….1615. Its nearly 60 acres are adorned with a forest of leafy trees, some 80 statues, two fountains, tennis and boules courts, and the largest playground in Paris (French kids play loud and rough). The focus of this grand space is the Grand Bassin, a pond encircled by chairs, the surface of which normally floats a fleet of toy sailboats. Palais du Luxembourg, with its weighty Tuscan columns, lords over north end gardens. Designed by the queen in the style of the Pitti Palace of her native Florence, the building has housed the French Senate for two centuries. The palace became a Nazi headquarters during WWII.

From the fountain, curve right around the balustrade above the pond and continue through the park to exit on west side at Rue de Fleurus.

… This swing through the gardens to the west gate follows the path of Hemingway after his divorce from Hadley in 1926, when, drunk and tearful, he pushed her possessions in a wheelbarrow to her new residence at 35 rue de Fleurus. At #27 on the same street is the home of Gertrude Stein from 1903 to 1938. This is where Matisse met Picasso, and artists from all walks of life considered themselves lucky to come and enjoy the converstation and perhaps enjoy a hash brownie baked by Alice B. Toklas.”

For more, consult page 55 and 56 in your copy of Paris’s best new photographic guide, No Worrries Paris.