A four-century tree
Still coming into leaf each spring, its trunk held by props.
A.Schneider83 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 4.0 · xiquinhosilva from Cacau — CC BY 2.0 · Celette — CC BY-SA 4.0
It was planted in the early seventeenth century, so it is over four hundred years old and is considered the oldest tree in Paris. The exact age is debated, but the order of events is not: it was standing a century and a half before the French Revolution.
The cathedral is across the river, minutes away over the bridge. This garden is the best place to see it from outside and photograph it calmly before or after visiting. Combine the two rather than settling for the crowded forecourt.
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A small garden on the Left Bank directly opposite Notre-Dame, holding the oldest tree in Paris. The tree is the reason: a false acacia (robinia) planted in the early seventeenth century, meaning it has seen four centuries of the city's history. Its trunk now leans and is held up by concrete props, and it still comes into leaf every spring. Standing before a living thing that predates the French Revolution by a century and a half is a different experience from looking at old stone. The garden is also one of the best vantage points on Notre-Dame: from here you see the flank and the flying buttresses across the river, an angle far less crowded than the square in front of the cathedral. Beside it stands the church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, among the oldest in Paris, small and quiet and rarely entered by visitors. Practical points: free and open during daylight hours. The visit is short and lies on the route of any walk between the Latin Quarter and the island.
Still coming into leaf each spring, its trunk held by props.
The flying buttresses and flank across the river, without the crowd.
Among Paris's oldest churches, small, quiet and rarely visited.
Left Bank, directly opposite Notre-Dame
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