Extending from the Musée du Louvre along the Right Bank of the Seine all the way to the Place de la Concorde and the beginning of the avenue de Champs-Élysées (map), the Jardin des Tuileries remembers something that used to be.

The Palais des Tuileries, of which this was the palace grounds, is long gone, but the broad gardens with rows of trees, pools and walkways, dusty avenues, flower beds and playing fountains, live on.

If you've seen a photo of Parisian children sailing boats in a pool, it was probably here. If you've seen a photo of people sitting in wire chairs beneath a tree dozing, reading, embracing, it was probably here.

The Jardin des Tuileries is not nearly so lush and green as the Jardin du Luxembourg, but it is vast and central, and therefore always busy with Parisians, but plenty big for everyone—including you.

Queen Catherine de Medici had the first palace and gardens built, starting in 1561. Louis XIV commissioned the landscaper, André le Nôtre (also known for his work at Versailles), to design a new palace park in 1666.

At the western end of the park near the Place de la Concorde are two outstanding art museums: the Musée de l'Orangerie, with Monet's water lilies and the Walter-Guillaume collection of French Impressionist paintings, and the Jeu de Paume, a space for changing exhibits of photography and other contemporary images.

Also at the western end is a statue to Le Nôtre, describing him as the "Author of these gardens and those of Versailles, Chantilly, Saint Cloud, Meudon, and the most beautiful parks of France."

Another interesting plaque honors the location of the first hot air balloon flight, on December 1, 1783.

Throughout the Tuileries you will find an assortment of restaurants for lunch or tea, and many take-away food offerings.

Jardin des Tuileries
rue de Rivoli, from Place du Carrousel to Place de la Concorde

Métro: Place de la Concorde, Tuileries or Palais Royale-Musée du Louvre