Some folks like seeking out great restaurants for memorable meals but i seek out park benches with appetizing views, after stocking up at the local supermarket (many of which now have lots of deli-type takeout fare. Some of my favorite park benches:
Paris-Overlooking Place de la Concorde, in front of the Orangerie Museum - here i'm alawys amazed at the hectic traffic that barrels thru the huge square - a melange of seemingly chaotic buses, lorries, scooters, bikes and tiny French cars - all jockeying for space as they boisterously move along the square's large cobblestones. Then the lights turn red and all screeches to a halt and brave pedestrians venture across. My mind wanders to the day of the French Revolution and the guillotines that were set up where statues named after some French cities are set up today. The Eiffel Tower regally stands sentinel in the near distance and the Champs-Elysees slopes up hill to the Arc de Triomphe. The Elysees Palace, home of the President of France royally guards the north side of the square. Next door the American Embassy is forbiddingly cached under a heavy artillery of blockades.
Do you have a favorite park bench?

Not a particular one, but just about any campo in Venice away from the pathetic day-tripping herds that stampede along the Grand Canal.

Tuilleries or Luxembourg gardens in Paris. Along the quai in Vevey or Montreux Switzerland. At any public square in Venice. Waikiki beach in Hawaii. The Malecon in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

The benches on the old harbour, Hania, Crete.

My favorite park benches from long ago were located in the park adjacent to the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France. My friends and I used to take our books and study in the park and listen to all the languages spoken by the visitors! For those who have recently visited, is the park as nice as it used to be?

Marsha -
We were in Avignon last September, and yes, the park is very lovely. We enjoyed the views and the vegetation alike!
Some of my favourite park benches - Prague near the Strahovsky Klaster overlooking Petrin Hill, Washington DC - the Mall from either the Lincoln Memorial or Washington monument, and any piazza in Italy.

A bench in Paris on the Pont des Arts!

Most favorite bench, in the park in the Place des Vosges, watching the children play with their nannies looking on. If we are lucky, the opera singer will practice.

Not actually a bench, but a chair in the Luxembourg Gardens, by the fountain.

A bench is the pretty park in the small city of Congeliano in the region of Veneto, Italy on a Friday morning. That is the outside market day and after shopping I love to sit under the beautiful trees and watch the residents do their shopping, the merchants doing their selling, the whole scene, which is devoid of tourist. And then at 1:00pm the entire market is taken away - I don't know how they manage it in 15 minutes or less but of course they are so experienced with setting up and taking done but it always amazes me.

Suze, just saw your post. I love the Malecon in PV, Mexico also. That is sure a place to relax.

a bench sitting by the shore on Iona looking out across the water to Mull. A lovely place to sit while waiting for the ferry.

Two benches on Inchmahome island in the Lake of Menteith. Just a great place to sit for a small picnic in the grounds of a ruined priory, looking across the Lake to the church/graveyard, the surrounding hills, fishermenin small row boats and usually swans and their cygnets.

any bench in Queen Mary's Rose Garden in Regent's Park. The aroma and colors are overwhelming.

A bench in Alumni Park at Pepperdine University. Having a bite to eat from what used to be a little french pastry shop off PCH called Xanadu, taking in the breathtaking views of the Pacific.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Not in Europe PalQ, but if you ever get there...

Been there done that - maybe not on that bench but have sat on Pepperdine's hilltop spot and overlooked the sea - a great view. A neat campus of, as i recall red-roofed adobe styled buildings. Mitch Buchanan once played basketball on courts near the bench it seems as the view was the same - Mitch during a Baywatch episode.

My favs are: Paris: a bench in the garden behind Notre Dame, relaxing in the shade feeding the bird the last bite of my bagette, in the Tuilleries by the pond, Luxembourg Gardens watching the children sail their boats in the water, Place des Voges eating my lunch, watching the children play; Nice - on the promenade, Rome: Giancolo Hill overlooking Rome, the botanical gardens in Trastevere, by the little pond, at the Villa Borghese, Sorrento: at a little park in the center of town at the top of the cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples. Actually, I could go on and on.

I was sitting on a park bench in Luzern, near the old city walls, when I took this shot.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...35965855wCETec

There are worse places to be on a warm, sunny day.