Jardin Catherine-Labouré
Found behind a wall and through a nondescript entrance on the Rue de Babylone, this former convent kitchen garden, founded in 1625, takes its name from a young nun who’s said to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Among the prettiest of Paris’s hidden parks and gardens, you'll feel like you're in another time sitting among its orchard, vines, arbors, flowerbeds, and tended paths. In nice weather, it’s a favorite refuge for local families (there’s a small playground for kids), friends, and lovers to repose on the lawn, read on a bench, or peacefully stroll the garden’s many nooks, so close and yet so far from the surrounding buzz of this fashionable shopping area.
