Paris: Learn how to discover the city on foot – 07/04/2023 – Tourism

This flower-focused Paris tour is a favorite of Sandra Sigman, celebrated florist and author of the book “French Blooms,” about the distinctly French style of flower arranging. The tour covers almost five kilometers and winds through the gardens, green spaces and flower shops of the 6th and 7th Parisian “arrondissements”.

“I love the French approach to gardens,” says Sigman, 56. “While the spaces themselves are quite formal in their design, that doesn’t stop people from relaxing and enjoying their beauty.”

Start at Campo de Marte. This park that surrounds the Eiffel Tower is always full of flowers, and if you arrive early, you can escape the densest crowds. From there, head southeast along Rue Saint-Dominique to the Boulangerie Laurent B bakery and pastry shop, a place of seductive vintage charm. Canelé and pain au chocolat are popular favorites.

Continue on Rue Saint-Dominique, which will take you to the center of Esplanade des Invalides. More a park than a garden, it provides a stunning panoramic walk with museums and monuments on all sides, such as the Musée de L’Armée and Napoleon’s tomb.

Leave Esplanade des Invalides, still on Rue Saint-Dominique and head east until reaching Rue de Bellechasse. There, on the corner, is Adriane M. Fleuriste, with an extensive outdoor display of flowers. In Sigman’s words, “it’s as if the store itself couldn’t contain so much beauty.”

The five-minute walk to the next stop is beautiful: walk southeast along Rue Saint-Dominique to Boulevard Saint-Germain, then turn right on Boulevard Raspail until you reach Rue du Bac to visit Le 69 bac, a beautiful flower shop whose name echoes its address. You’ll have to look for it, but you’ll know you’ve found it when you see flowers coming out of the building into the street. Follow the flowers along the hallway until you reach the shop entrance.

Just a block away, stop by Barthélemy, one of the most charming cheese shops in the neighborhood. For lunch, stop by Le Café Pierre Hermé next door. Sit on the patio and order the croque monsieur, a tea and a salted caramel macaron. Sigman recommendation.

After lunch, it’s time for shopping. Leaving Le Café Pierre Hermé, head back to rue du Bac, where, in less than two blocks, you will find La Maison du Bac, a shop dedicated to the art of tableware, filled with vases, both antique and new, perfectly suitable for flower arrangements.

Continue on rue de Bac until rue de Babylone, where on your right you will pass Square Boucicaut, a picturesque park with a carousel. The journey from here to the next stop is no more than 1.5 kilometers, but involves a series of curves.

From rue de Babylone, you’ll take rue de Sèvres towards rue du Four, then rue de Rennes and rue de l’Abbaye, until you reach rue de Furstemberg and the small flower shop Oz Garden, with a highly unusual selection of flowers and plants, carefully organized. Her organic style bouquets look like they were freshly picked from the garden.

The charming square around Oz Garden is made up of narrow, almost hidden lanes filled with independent shops, including the tiny, fragrant Compagnie Française spice shop. From here, head down rue de Seine to rue de Tournon – just a short 10-minute walk – and arrive at Astier de Villatte, a hand-picked antiques and tableware shop.

Unconventional vases are a great way to add a bold touch to your floral design, and here you’ll find beautifully crafted porcelain pieces. Go to the back of the store to see the floor-to-ceiling plates, vases, soup bowls and more.

The Astier de Villatte faces the Palais du Luxembourg. This places you perfectly for a relaxed stroll through the Luxembourg Gardens, a classic Parisian park full of friends having picnics, couples strolling hand in hand and children pushing toy sailboats in the duck pond.

Like the palace, built in the 1610s for the Italian queen Maria de Medici and inspired by Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the gardens have a regal air. In true French garden style, there are precision-trimmed hedges, symmetrically placed single flowers and plants in impressive urns.

Distance: 4.74 kilometers.

Difficulty level: easy.

Good for kids? The parks and gardens are ideal for children, but the shops are not geared towards them.

time to go: between two and nearly five hours, including stops for shopping and eating.

Translated by Clara Allain