A Secret garden

For November it has been incredibly mild, weatherwise – no need for heavy winter coats or scarves – so we went exploring, taking advantage of the sun and soft air. 
Today we discovered a little jewel box just outside of Paris – Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil. It’s one of the four annexes of the Jardins Botanique of the city of Paris.

Loved seeing these artists at work – trying to capture the glorious fall colors. I know it’s such a Parisian cliche, the artist, but it’s still cool to see.

The glass and iron structure reminds me of the Grand Palais – turns out this building is from the same era and the same style!

The architecture is gorgeous. The top 5 greenhouses date back to the late 1890s.The architect was of the same caliber as Eiffel – unfortunately, no one really remembers that now.

Some of these plants have never been planted outside of their native lands. The collections are diverse and interesting – there’s even a giant aviary full of chirping birds.

Cacti in Paris?!

It is like walking in a different world. So cozy and intimate – there are even a couple of cute wrought iron bistro sets where you could have a picnic or a nice aperitif! The temperature difference amazed me – this explains so much about those conservatories that the Victorians had – I was always skeptical about how they were able to have such varied plants.

Here’s the tragic part of this whole adventure – we do not know how much longer this will be here – the French Federation of Tennis  is going to tear it down to expand the tennis complex Roland Garros! That means these lovely structures built by Jean-Camille Formige will be lost! So until then, every time we need a little tropical warmth, we will be visiting the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil.

(any errors are all mine – it’s been a crazy weekend – trying to finalize a walking tour and baking cupcakes and making buttercream frosting – my words and my info might be off but the place was amazing! Mea culpa)