Jardin des Plantes

People are strolling, kids are chasing each other between the flowerbeds, and somewhere a pigeon is being far too confident near someone's lunch. But what you're standing in is one of Paris's most quietly extraordinary places.

It all started in 1635 on the orders of King Louis XIII, who wanted a garden to grow medicinal plants for his royal apothecary. The spot was deliberately chosen outside the city walls, so that, as one contemporary wrote, "the vapors of cesspools and the smoke of chimneys do not rob the plants of their morning dew." A beautiful line. Also very practical.

During the Revolution, the garden faced a real threat. Botanist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck had a clever idea: rename it from Jardin du Roi, the King's Garden, to Jardin des Plantes. No royal connection, nothing to confiscate. A name change that saved a garden.

The zoo here is Paris's oldest, born from necessity in 1792 when the neglected royal animals from Versailles needed somewhere to go. It grew into something remarkable. Then came the Siege of Paris in 1870, and things got dark. The animals were slaughtered to feed a starving city. On Christmas Day, restaurant Voisin served a special menu featuring elephant, camel, donkey, cat, and rat. The famous elephants Castor and Pollux did not make it either.