We love Luxembourg Gardens but we also LOVE the Tuileries! It is really vibrant and wonderful to walk the whole length of the gardens! We pick two chairs right by the fountain and in view of the Louvre and people watch and visit with folks around us! It's right across the street from Angelina's on rue de Rivoli so that works well!!!!!

I had only previously encountered the Tuileries Gardens during late autumn and winter when the weather was generally cold and unfavourable, many of the trees were devoid of leaves and there were virtually no flowers in bloom. I recently had the pleasure of revisiting them in late May/early June when the sun was shining, the fountains were all operating, the grass was a brilliant green and there were masses of beautiful flowers in bloom. I came away with a quite different view of these gardens to that I had previously held.

The Gardens themselves cover just over 25 hectares and stretch along the side of the River Seine from the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde. The Gardens date from the 16th century when Catherine de Medici, Queen of France, commissioned the building of a new palace and gardens. The name Tuileries comes from the French word for "tile" and the new palace was built on the location of where some tile factories had stood.

The Gardens have subsequently undergone numerous changes since that time but much of what the landscape architect Andre Le Nostre put in place when he redesigned the Gardens into a formal French garden in the second half of the 17th century remain in place today including the central walkway, the two large ponds and the two lateral terraces.

It was a pleasure to walk through the gardens, rest in the chairs beside the fountains and lakes and admire the numerous sculptures.

A must visit, but try to do so when the seasons are favourable.