page_title: Paris in the 18th century
section_title: Parks, promenades and pleasure gardens
hierarchical_section_title: Paris in the 18th century / Amusements / Parks, promenades and pleasure gardens
caption_attribution_description: "Promenade de la galerie du Palais-Royal" by Philibert-Louis Debucourt (1755-1832). Aquatint.
context_page_description: Paris in the 18th century was the second-largest city in Europe, after London, with a population of about 600,000 people. The century saw the construction of Place Vendôme, the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the church of Les Invalides, and the Panthéon, and the founding of the Louvre Museum. Paris witnessed the end of the reign of Louis XIV, was the center stage of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, saw the first manned flight, and was the birthplace of high fashion and the modern restaurant.
context_section_description: One of the chief amusements of the Parisians was to promenade, to see and be seen in the gardens and public places. There were three gardens open to the public in the 18th century; the Tuileries Gardens, the Luxembourg Garden, under the windows of the royal palace; and the Jardin des Plantes. There was a no admission charge, and there were often concerts and other entertainment.
  It was difficult to promenade in the narrow streets, crowded, without sidewalks and filled with wagons, carts, carriages and animals. At the beginning of the century Parisians preferred to promenade on the wide Pont Neuf. As the century advanced, they were attracted to the new boulevards, built on the site of the old city walls, and to the new Champs-Élysées, where the first large town houses were being constructed. As the boulevards attracted crowds, they also attracted street entertainers; acrobats, musicians, dancers, and every kind of trained animal performed on the sidewalks.
  The end of the 18th century saw the opening of the pleasure gardens of Ranelegh, Vauxhall, and Tivoli. These were large private gardens where, in summer, Parisians paid an admission charge and found food, music, dancing, and other entertainment, from pantomime to magic lantern shows and fireworks. The admission fee was relatively high; the owners of the gardens wanted to attract a more upper class clientele, and to keep out the more boisterous Parisians who thronged the boulevards. 
  The most extravagant pleasure garden was Parc Monceau, created by Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, which opened in 1779. it was designed for the Duke by the painter Carmontelle. It contained a miniature Egyptian pyramid, a Roman colonnade, antique statues, a pond of water lilies, a tatar tent, a farmhouse, a Dutch windmill, a temple of Mars, a minaret, an Italian vineyard, an enchanted grotto, and "a gothic building serving as a chemistry laboratory," as described by Carmontelle. In addition to the follies, the garden featured servants dressed in oriental and other exotic costumes, and unusual animals, such as camels. In 1781, parts of the garden were transformed into a more traditional English landscape garden, but vestiges of the original follies, including the pyramid and colonnade, can still be seen.
  By far the most popular destination for promenaders in the late 18th century was the Palais-Royal, the most ambitious project of the Duke of Orléans. Between 1780 and 1784 he rebuilt his family gardens into a pleasure garden surrounded by wide covered arcades, which were occupied by shops, art galleries, and the first true restaurants in Paris. There was a pavilion in the gardens for horseback riding; The basements were occupied by popular cafes with drinks and musical entertainment, and the upper floors by rooms for card-playing and gambling. At night, the galleries and gardens became the most popular meeting place between prostitutes and their clients.
caption: A promenade in the Palais-Royal (1798)
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