News

Staying at the Ouest Hôtel means staying in the heart of Paris, within easy reach of the capital’s famous department stores, the Opéra Garnier and the Madeleine Church, as well as many of the public parks and gardens that have helped to establish the city’s reputation for gorgeous green spaces.

 

The unmissable Parc Monceau

It’s one of the city’s most exquisite parks. Inaugurated in 1775, the Parc Monceau was designed as a pleasure garden where you can admire amazing decorative elements and charming follies such as a scaled-down Egyptian-style pyramid, a large pond surrounded by Corinthian columns and a small Italian-style bridge. Although modest in size, the park, surrounded by magnificent mansions, offers numerous lawns for picnicking, hanging out with friends or reading in the shade of a maple tree.

 

The discreet Square Marcel Pagnol

Located on the edge of the Place Saint-Augustin, this small square was laid-out by the engineer Jean-Charles Alphand during the Second Empire and then renovated in 1969. Quiet and relaxing, it houses a waterless fountain and a stone statue of the author and politician Paul Déroulède by the sculptor Paul Landowski. An ideal place to relax between shopping sprees.

 

The pretty Jardin des Champs-Elysées

Connecting the Place de la Concorde to the Rond Point des Champs-Elysées, this sizeable park was designed in an English style by Jean-Charles Alphand under the direction of Baron Haussmann during his mid-19th century urban renewal of Paris. It has fountains, monuments, statues, pavilions, as well as the Théâtre Marigny and the famous Laurent restaurant. Here, you can rest in the shade of purple beech trees, stop by the bandstand and treat your children to a puppet show at the historic Théâtre de Guignol.

 

The elegant Jardin des Tuileries

One of the most famous public parks in Paris, the Jardin des Tuileries takes its name from the old tile factories that occupied the site in the Middle Ages. In 1564, Queen Catherine de Medici ordered the construction of the Palais des Tuileries, which later became the residence of French sovereigns such as Henri IV, Louis XIV and Napoleon Bonaparte, and added an Italian Renaissance garden. In 1664, the great landscape architect André Le Nôtre completely redesigned the garden. Today, the Tuileries is home to two museums, one featuring modern art and another offering contemporary art, several statues by the artist Aristide Maillol as well as numerous ponds and oak-shaded benches.

 

The sumptuous Jardin du Palais Royal

The Palais Royal was built in 1633 by order of Cardinal Richelieu, who wished to remain close to the king’s residence in the Louvre. In 1780, several shops and the famous Théâtre de la Comédie-Française were built around the palace gardens. It’s a place steeped in history, but it also boasts the Colonnes de Buren, a striking installation created in 1986 by the conceptual artist Daniel Buren. We love to walk there in summer to appreciate the sparkling freshness of its fountain and the shade of its 466 trees.

 

******

More information:

- Parc Monceau
- Square Marcel Pagnol
- Jardin des Champs Elysées
- Jardin des Tuileries
- Jardin du Palais Royal

---

Ouest Hotel,  a 3-star hotel a few steps from Gare Saint-Lazare