As I’ve said before, I don’t really do cafés. I mean, I like them and all, but I don’t have a favorite where I spend my afternoons with café crème scribbling in a notebook. But I do have a favorite garden, the Jardins du Palais Royal, and one of my quintessential Parisian indulgences, when I have a rare free moment, is to recline in one of the garden’s metal lounge chairs on a sunny day, feet up on the edge of the fountain. All of the Paris parks have these chairs, some that are reclined, some with arms, some just simple chairs that you can move around to get the preferred sunny or shady spot. But Palais Royal’s gardens are surrounded by arcaded shopping galleries, not streets full of noisy, smelly traffic. Pure bliss.
And the window shopping isn’t bad. I particularly am fond of the Prince Jardinier boutique, so was disturbed to see they are temporarily closed after a fire. The online boutique is still open, though, and wouldn’t you know it, they are selling authentic Paris park chairs, rescued by the Prince Jardinier from "retirement" in the local dump, and given a good scrub and paint job.
No, they are not cheap; the reclining chair, my preferred, is €495. But where else can you get an authentic piece of Parisian history for so little? Until I can afford one of the little apartments above the shopping arcades with a view of the gardens, then a chair will do just fine…
check out http://www.fermob.com/en/private/products/seats/Luxembourg/Stacking-low-armchair-4104.htmlfor beautiful chairs! can be bought in the enchanting garden store in rue de medicis next to jardin du luxembourg. a little bit of paris in your garden
Being a devout francophile, I loved the fact that one can purchase a luxenbourg chair….till I saw that price! I was thinking that perhaps they should offer some dirt or a patch of grass with it…or maybe IKEA will have them soon for $50!
The palais royal, it’s a magic place and it has always been.On 3 July 1778, shortly after his mother had passed away in her apartment in rue de Sentier, W.A.Mozart wrote in a letter to his father that his Parisian symphony has been a great success. He was so happy about it that he came to the palais royal and had some wonderful ice cream.