Vignette: Garden Makeover at l’Hotel de Sens

The Hotel de Sens was built between 1475 and 1519. The medieval residence originally housed the archbishops of Sens, the order of bishops that Paris belonged to during the middle ages. The Hotel de Sens is on rue Figuier, which we often took to go to the Marais from the Ile St. Louis, where we were staying. October seems to be the month when the City of Paris replants many of its gardens, both big and small. There are over 400 public green spaces in Paris, making it the greenest city in Europe. Because I passed by this garden so often, I was able to view the summer garden being transformed into the fall garden by a small army of gardeners.

The formal garden of the Hotel de Sens

The facade of the building shows medieval-style turrets and windows characteristic of fortresses. Today, the residence houses an arts library.

Fountain grass grows plentifully between the boxwood hedges.

Frilly white flowers provide accents to the garden.

Becky and flowering trellis

The garden “Before” its makeover

The garden without the fountain grass between the boxwood hedges. You can see the mazes clearly between the boxwoods. I don’t know if making a maze was intentional, but I’ve seen mothers urging their tiny tots to find their way through the maze, just for the fun of it. The kids seem to have a good time racing between and around the hedges.

Good-bye, fountain grass

Hauling away the old

Bringing in the new

The gardeners didn’t mind my taking photos, especially when I told them I planned to email them back to members of my garden club.

Putting the pansies in place

Finishing up

The “After” garden