Jardin d’Acclimatation
Jardin d’Acclimatation
The symbol of modern Paris as seen through the eyes of Emperor Napoléon III, the Jardin d’Acclimatation is both the capital's only attraction and leisure park, and the first one created in France. Inaugurated in 1860, and entirely renovated in 2018, it offers its 42 attractions and its 18 hectares of walks to close to 2 million visitors.
Creation date: 1860
CEO: Marc-Antoine Jamet
Head office: Bois de Boulogne, Carrefour des Sablons , 75116 Paris - France
Website: www.jardindacclimatation.fr
Identity
The Jardin d’Acclimatation was the vision of one couple: Emperor Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie. Inspired by Hyde Park, which marked their stay in London, they, in turn, made their Parisian dream of a park for enjoyment and leisure come true, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. To bring their project to fruition, the Emperor took on the team that was radically reshaping Paris at the time: Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine department, engineer Jean-Charles Alphand, landscape-architect Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, and architect Gabriel Davioud. They combined their talents to create this 20-hectare park, which would go on to become a jewel in the capital’s crown. Originally, the Jardin d’Acclimatation was home to a zoological society. Its objective was to ‘acclimatise’ fauna and flora from around the world, as well as far-off civilisations and cultures. Today, determined to preserve this unique 19th-century heritage, its landscapes and its architecture, the Jardin d’Acclimatation offers the inhabitants of Paris and the surrounding region, as well as tourists from around the world, a joyful, modern and naturally-Parisian attraction park, along with a farm and an aviary gathering 400 animals and birds.
Icon
In 3 minutes, 400 metres of rotations and bends, peaking at up to 45km/hour, the five "Speed Rockets" shuttles, the park's flagship attraction, whizz visitors off on a unique roller-coaster ride between the pines and the sequoias. For thrill seekers!
Insights
“The identity of the Jardin d’Acclimatation is based on a collection of feelings, images, and places that every Parisian knew as a child and which now forms their collective imagination. It is both a testimony to an unalterable world and a source of new enchantment, a heritage shared by every family, which is passed down from generation to generation, the symbol of a Paris that is both timeless and modern.”
Muse
The Spanish-born Countess Eugénie de Montijo became Empress of France at the age of 27, and remained so until France’s defeat by Prussia in 1870. It was she who, along with the Emperor, created the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Guided by the great zoologist, Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the park’s first director and an ardent defender of the observation of animals in their natural habitat, the young woman devoted herself to her scientific occupations. For example, she decided to develop the rearing of silkworms in France. To do this, she created one of the first silk farms in the very heart of the Jardin d’Acclimatation. It still exists and now houses an elegant café. A protector of the arts and literature, she, who appreciated Stendhal and Mérimée, also participated in the transformation of Paris at the height of the urban and industrial revolution.
Outlook
Since October 2014, the Jardin d’Acclimatation has accompanied the Fondation Louis Vuitton in welcoming to its paths, for a walk or lunch, the hundreds of thousands of contemporary art enthusiasts that the building designed by Frank Gehry attracts. Playing on the lighting effects, the Great Green Mirror, the park’s vast lawn and its dry fountain are reflected in the Fondation’s glass sails as a symbol of the complementarity between culture and nature, between an exceptional museum and a traditional park.
Key figures
- 70 Million Euros to renovate the Jardin d’Acclimatation in 2018
- 42 rides and attractions for little ones and big ones
- 18 hectares of lawns, meadows and walks
Jardin d’Acclimatation on social media
- The perfect place for a garden. pic.twitter.com/JfQm83CHr2
- Since 1843, six generations of the Krug family have created the finest and rarest Champagnes. pic.twitter.com/nrV7cbGTkc
- .@lax2nrt’s Hamachi Crudo surrounded by bright gold glasses of Krug Vintage 2000 = #win. pic.twitter.com/53YMZPELRx