(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Mashael Beshir
PARIS, May 23 (KUNA) -- The exceptionally long winter in France this year deepened the Parisians yearning for spring bestowed impressive beauty and liveliness on the gardens of the capital city.
The blossoming trees and flowers make the urban landscape of the city, including the landmark public parks, avenues and promenades, more colorful with scenic beauty.
The Parisians vacationers from various age categories, individuals or families, who waited impatiently for spring seized this opportunity and went to gardens to enjoy nice sunny daytime, have a barbecue under the trees, celebrate, meet each other, promenade or relax.
Among the most eye-catching scenes at any garden are the groups of youth who play, run and do sports here and there, or gather around a singer or guitar player to enjoy music.
Realizing the historical significance of gardens in the cultural life of the Parisians, the municipal authorities usually set a long agenda of festivals and other activities at these gardens that last from the beginning of spring to the end of summer.
The Tuileries Garden, located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the first district of Paris, is one of the landmarks of the capital city.
The garden, built by Catherine de Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, was eventually opened to the public in 1667 and became a public park after the French Revolution (1789-1799).
Catherine de' Medici, an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, tasked the Italian landscape architect Bernard de Carnesse with building the garden in line with the Italian Renaissance style between the Seine river in the south, the rue Saint-Honore in the north, the Louvre in the east and the city walls in the west.
However, King Louis XIV tended to impose his own sense of order on the Tuileries Garden. In 1664 he commissioned the landscape French architect Andre Le Notre to redesign the entire garden.
Likewise, the Luxembourg Garden, located in the sixth district, has a historical and cultural significance. It was built between 1611 and 1630 by Marie de' Medici - the widow of King Henry IV, of France, as a garden of the Luxembourg Palace. Besides its additional value in terms of popular culture since it is featured prominently in Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables, the garden has a political value since it is now owned by the French Senate which meets in the Palace.
The garden, known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, flowerbeds, the picturesque Medici Fountain and nearly 70 sculptures, covers 23 hectares.
The Bois de Boulogne, located along the western edge of the 16th district of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine, was created between 1852 and 1858 during the tenure of Louis Napoleon.
With a total area of an area of 845 hectares, the garden is the second largest park in Paris. It includes an English landscape garden, two smaller botanical and landscape gardens, a zoo and the Stade Roland Garros tennis complex.
Besides the landscape gardens and promenades, Paris has a lot of tourist attractions most notably the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris, which give the city a splendid view particularly in spring. (end) mmb.gb