Hello again! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed my last post. It’s been quite a packed week for me, so I’ve got a lot to catch you all up on. Unlike most of my last posts, this time, I decided to go into Paris solo. I’ve got to say, although going places with friends is nice, there is a certain joy to be had in being able to take things at your own pace without worrying about staying with the group or what you all will be doing afterwards. That feeling was definitely appreciated considering what I decided to do this week. My trips this time happened on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, I decided to visit the Jardins de Luxembourg and the Panthéon, both of which are extremely close to each other (you can literally see them across the street from each other). I decided to start with the gardens, in order to profit from the sun while it was still up. The gardens are home to many statues, sculptures, fountains, and, of course, neatly trimmed bushes and trees that really shows the French style of garden layout and gives the place a very orderly and methodical feel. The sculptures and other art pieces meld with the vegetation wonderfully, too. There are plenty of statues or other oddities obscured by trees or bushes, and it was a really cool aesthetic to see a sculpture half consumed by greenery. Even when an art piece wasn’t half taken over by plants, the interplay between the two was still gorgeous. My favorite example of this was the Medici Fountain. This colossal fountain is beautiful enough on its own, but with the trees and hedges that surround it, it really starts to feel like an organic part of the landscape. The fountain also has quite a lot of historical significance, too. Originally ordered by Marie de’ Medici, a queen of France (alive in the 1600s), for her personal castle, it eventually fell into disrepair after her death. Later on in the 1800s, due to road construction, the fountain was moved to its current location and redesigned. Now a beautiful sculpture sits in the middle depicting the Greek myth of Galatea, where, as Galatea and her lover Acis sit under a rock, the cyclops Polyphemus, sculpted in bronze, gets ready to take out his rival and win Galatea’s affection. But it doesn’t stop there! On the back, there is actually a second, hidden fountain, taken from another location. This fountain, depicting the Greek myth of Leda, was also moved here and added to the back of the Medici Fountain due to road construction.
The gardens are also the location of the French senate, where laws are drafted and passed. Considering my major, this was a really cool sight for me. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow visitors inside, which was a bummer. I’m actually kind of jealous of the senators that work here, as being able to spend the entire day within and around the senate building must be nice! On another note, it seems like I’ve gone a bit overboard on my description of the gardens. Guess you all will have to wait to see what the Panthéon has to offer!
