| Palais / Jardins du Luxembourg :
During the 19th century the palace was extensively remodeled: the garden facade was added (1836-41) by Alphonse de Gisors, and a cycle of paintings (1845-47) by Eugène Delacroix was added to the library. The building was a prison during the Revolution, used for the peace conference of 1946, and now houses the French Senate. The Luxembourg Palace in Paris, the first great example of French classical architecture during the 17th century, was the culmination of the long tradition of the chateau as a building type. It was commissioned in 1615 by Marie de Médicis, regent of France, for a site on the Left Bank then occupied by the Hôtel du Luxembourg, from which the name was derived. The regent favored an Italianate structure modeled after Palazzo Pitti in her native Florence, but the architect Salomon de Brosse followed a typically French layout of wings surrounding a court, with the chief living quarters and chapel facing the garden. The west wing was the original site of the paintings (1622-25; Louvre, Paris) by Peter Paul Rubens depicting the regent's life. Designed by architect Salomon de Brosse as a Florentine palace for Marie de Medicis, built in the years 1615-1627 and surrounded by sumptuous gardens, the Palais also once served as a prison, and currently houses the Senate. Paintings by Rubens and Eugène Delacroix embellish the large gallery and the library.
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A real Parisian
favorite, the Jardin du Luxembourg is a magnificent, harmonious
25-hectare green oasis on Paris' fashionable Left
Bank. The formal gardens are populated with many statues (including
one of Sainte-Gèneviève, patron saint of Paris),
fountains and beautiful flowers. In the southwest corner, there
is an orchard where several hundred species of apple and pear
trees blossom each spring. Children love the park, too, especially
for its parc à jeux (playground) and the théâtre
des marionettes (puppet theater); they can also rent boats
and sail them in the glassy ponds. Sunday afternoon band concerts
draw a crowd in the summer. The sprawling grounds are usually
animated by lovers, students, chess aficionados, games of boules,
and tennis players.