The Magical Gardens of Albert Kahn

All photos by Meg Gagnard

Albert Kahn was a French banker and philanthropist who happened to be a millionaire. The story behind this magnificent place is quite simple yet so intriguing. He acquired the gardens in Boulogne-Billancourt in in the late 1800’s, and it was a meeting place until he went bankrupt. The park was then made public. It has always been known for its rose gardens, Japanese gardens, English gardens and conifer wood.

As he was a big traveler and loved photography, the modern gardens are now considered a national museum and house many of his photographs. He is well known for his daring color photography from various regions across the globe. His fortuned turned to dust after the Wall Street crash, but his vivid color photography never lost value.

What used to be his estate, the gardens of Albert Kahn, are some of the most colorful corners of the Paris region. You can wander and feel like you’re in a wonderland of freshness with the flowers blooming left and right. It’s one of those places that is almost “left out”, as it is outside Paris’s borders, but I feel like it’s a magical treasure that everyone should take a minute to discover.

The gardens are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm in the winter months and from 11am to 7pm in the summer months. The cost to enter the museum and gardens is 3 euros, or 1,5 euros for children, seniors or students.
Entrance is located at the terminus of line 10, Boulogne — Pont de Saint Cloud. [Map]

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