Paris, France: The Ugly Side of Luxembourg Gardens
After touring around the Tour Montparnasse and hunting for ghosts around the Catacombs of Paris, the seemingly practical thing to do is to take a short stroll around the illustrious Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg), which is only less than a mile from these two places. Located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, the name Luxembourg comes from the Latin Mons Lucotitius, the name of the hill where the garden is located. It’s so popular, and so overpopulated with people and tourists, it’s hard to imagine how “ugly” the place can be. What I’ve found out is that, despite all its features, and famed corners with beautiful garden greeneries, there’s somewhat of a slightly ugly side to it that only happens during rainy times.

I know it’s hard to comprehend the idea of “ugly”, especially since the gardens, which cover at least 25 hectares of land, and split into French and English gardens here in the Luxembourg Gardens are really amazing; but, I found it ugly, because the time that I was there, it was damp, dirty, and leafless. I know, it’s shallow and a bit too much to use “ugly” as a description, but the filtered dream state of how I felt it should have looked is quite different from how it is realistically. The imposing geometric forest, large pond, and a greenhouse, not to mention, the gardens, were covered with gray afternoon rain that I was left thwarted with anxiety and waiting.

No chance to take photos of the apples, orchids, roses, and maybe the statues? I didn’t miss seeing the monumental Medici fountain, the Orangerie and the Pavillon Davioud, but I was not able to take a good look at it, and much more take photos or videos, because the rain was so generous that week that everything and everyone on plain sight looked drenched. I heard that on a sunny day, there are many activities and facilities for everyone, even children, to enjoy. There are cultural programmes, exhibitions, and festivals that are held here, but sadly, the rainout was so intense, all that’s left to do was to stand and wait and leave. Yes, in that order.

So, maybe I am exaggerating a tad bit, because I was able to take photos, actually. Videos, not so much. But in any case, if you are interested to see how it looks like when it’s raining, here are they. It isn’t too ugly, or dull, or dim, but maybe because the place is just being its Parisian way, very appealing (still). So, let’s all enjoy it at the comfort of our dry laptops haha! :-)

Address: 75006 Paris, France
Construction started: 1612
Phone: +33 1 42 34 20 00
Did you know: The Luxembourg Gardens were created in 1612 by Queen Marie de Medici, inspired by the famous gardens in Florence.

Chantilly neighboring Paris, France

So while there are actually a lot of pretty popular places to go try as a daytrip, when in Paris, Chantilly is one of the most quiet yet charming places that you’ll be able to find and experience. This quaint old town, which is only just around 50 kilometers north of Paris city, is about an hour of travel time via a train. Lying in the Parisian basin, Chantilly is reachable via a direct train ride from Paris, and once you reach the train station, you’re up for a treat for sure! Surrounded by the iconic Chantilly Forest, you’ll be welcomed by this homey yet weirdly TV-series worthy type of atmosphere. Surprisingly, this beautiful town has roughly around 11,000+ inhabitants only, can you believe that? Yes, this is such place. Nevertheless, don’t be fooled by how small and seemingly unobtrusive the area is, there’s certainly more than a handful of top sights to experience!

Early morning, just a few minutes after eight in the morning, we started walking towards the Gare Du Nord station to buy our train tickets to Chantilly. Surprisingly, they have regular schedules going to this area of France, and tickets aren’t selling like hot pancakes. People are so used to visiting Versailles, so I guess this is the reason why they aren’t choosing Chantilly as their first choice. However, if you grew up with a dad who is fond of stallions, horse-raising, and anything related to horses, you’ll take note of this city for sure. Fun fact: did you know that Chantilly is known to be the home to France’s Living Museum of the Horse, where you can find actual stables built by the Princes of Conde. In fact, it’s big and real enough to house the largest racehorse-training community in France. Places like the Château de Chantilly would be found near the museum, so you have to see it!

What I find kind of funny is the fact that you know that you’re quite near the area if you start smelling horse droppings. Yep, true! Growing up in a household with pet dogs, of course I am used to these kinds of smells. So, I thought it was funny seeing the tourist visitors suddenly scratching their noses and pulling out their handkerchief arsenals to protect them from the powerful horse perfume. Hahaha! Well, admittedly, the place is very clean, but of course, just like having a pet (in this case, a huge one!), you’re bound to have that kind of aroma therapy. The horses here are very clean and seems to be domesticated; nevertheless, if you’re a bit specific on the smell, then you wouldn’t want to gallop directly to this place anytime soon. Of course, the Château de Chantilly is rather clean and does not smell a thing!     

After spending more than a couple of hours walking around Chantilly, we found ourselves venturing into this truly opulent chateau with a major art collection, equine museum & gardens known as the Château de Chantilly. It’s a very impressive place, with almost unlimited collection of art related to horses, with available free audio guides in different languages. What I enjoyed the most about this Château de Chantilly is their unbelievable library that could rival your dreams and imaginations of what a beautiful library should look like. Overall, it is a very huge venue to enjoy, so it’s definitely a good day trip place, as an alternative to Versailles. Now, on to the photos! Do you like places like this one?