with signs, more a botanical garden than a pleasure garden. I was there for about an hour to get some outdoor time before spending a few hours in a museum. An hour was plenty of time there.

Oh, I love this one! I can never quite see what people see in Lux. Gardens, lol!

It has several separate areas. I usually come in the Arboretum end which is closest to the Metro station Jussieu. This is also the entrance where there is a cool scupture of a Lion eating a man's foot.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lion-of-the-botanical-gardens

There are some neat old trees in this area but you may be less impressed since you've got the old arboretum type gardens in England. Here in Idaho we've got 500 year old trees but you have to go out into the woods to find them, lol!

I love the Alpine Garden there but do check to see what days it is open. There are also some days it is open free of charge, some days you pay (weekends a charge, I think) and some days completely closed. I visited the Iris garden one year in April and it was stunning. The demo gardens are lovely and interesting. I've come across painting and drawing classes sitting in some of the areas which is always interesting.

I've never gone into any of the buildings there nor the zoo part (seems to be very popular with French schools), just wandered around the garden areas.

I don't think their map is particularly good but this part of their website gives better descriptions of what you can see. I've looked at it online but then while there I could never find a place to pick one up doubtlessly hindered by my awful skills in the French language.

https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/en/activities-events/galleries-gardens-zoo-libraries/jardin-plantes-garden-plants-2921

It has some wonderful flowering trees as well....went in March 2019 (wow that was a LONG time ago!!) and the flowering plums were full and just beautiful!

For those who haven't been to the Arène du Lutèce, it's nearby and easy to divert to if you are coming off the Jussieu Metro. I usually walk thru Jardin des Plantes to the Seine, then head along the Sculpture Garden along the river or walk along the sidewalk back toward Notre Dame.

The Jardin des Plantes has had some winter temporary "light show" exhibits.
Corey Frye did a live video walk through it last year (2019) and it looked spectacular.
You can find it on his YouTube channel (A French Frye in Paris) -- it's number 69.
I believe that he also has one from 2018 but I couldn't quickly find the episode number.

I love this garden. I think different seasons determine just how much you’ll enjoy it. The grounds are flat and you’re not covering huge territory like some other parks/gardens. It looks like there are several metro stops in close proximity. We use the Quai de la Rapée because my nephew lives right there and it was an easy walk from there.

One of these years we're going to have all the time we want in Paris, and see all the things we've missed on previous visits.

I've been there but it was a long time ago and I missed the lion eating the guy's foot (or about to eat it maybe). Another reason to return to Paris!

I think I read that the nearby museum has labels only in French. Is that also true of the plant labels outside? Could be one reason the J de P isn't mobbed by etrangers.

There is a lot to see at the Jardin des Plantes. Besides the gardens, there are greenhouses, the small zoo, and several fascinating components of the Museum of Natural History. As someone else has mentioned, it is more for locals and thus not very crowded. I have so far only visited a small portion, but hope to return. The Ménagerie is a well-run zoo (not a sad little zoo) that also features a number of interesting buildings, such as the art-deco-style structure that houses the big cats. It’s the second-oldest zoo in the world, started with animals from the king’s menagerie after the revolution. As a biologist, I also had to make a pilgrimage to the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology. Again, worth entering just to appreciate the building, but also a whole floor of skeletons of any animal you can imagine, and a whole floor of fossils and skeletons of prehistoric animals. The signs are in French, but it can all be enjoyed without reading them.

Food is available from stands near the zoo; I believe there is also a regular restaurant somewhere on the grounds. I will add that if you read “All the Light We Cannot See,” you might recall that Marie-Laure’s father was the locksmith at the Jardin des Plantes’ Museum of Natural History and that the jewel was held at the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology.

At the Jardin des Plantes, plant names are in Latin, serious enthusiasts will have no difficulty understanding the labels of which there are many.

I always thought that Jardin des Plantes was a rather odd name; don´t all gardens have plants? The name does not seem very descriptive. The gardens were first planted in the early 17th century for Henri XIII and were originally named the Jardin Royal des Plantes. Its purpose was to find and cultivate plants for healing and for medicinal purposes. After the Revolution, the word Royal was dropped which leaves us with the very common name we now have. Plantings are changed with the seasons so there is almost always something in bloom.

My favorite part has always been the Alpine Garden, once only attainable using the below grade entrance on the east side. Some years ago the city decided to charge for entering the Alpine Garden and access was changed to the south west corner. During slow visitor periods, no one is at the gate to sell tickets and you may freely enter. The garden itself is below grade in an effort to maintain cooler overall temperatures which more closely match those of the plantings original habitat. There are plant examples here that are not often seen elsewhere.

Another Parisian garden that is not well known, Albert Kahn, is easily reached by exiting the Jardin des Plantes at the southwest corner, making your way to Jussieu station and taking métro 10 to end point Boulogne Pont de St Cloud. Albert Kahn is next to this station. There is a small fee to enter but it´s one of the only places in Paris (actually I can´t think of another) where, in its Japanese garden, one can see mounds of blooming Kurume azaleas in early spring. There is also an espalier garden, with examples probably more extensive than those at the Jardin du Luxembourg, and an English garden. The English garden might surprise some; a traditional example and not of the style as conceived by well known landscape architects such as Capability Brown and Gertrude Jekyll.

Overall, Paris offers a great deal to garden loves. It would be easy to make a day visiting just these two gardens.

"I've been there but it was a long time ago and I missed the lion eating the guy's foot (or about to eat it maybe). Another reason to return to Paris!"

Dick, it's actually a bit hard to see as your view is from below the statue. I'm not sure how they got that picture on the Atlas Obscura site because that is not the view you get! You have to "know" what you are looking at to see it, if that makes sense!

We visited in late May, 2019. The newly planted annuals showed promise for later in the season when they filled out. The rose garden was absolutely lovely, and in full, fragrant bloom. It's not tiny by any means, but it still felt more intimate than Luxembourg.

Donna