I stumbled across a small secret garden with a big story to tell the other week as I was going to one of my favourite English bookstores in Paris. Just near the Smith & Son bookstore in the Marais district, hidden behind buildings and with only a narrow gated entrance, I found Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret. Stopping to read about the garden on the City of Paris information sign, I then slipped through the open gate, to be quickly enveloped in freshness and lush leafy shade.
Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret - A Small Secret Garden in the Marais
Let me share more with you about this wonderful secret green space in the 4th arrondissement - where you'll find it, who the garden honours and my personal photos and a YouTube clip to watch. Be transported to this little slice of Parisian heaven hidden behind shops, office buildings and apartments.
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Where to find Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret
Located between the Hôtel de Coulanges and the Hôtel d'Albret, headquarters of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Paris, this green space pays homage to Joseph Migneret (1888-1949), former director of the Hospitallères Saint Gervais school (a boys school) from 1920 to 1944.
View from small public seating area where I ate my macarons
Joseph Migneret is Honoured with a Parisian Garden
The garden honours Migneret who during World War II sheltered many of his former students and helped save fleeing Jews by providing them with false papers. Through his courage dozens of Jewish children were saved from deportation and certain death. Read our related post on the Deportation Memorial Île de la Cité, Paris.
The creation of the garden started in 2007 and was completed in 2014. It was created by merging the private gardens of the mansions that border it - Hôtel de Coulanges, Hôtel Barbes and Hôtel d'Albret. Because of these individual gardens joining into one, Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret is divided into several areas. The garden also features a listed historical monument. One of the 77 towers of the Wall of Philip II Augustus can be seen near the garden entrance, and this alone is worth seeing. Imagine in the centre of a busy city, you can see a piece of history that transcends the centuries - I am always blown away by the ancient architecture that Paris divulges if you go searching.
What You'll Find in Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret
As you make your way through this garden it opens up, discloses more secrets and envelopes you in a very really leafy space that is loved by locals and rarely seen by the majority of tourists. Follow the path and you'll see vegetable gardens, a remarkable fig tree and chestnut tree, children's play area (under upgrade while I was there) and even a chess table with two stools just waiting for you to play a game. The espalier trees are much older than you'd first think and the beauty of the quiet garden will grow on you, leaving you refreshed to keep exploring the city.
I sat in one of the small public seating areas eating a macaron (actually I ate two) and browsing the new books I'd just purchased at Smith & Son when a little girl pushing a toy pram filled with dolls passed with her mum. The little girl alternated chatting with her dolls and her mother as they wandered the paths. As I witnessed this wonderful simple exchange of everyday life, I felt that the future this little girl could look forward to, was what Migneret sacrificed for as he risked his life for the Jewish children he saved.
So that's the secret garden with a big story to tell - Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret!
The garden is nestled between surrounding offices and apartments
Helpful Information
The garden's opening and closing hours differ quite a lot throughout the year as many gardens in Paris do. With the colder weather and early sunsets, gardens around the city are locked much earlier than during the long balmy summer days. Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret is open week days from 8am and on weekends and public holidays the garden opens at 9:00am.
The garden's closing times depend on the season. From 1st to 31st March closing time is 6:00pm. From 1st April to 30th September the garden closes at 7:00pm. From 1st October to the beginning of winter it closes at 6:00pm and during the winter months until the end of February it closes at 5:15pm.
Location: 10 rue des Rosiers, 75004, Paris
Metro: Saint-Paul, Line 1
Tour Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret with me on YouTube
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