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Jardin des Plantes Review

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Jardin des Plantes

Address: Entrances on Rue Geoffroy-St-Hilaire, Rue Cuvier, Rue de Buffon, and Quai St-Bernard, The Quartier Latin, Paris
Phone: 01-40-79-54-79
www.mnhn.fr

Botanical Gardens

Category: Parks
Location: The Quartier Latin

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Fodor's Review:

Bordered by the Seine, Gare d'Austerlitz, and the ugly, utilitarian Jussieu University campus, this swath of greenery is much loved by residents but hardly the most impressive of Parisian gardens. Come to picnic, or, if you have kids, take them to the excellent Grande Galerie de l'Evolution or one of the other two other natural-history museums here: the Musée Paléontologique, which exhibits some dinosaurs, and the Musée Minéralogique with rocks and minerals. Plant lovers will enjoy the botanical garden, the rose garden, and the several greenhouses from the 1930s that are filled with tropical and desert plants. The garden is also home to the Ménagerie, one of the world's oldest zoos, founded by Napoléon. It's a small, rather sad zoo by North American standards, and is utterly forgettable, but if your kids are bored, take them to see the two notable inhabitants: Kiki, an ancient Seychelles tortoise, and an alligator abandoned in a Paris hotel room. Keep your ticket: entrance to any of these sites will get you a discount to other museums within the gardens.

Cost: Museums and zoo EUR 4-EUR 8 (free, 4 and under), greenhouses EUR 2.50
Open: Museums Wed.-Mon. 10-5 or 6. Zoo daily 9-5. Garden daily 8-5:30
Metro: Gare d'Austerlitz, Jussieu

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