A new public garden just opened right next to church Saint-Eustache, in May 2018. And what’s remarkable is the number of shadows to be found there, some cast by handsomely groomed fast-growing sapling trees but also by its modernist designed bandstand.

It’s as if the landscape-architects really configured the gardens to be a place where locals can literally take a sun-break, of which during these summer months the temperatures have already been hitting 30°C, making Jardin Les Halles (Les Halles Gardens) a rare city oasis.

To abate the soaring temperatures too, there’s a water-mirror — so called for the consequences of its ground-sunk water-jets playfully firing off misty plumes soaking into the dry air, before consequently soddening the ground-slabs so much that they form a gleaming black mirror which literally reflects the comings and goings of the passers-by.

Should you be anywhere near metro stations Étienne Marcel or Les Halles, then you’re just a stone’s throw from the gardens.

Just for clarity; locating this place on Google maps, while locals call this place Jardin Les Halles, it will likely pop up by its inaugurated name of Jardin Nelson Mandela.