Bagatelle Gardens

Lara, our new Paris contributor, went for a stroll around the beautiful Bagatelle Gardens, located in the Bois de Boulogne. A perfect place to wander around on a hot summer day!

“Le Parc de Bagatelle” is located in the Bois de Boulogne, one of Paris’ two woods (the other one being the Bois de Vincennes). Shortly after you enter the park, on the left side, you will walk through a small garden with beautiful sculptures leading to the Château de Bagatelle. It was built in 1777 in only 64 days as a result of a bet between Marie-Antoinette and the Comte d’Artois (future French King Charles X). She challenged him to renovate an old existing mansion in under 100 days, which he did.

The most beautiful part of the park are the very romantic and clean flower gardens. Flowers are grouped by kinds in different gardens so, depending on the season, you will enjoy the different species: irises, peonies, roses, etc… We saw the peonies in full bloom and it was beautiful! There are two rose gardens, home to not less than 1200 different species and an international botanical contest has been taking place in Bagatelle every year since 1907. When we went it was still a bit early for blooming roses but if you can go during the right time of the year (I would suggest from June to mid-September) it is a true feast for the eyes.

Among the gardens you will also find a lot of beautiful elements like statues, bridges, lakes, cascades, rocks, etc… all of which were designed and put together in anglo-chinese style, very popular in France during the 18th century. No wonder there is even a chinese pagoda in the park.

Kids will especially enjoy seeing all the peacocks walking freely around the gardens and the many opportunities to play hide-and-seek given by the landscaping of the park. A personal favorite when I was little was the grotto located under a waterfall that can be reached walking on rocks in the water. As for the peacocks, they are not a bit shy and it is said here that their calls sound as if they were saying “Léon, Léon” (a French boys name). You will certainly hear a few French kids imitating them.

There is a restaurant right before the entrance and a little snack-bar inside the park. It is also allowed to bring a picnic to some of the park’s lawns: definitely a nice thing to do with your little ones when you want to escape the city on hot Summer days!  

Opening hours:
From Winter time to the end of February: 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
From March 1st to Summer time: 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM
From Summer time to September 30th: 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM
From October 1st to Winter time: 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM

Tickets:
From May 28th to October 30th: 
Adults: 6 euros
Children: 3 euros
Free entrance the rest of the year

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