Cool Paris

Albert Kahn designed a magnificent garden to match his own imaginary world, peaceful and free of boundaries. The eccentric banker and philanthropist of the 20th-century left to posterity more than four hectares of roses, fruit and cedar trees, a playful Vosgean forest and a host of English, French and Japanese gardens.

Though the garden is located just 50 metres from the metro, the silence of this poetic place leaves you world’s away.Your senses awaken as soon as you enter the garden. The odour of the fruit trees mingle with the sounds of water flowing from the fountains and the birds sing joyfully in this refreshing environment. There are no signs to indicate the way through the gardens, each visitor must follow his own individual path. Let the beauty of the English roses seduce you, the serenity of the Japanese gardens soothe you and the cool of the blue forest refresh you.

We visited the place in summertime and it is indeed a peaceful garden. Also the museums gives an overview of a part of the history of photography (1910-1940) because Albert Kahn had a wonderful project to create a colour photographic record of, and for, the peoples of the world. As an idealist and an internationalist, Kahn believed that he could use the new autochrome process, the world’s first user-friendly, true-colour photographic system, to promote cross-cultural peace and understanding. Kahn used his vast fortune to send a group of intrepid photographers to more than fifty countries around the world, often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed for ever by war and the march of twentieth-century globalisation.

Albert Kahn Jardin et Musée , 10-14 rue du Port, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, M° Boulogne Pont de Saint-Cloud(last stop of line 10), one minute walking to the entrance, open from 11 am to 6 pm, closed on Monday