Alix from Paris

About me I was born and raised in The Netherlands and first moved to Paris at age 16 with my family. Unfortunately, about two years later we had to leave the city and make our way back to The Hague. The absence was, however, short-lived and I returned a few months later at 18 to pursue my law studies. Three years later, Law took me to Berlin, then to London, and finally to Brussels before br...

Jun 6, 2025

Jardin Catherine-Labouré Paris

Orchard turned garden

""Jardin Catherine-Labouré" in Paris was an orchard that belonged to the Filles de la Charité convent; today, it's the perfect place to take your kids!"

Hidden by a vast wall running along the right-hand side of the rue de Babylone, where you would least suspect it, the Catherine-Labouré garden reveals 7,000 m² of green grass lawns in Paris’ 7^th arrondissement. The garden was formerly an orchard that belonged to the Filles de la Charité convent. It was donated by the convent and opened to the public in 1977. In fact, the Jardin Catherine-Labouré is named after one of the convent’s former residents: a nun who lived there during the 19^thcentury and became famous for supposedly having had several visions of the Virgin Mary in the convent’s chapel (which consequently came to be known as the chapel of Notre Dame de la Médaille miraculeuse).

Adjoined to the garden and accessible only through it is the “Jardin du Potager”, located behind the old Laennec hospital and which served as a former vegetable patch. Despite no longer serving their original purposes, both the Jardin Catherine-Labouré and the Jardin du Potager are still home to many fruit trees (apple and cherry), as well as vines and a small vegetable patch used for educational purposes. It is the perfect place to take your kids (every Wednesday a local association organises workshops to teach children about environmental protection) or to take a leisurely stroll.

I personally like to grab a coffee (hot or iced depending of the season) at Coutume, sit down on the grass and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Amsterdam

Antwerp

Art & culture

About this spot

29, rue de Babylone

€

free

Website

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