Another day, another amazing park

The parks in Paris are astonishing.  Paris may not have enough public bathrooms to suit me, but the public parks continue to amaze me.  The old grand parks like the Tuileries and the Luxumbourg are kid friendly, charming, immiculately manicured, and a dream to visit.  But even the smaller ones dotted throughout the city are a joy.  All of the parks have playground equipment for the kids to enjoy and plenty of benches for parents to sit.  When it is nice weather outside, it is just heaven. 

We recently visited the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden).  This is one of Paris' oldest and most famous parks.  We had not been yet simply because I thought it would be packed with tourists.  But on a rare cab ride a couple of weeks ago, I saw that a fair had set up in the Tuileries, complete with bumper cars and a large ferris wheel.  Sounded like a fun outing for the kids so we went exporing...

First we came to a large octagonal pool with fountains jetting water everywhere.  Perfect spot to stop and have the kids' mid-morning snack.  When the breeze blew just right, the water sprayed a fine mist on us, which made Mary Martin giggle while she ate her goldfish.   

As I was sitting watching the water, I looked back to the grand entrance we came through and got this picture with the French flag (the tri colour) in the back. 

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You can see the classical statutes that flanked the entry way.  There are probably over 40 statutes like this in the park.  Just amazing.  I should probably be teaching the kids about who the statutes are and who made them, etc.  But here is what James wants to use them for, climbing: 

My apologies to the artist... 

Once James started climbing, it was time to find a playground or the fair with the ferris wheel.  We never even got there because we found the coolest playground I have seen in Paris so far.  A huge climbing structure with a wildflower garden underneath it, swings shaped like hammocks so that both kids can lie down in them, and double see-saws.  Just look as these smiles... 

We played in this park long enough we didn't even need to visit the ferris wheel.  This park definitely goes on the visit again list.  Here are a couple more shots I took as we walked out to go home. 



The park was originally designed for Louis the 14th.  When he moved his court to Versailles in 1682, however, it became one of the places to be seen in Paris.  It was named for the roof tile (tuiles) factories that used to ring around the park.  The tiles were fired in special kilns called tuileries, hence the name.