Luxembourg Palace, gardens, museum and Senate at the same place

The Luxembourg Palace was built on the grounds of a 16th-century mansion that belonged to François de Piney, Duke of Luxembourg. This family has only a distant and indirect connection with the Duchy of Luxembourg. Moreover, at the time of the purchase, this lineage had long since died out and the duchy was held by Spain.

Today, the Luxembourg Palace is close to The Pantheon and Sorbonne of Paris.

Three entities in one place

In fact, what is called "Le Luxembourg" is comprised of 3 entities, all independent but under the authority of the Senate, the High Chamber of the legislative branch of the French state.

• The Palais du Luxembourg, which houses the High Assembly
• The Jardin du Luxembourg in which the Palace is located
• The Luxembourg Museum, whose origin dates back to 1750

The Luxembourg Palace: the building

The regent Marie de Médicis, the widow of Henri IV, bought the hotel and the domain known as "de Luxembourg" in 1612 and ordered in 1615 the construction of the building which began in 1624 and ended in 1631. But she was exiled by her son Louis XIII following conspiracies (Day of the Dupes). When she died in 1642, she bequeathed the Luxembourg Palace to her second son Gaston, Duke of Orleans, the younger brother of King Louis XIII. After a series of successions, the Palace returned to the royal fold. In December 1778, King Louis XVI granted the estate and the castle to his brother Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, Count of Provence, and future Louis XVIII. After the latter fled in 1791 to escape the Revolutionaries, the Luxembourg Palace was declared "national property" and became a prison until 1795.

The Luxembourg at the center of power

The 5 Directors of France settled there (The government at the time was called "Directory" directed by 5 Directors). Bonaparte, First Consul, settled in the Luxembourg Palace on November 15, 1799 (The direction of France had changed to "Consulate" with 3 Consuls of which Bonaparte was the 1st Consul). The Conservative Senate, an assembly created by the Constitution of the year VIII, (promulgated on February 28, 1800) settles there in advance on December 28, 1799. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte had the building transformed by the architect Chalgrin and in 1804, the first senators were installed. They were 80 and formed the "Conservative Senate" in charge of approving the decisions of the emperor. In 1814, with the return of the Bourbon royalty, it was assigned to the Chamber of Peers. Thereafter, it kept its parliamentary vocation. The Luxembourg Palace was subsequently assigned to all the successive upper houses of the different regimes.

A few years later, the question arose as to how to install the 271 people who then made up the "Chambre des Pairs". In 1836, Louis Philippe asked the architect Alphonse de Gisors to enlarge the palace. The building is as we see it today.

During the Second World War, the palace was occupied by the Germans, then liberated by the Allied troops in 1944.

The Luxembourg Palace and the current Senate

In 1958, General de Gaulle created the Fifth Republic: he re-established the Senate which is the one we still know today. The 321 senators of the Palais du Luxembourg meet in commissions to examine the texts of law. It is the Upper Chamber but it does not have primacy over the Chamber of Deputies: the laws are amended and voted by the 2 chambers (shuttle between the 2 chambers), but in "last reading", only the final texts voted by the Chamber of Deputies are promulgated into law.

The President of the Senate is the second most important person in the State after the President of the Republic. This means that in case of vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic (death, illness, etc.), the President of the Senate becomes de facto the "provisional" President of France while waiting for the elected President of the Republic.

It should be noted that the library of the Senate counts 450,000 books.

The visit of the Palais du Luxembourg and the spaces occupied by the Senate

It is possible to visit the part of the Palais du Luxembourg occupied by the Senate, but it's very regulated: it is one of the two legislative assemblies of France. (See below the conditions...).
When the High Assembly is in session (usually on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), it is possible to attend the sessions, upon invitation by a Senator.
Other visits are not allowed, except in groups of up to 40 people and on the initiative of Senators. (Time limit of 3 months).

In addition to the hemicycle of the session where the assemblies are held, the Senate includes sumptuous and historical rooms and corridors such as the Golden Book Room, the Chapel, the Library of 52 m long and 450,000 volumes, its annex, the Conference Room, the Staircase of Honour, all lined with statues and gilded paneling and painted ceilings.

The Gardens of the Luxembourg Palace

Marie de Médicis took particular care to create a 24-hectare park around her palace, with 2,000 elm trees, fountains, and Italian-style grottoes, inspired by the Buontalenti Grotto in the Boboli garden in Florence, where she was originally from.

The Luxembourg gardens strike the walker today by the juxtaposition of their French parterres, which the meridian of Paris crosses and which is framed by the statuary of the Illustrious Queens and Ladies, and along the rue Auguste Comte, of its English garden with the nonchalant layout of its paths. Further west, towards rue Vavin, a fruit garden is, among other things, a conservatory of old pear varieties such as the Beurré Hardy. Near the Porte Vavin, a beehive has been installed by the Senate.

The Luxembourg Museum near the Palace in the Luxembourg Garden

The Musée du Luxembourg is located in the north-western part of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Entry is by the Gardens and also by the rue de Vaugirard.

Marie de Medici had commissioned a series of paintings from Rubens for each of the apartments. They were to form two cycles, the cycle of the life of Marie de Medici, intended for the gallery of her apartment, and a cycle of the life of Henry IV which was not completed (intended for the king's gallery). The series devoted to the queen mother is now in the Louvre.

The Musée du Luxembourg was the first French museum to be opened to the public in 1750, almost fifty years before the creation of the Louvre Museum. It was intended to exhibit to the public the collections belonging to the King stored at Versailles. The abbot Gougenot made this report: "The collection of the King's paintings [...] now amounts to 1,800 pieces, both from foreign masters and from our school. Of this number, M. de Tournehem has just had 96 exhibited. We have reason to hope that he will make us review them successively, at least those that can be easily transported." These paintings of the King were displayed next to the finished paintings of Rubens. Visits took place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in slots of only three hours! Most of the collections from this period were repatriated to the Louvre.

Since 2000, the Musée du Luxembourg has presented two exhibitions per year. The main themes of the program are the Renaissance in Europe, the relationship between art and power, and the role of Paris as a capital of the arts. Near the Palais and the Jardin du Luxembourg, the museum, owned by the Senate, enjoys an exceptional environment in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Its spaces have been entirely redesigned by the architect Shigeru Ban to accommodate the Angelina restaurant/tea room and the museum's educational workshops.