Jardin du Ranelagh (1)

We are now going to visit a park or garden, which is called Jardin du Ranelagh. This is in an area of the 16th arondissement which goes under the name of La Muette. My kids learnt to bike here; we are close to where I used to live until about a year ago.

The name La Muette refers to an old royal castle which once existed here and the name Ranelagh today given to the park comes from an English lord (see below). There is quite a lot to say about this area and the park, so I will make it in two or three episodes.

First a few words about the disappeared castle. It was originally built during the Middle Ages as a hunting residence (this was then far from the city) and was rebuilt several times, the last time in 1743. Among it occupants you can name Queen Margot (married for a while to Henry IV), the future Louis XIII, the Duchesse de Berry, the future Louis XVI and more especially Marie-Antoinette who spent much time here. The main building was destroyed in 1793, but the wings remained and were occupied until the beginning of the 20th century. One of the owners was a piano manufacturer (Erard) and later his heirs. The great park was sold in parcels, including an important part to a Rothschild, who built another castle (now OECD headquarters) in part of the old castle park. Also the rest was sold and the area got full of bourgeois apartment houses and “hotels particuliers” (private residences). Here below I have tried to compare what the area looked like during the 18th century and what it looks like today. One street, rue de Passy, which today is a busy shopping street, still follows the same trace. I will talk about the railway and the still existing station in a following episode.

We can see that part of what used to be a royal park is still there, now as a public park. Obviously it was here in the outskirts of the park, that Lord Ranelagh opened a “rotonde” where concerts and other amusements took place, sometimes attended by Marie-Antoinette and friends.

Let’s now talk about what the park is today: A nice green area, where children can play, where their parents or grandparents can sit on a bench, and where - depending on generation - you can play football (soccer) or at bowls, go on a pony ride, do roller skating, take a tour on a merry-go-round…and - a nice summer day – do sun bathing and picnicking. There are a few statues, including one of Jean de la Fontaine and one of Victor Hugo.

The day I visited the park last week was sunny, but cold and windy, and the activities were limited. Hardly any clients for the pony promenade, the responsible for the merry-go-round hesitated to install the wooden (sorry, today plastic) horses, the marionette theatre was closed...
… and I made an extra post today, see below!

… and at last, today starts the Chinese New Year, the year of the rat, 鼠 , so Xin Nian Kuai Le 新年快乐 and Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财!!!