You would think that a garden would be at its most beautiful in the summer. Yet, for me, this fall, the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris seemed to evoke another kind of beauty than achieved in the summer when it is filled with a riot of blossoms. It was a beauty composed of stillness and sweeping lines.
Yes, the leaves had fallen. But in their place were graceful tree limbs.
I strolled over to the Medici Fountain and found a seat where I watched the ducks play and splash and meditated on the reflecting pool.
Marie de Medici, one of my favorite historical personages, was responsible for building the Luxembourg Palace and the gardens in the 1600's. She requested the gardener to design a garden that would remind her of the formal gardens from her native Florence.
Do you see in this picture how the flowers in the large urns so perfectly cascade down?
I discovered the secret. Look closely at the next picture and you should just be able to see a green plastic trainer that holds the stems from underneath so that they grow in a graceful curve downward.
I find myself totally revived after a long walk here. Others stop a bit longer and perhaps have a bite to eat.
And many many others find a chair and totally unwind.
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