We had just finished dinner at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, a historical Parisian restaurant that exceeded our expectations. Adam, my mom, and I all strolled out the doors and back onto the streets of Paris, jaws on the ground once we saw how long the line had grown since we had been inside eating.
Our goal was simple: get back to the hotel and get some sleep before we have to take a train back to London in the early morning. However, the night was still young and the walk to the metro station was pretty long. Adam and I hovered over his phone, looking for potential activities nearby when we saw a park called Le Jardin du Luxembourg was on our way. My family are suckers for a good park, so under no circumstances would we be passing this up.
We treaded through the seemingly ancient streets of Paris in awe, going back and forth with “I wonder how old this is,” or “imagine what this used to look like before cars”. Our American minds could not begin to understand the depth of beauty and history we were about to uncover at Le Jardin du Luxembourg. This park covers around 60 acres of land, where its construction started in 1612. The palace was originally created as a residence for the widow of King Henry IV but is now the home of the French Senate.
When we finally arrived, we were welcomed with lines of trees all around us, creating a comfortable shelter from the cold reality of being a tourist in a bustling city. As we walked on one of the many paths intersecting underneath this green ceiling, we came across a series of chess boards, all surrounded by older men. It felt like a tournament was going on, but none truly competing. They made little noise while the whole group analyzed each move, feeling the pang of regret at a blunder and the sweet taste of victory when one of them declares “échec et mat”. We stood for a while, observing their game from a distance, soaking up the feeling of comfort and home, before we continued on our walk.
After continuing through the trees on our path for a bit, we started hearing kids exclaiming different things in French, cheering every so often. Adam decided to go investigate while my mom and I sat on a bench, trying to take in the beauty around us. He came back with a light in his eyes, telling us we had to go see what was going on. We followed him, truly unsure of what we would find until we began hearing the thumping of a ball on the ground.
Knowing Adam as well as I do, I knew this meant that the kids were playing a basketball game. Once we got a bit closer, he sat and watched their plays, likely finding himself in a similar position to the old men watching chess, analyzing it and taking in the emotion associated with each move.
There was a certain comfort in seeing these kids in Paris doing things that Adam and I did as kids in Cincinnati. As much as this trip pulled me out of my comfort zone, Le Jardin du Luxembourg threw me back into it. I found a piece of who Parisians really are, and how they aren’t really all that different from us. This park bears the history of Paris and opens its arms to the future. It has a space for everyone in it, whether that be the locals meeting to play chess or basketball, or if it is a few tourists just stopping in before their journey home.
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