Each time we visit Paris, we stroll through the Tuileries Garden. Starting from the Cour Carrée of the Louvre, we head westward across the garden on our way to the Champs-Élysées, following the Historical Axis called “Voie Triomphale” by the French. Despite being one of the Parisians’ cherished gardens and a proud historic public park in France, why is the Tuileries Garden in danger?
The Tuileries Garden in Danger… of its success
The Tuileries Garden is located at the heart of Paris, between the prestigious Louvre Palace and the monumental square of Place de la Concorde. It stretches out over 23 hectares of greenery, planted with many trees and flowers.
The garden is an ideal place to rest after an extended visit inside the Louvre museum, where you can grab a chair for free and sit where you like next to one of the two basins or find a secluded spot from the busy central alley.
A garden laid by Le Nôtre
However, the Tuileries Garden appears to be in danger as it has become a victim of its immense popularity. The garden was initially laid out by the famous landscaper André Le Nôtre some 400 years ago, who also designed the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Chantilly and many more.
The garden architect could have never envisioned that his creation would eventually welcome 14 million visitors each year and several large-scale events such as the funfair of the Tuileries.
This great crowd is constantly walking on the alleys covered by “stabilisé”. This mixture of whitewash, gravel and sand invented by Le Nôtre is crushed by the steps of millions of people but also by the comings and goings of trucks used to set up events 120 days each year: fashion shows, tournaments, fairs…
White dust on your shoes!
This explains why your shoes become pretty dusty from the white gravel after a stroll in the garden. The white dust is a serious matter for the Louvre Palace and the Orangerie, where it enters the exhibition rooms. At the Orangerie, Monet’s amazing painting “Les Nymphéas” is cleaned once a week by a professional company to eliminate the “stabilisé” particles from the visitors’ shoes or the air-conditioning system.
The Louvre Museum in charge of the garden suggests reducing the gravel by extending green areas at 15 million euros. However, this project would go against the original plan of Le Nôtre and has caused scepticism amongst the experts.
For the moment, the best day to visit the Tuileries Garden is on a fair day without much wind… and a good piece of advice: refrain from using your best pair of shoes, as you would have to spend so much time cleaning them before entering one of the luxurious places along Rue de Rivoli!
Find out more!
- Discover the Jardin des Tuileries on the blog
- Enjoy the fun fair of the Tuileries in Summer!
- Unveil the ghost Palace of the Tuileries
- Explore the First arrondissement of Paris
- Read more about the Tuileries on Wikipedia
