Parisian Urban Oasis off the Beaten Path

April 19, 2010


Photo by Isabel Howard: Sign on door reads “Je suis dans le jardin” (“I’m in the garden”)

With its hidden gardens and artwork you won’t find in any museum, Paris’s Butte-aux-Cailles neighborhood isn’t on the usual tourist’s radar, and it’s Read More...

Au Revoir Paris: Bringing Home the Garden

January 27, 2010

patric_blanc_wall_girbaud
Patrick Blanc vertical garden wall behind glass at Marité et François Girbaud shop in Paris

It’s been a week of creative inspiration and as I pack it all up from Paris for my to return to New York, I will Read More...

Inspirations from Paris

January 23, 2010

melange

I spent the day yesterday infusing myself with a strong dose of design inspiration at the Paris design fair, Maison & Objet. One of the themes permeating the fair is the blend of nature and technology and I was thrilled … Read More...

Visual Caffeine on Streets of Paris

October 18, 2009

Paris_flowers

No matter how many times I stroll the streets of Paris, I am always amazed by the quantity of visual inspiration I receive. From the beautiful way in which ordinary shopkeepers arrange their vitrines, or store windows, to the … Read More...

Paris: Sustainable Hidden Gardens of Solitude

October 5, 2009

parc_oiseaux_2
A hidden place of repose opens up to the Potager des Oiseaux.

Having savored a Salade Paysanne at the unpretentious northern Marais café, La Perle, I was fortified for my afternoon search of more little-known Paris gardens and whatever else … Read More...

Paris Community Gardens Cultivate Biodiversity and Social Connection

October 4, 2009

jardin_nomade_mural
The Jardin Nomade, in the 11th arrondissement, opens its gates to neighborhood children.

The blister that has formed on the bottom of my left foot is a souvenir of my recent two days walking around Paris visiting some of the Read More...

Wandering in Paris: City of Gardens and Light

October 1, 2009

alley_11e

I’m a “flâneur” in Paris for a few days. The French word “flâneur” doesn’t translate very well in English.  According to Wikipedia, the term comes from the verb “flâner”, which means “to stroll.”  A flâneur is a person who … Read More...

Climbing the Living Walls in Paris

July 31, 2009

branley_window2

When I visited the iconic French architect Jean Novel in his Paris “atelier” (studio), I asked him about his design of the Musée du Quai Branly and of his collaboration with the eccentric botanical designer, Patrick Blanc. For the museum, Read More...

Up For Grabs: Garden, Culinary, and Decorative Antiques From Patricia Wells’s Provence Farmhouse

March 20, 2024

Patricia Wells Prooveencale farmhouse antiques sale.

Known for her popular French cooking school, At Home in France, and revered for decades as one of the most influential personalities in the culinary world, Patricia Wells and her husband, Walter, welcome guests to Chanteduc, their farmhouse home Read More...

Arc de Triomphe Wrapped in Long-Awaited Christo Installation

July 20, 2021

Arc de Triomphe in Paris is wrapped in tribute the envirnmental artist Christo.

This article was updated on September 16, 2021 to include the image (above) of the nearly completed installation.

In a posthumous tribute to the environmental artist Christo who died in 2020, approximately 150 workers began wrapping the Arc de Triomphe Read More...

The freshest innovative and eco-friendly designs, trends, and ideas for urban gardens and stylish small places.

Visit Robin Horton @UrbanGardens's profile on Pinterest.