Palais-Royal: Paris's Serene Secret Garden

The Palais-Royal is one of Paris's best-kept secrets — a tranquil colonnaded garden just steps from the Louvre that most tourists walk past without entering. The palace was built for Cardinal Richelieu in 1633 and later became a residence for the Orleans branch of the French royal family, who lined the surrounding arcades with shops to generate income. Today those arcades still house extraordinary specialist retailers: antique coin dealers, vintage galleries, and the legendary restaurant Grand Véfour, which has been serving aristocrats and artists since 1784.

The garden at the centre is a formal French parterre where Parisians lunch on park chairs under lime trees trained into living columns. Children sail toy boats on the central fountain in a scene unchanged since the 18th century. The evening light in the arcade is extraordinary — warm gold filtering through the glass roof and reflecting off centuries-old stone, creating an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in Paris.

At the south end, Daniel Buren's installation of black-and-white striped columns of varying heights covers the courtyard in a playful minimalist work that caused enormous controversy when installed in 1986 and has since become beloved. The Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert, two of Paris's surviving 19th-century covered passages, begin just a short walk north and east — perfect for extending a Palais-Royal afternoon into an exploration of these atmospheric arcades with their tessellated floors and painted ceilings. Entry to the Palais-Royal garden is always free.