These areas will feature in any visitor’s guidebook. They’ve been recommended, talked about, written about for centuries.
In the 6th arrondissement, The Luxembourg Gardens date back to early 17th century and contain the Senate building. It is also located in the vicinity of famous universities such as The Sorbonne, and a must-visit spot on a sunny day.
If you arrive in the garden from the south, you will come across the 1874 fountain of the Observatory, sculpted by four different artists who included water-spitting horses, zodiac features, fish, a festooned pedestal and a globe held by four women, each representing a different continent (Oceania was not missed out….it was just not seen as a continent until the 1950s)
Further west, in another popular area among tourists and locals alike, the Arc de Triomphe stands across three different arrondissements – the 7th, 8th and 17th.
While the 17th arrondissement has got a less affluent end, 7th and 8th are the “posh” neighbourhoods. Luxurious hotels, embassies, designer shops, the Champs Elysées and its gardens on the side, the Eiffel Tower Le Champ de Mars for a bit of green, or should we say yellow, in the midst of a heatwave.
