Although technically a public garden, it’s so well hidden you could almost call it secret…

photos : jasonw


Not far from Bastille and the Place des Vosges are some modern housing developments that are not really very pretty. In order to get them built (in the 1980s, I’m guessing?) architects would put the emphasis on the new open spaces and gardens created. However in reality, and despite the fact that the Paris council is officially mandated to upkeep them (with out Parisian taxpayers’ money), these spaces can often be tough to find as they are hidden in a sea of grim concrete.

I happened to be going down rue du Grand Veneur quite by accident. Firstly, it’s not really a rue at all as you can only get down it on foor. Secondly, il looks like the entrance to a load of ugly buildings, and doesn’t really look very inviting. Thirdly, if you do dare to enter, you’ll find the place overflowing with signs saying that you should try not to make too much noise, ball games are not allowed, bikes and motorcycles are forbidden and all dogs must be kept on leads. To paraphrase a New York street sign, it’s almost like they are saying “Don’t Even THINK of disturbing our little protected island”.

Of course this is all Parisian passive-aggressive posing. The pavement is public property after all, and so – of course – is the rose garden that I happened to come across. Tucked away in a corner, yet bathed in sunshine and opposite a beautiful building dating from 1865, the Jardin Saint-Gilles-Grand-Veneur is a real find. There’s a calm there, the sneaking (exciting) feeling of being somewhere you shouldn’t. With roses trained along pagodas, climbing and thriving, the colours are as strong as the bouquet. Stone and wooden seats await you, and there’s also a statue in one corner that was apparently rescued from Hôtel de Ville when it was rebuilt after a fire in 1871.

One thing I laughed at; one of the varieties of rose is called Toulouse Lautrec, but it’s a climbing rose and probably three times as high as the man himself!

You’ll find our mini-slideshow below, but do please take a look at the official Flickr gallery page to see the photos at a decent size. And go check out the garden when you’re in Paris! It’s on rue de Hesse (which goes off rue Villehardouin). You can also go through the passage at the corner of rue des Arquebusiers. Métro Saint-Sébastien-Froissart (line 8). Map at the bottom of this post.

Bigger map here