13.33 - Those iconic Parisian green chairs - why do they appeal so?
Why? They’re comfortable, I can move my chair to sun or shade, & I can face whichever view I prefer, however, even more importantly, immediately my bottom hits those chairs I feel more Parisian!
1.Those iconic Parisian green chairs - why do they appeal so? 2. NEW published articles: MyFrenchLife™ Magazine 3. Merci mille fois
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Those iconic Parisian green chairs - why do they appeal so?
What’s the most iconic thing in Paris? If asked the question, I’d probably say the Eiffel Tower. And yes, I’d be right. However, there’s another design icon in Paris that, in my view, should be as celebrated as Gustave Eiffel’s 1889 edifice — the famous green SENAT chair.
I find that these chairs bring back wonderful memories of magic times spent in Paris. What I love about these green chairs is pretty simple really. Whenever I enter, the Luxembourg Gardens, Palais Royal, or the Tuileries Gardens, unless I’m in an enormous rush or if it’s pouring rain, I make a beeline for a chair.
Why? They’re comfortable, I can move my chair to sun or shade, and I can face whichever view I prefer, however, even more importantly, immediately my bottom hits those chairs I feel more Parisian - ridiculous I know, but true!
What makes these green chairs Iconic?
Seats are commonplace in most public parks around the world… so what’s unique about these chairs? Yes, they’re free to use, but unusually they’re entirely mobile. You have carte blanche to do anything you want with them except place them on forbidden-to-walk on grass!
What do YOU call these famous green chairs? Do you call them Luxembourg chairs, SENAT chairs, or even just the Parisian green chairs? They’re part of Park life in Paris. They’re so plentiful that you can almost always find one available, to enable you to sit amongst others and pretend you live in Paris. These green chairs are simple, however, they’re an icon of Paris - albeit a small one.
This is just one of the things I love about France, and Paris in this instance, is that everything seems to have history and a back story and these green chairs are no different
The backstory of the Parisian green chairs?
The 18th century saw the introduction of more comfortable individual chairs replacing benches in Parisian parks. Private companies rented out the chairs, but, Parisians weren’t at all enamoured to have to pay to sit in a park!
The French government intervened to lower the rental rates. In 1843 France decided to purchase 1,500 chairs to rent to the public.
The SENAT chairs
When the green chairs started to show their age. The Sénat issued a call to tender and picked Fermob to produce 2,000 new green chairs for the Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin des Tuileries, and Jardin du Palais-Royal. Soon they spread throughout parks and gardens around Paris. For as iconic and emblematic as these chairs are, the original designers and manufacturers remain unknown.
The chairs are made in Thoissey, not far from Lyon, in an ironworks factory that was the original manufacturer of the chairs. Each steel chair is made from an exact mold and painted green: RAL 6013 to be exact. Some have wooden armrests and others don’t.
Like so many things in Paris, incredible attention and thought went into perfecting these chairs. And if you’d like to have a piece of Paris at home, the Fermob Luxembourg chairs are available online, and in all different colors (but sadly NOT that specific Paris green).
Re-interpreting the SENAT chairs
In 2003, Fermob asked Frédéric Sofia to reinterpret the classic SENAT chairs. He spent an entire year studying everything about the chairs. He finally created a new more comfortable design. This design became the Luxembourg chair.
In 2001, when Bernard Reybier approached me to create a range of accessories inspired by the SENAT Chair, I went and covered the length and breadth of the Jardin du Luxembourg. I then photographed all the different models, took their measurements and sketched on paper all the seats in the garden: the chair, the bridge chair and the low armchair. It was a real pleasure. It was also an opportunity to discover their secrets of fabrication. Some chairs were very narrow, with strange steel ball feet, while others had large log-like armrests – some were higher, others wider, with slats of varying dimensions and placed at various heights. I saw design errors and an obvious lack of ergonomics. After a year of consideration, it became clear to me that, for a collection destined for private gardens, the chairs themselves needed to be redesigned and reconsidered.
Did you know that the SENAT chairs and Luxembourg chairs aren’t the same thing? Fermob produces the SENAT chair exclusively for the Sénat, but the Luxembourg chair is available worldwide.
Fermob does manufacture furniture that the public can buy. They do have a ‘Luxembourg’ chair that they sell, but the SENAT chairs are exclusively for the Parisian parks, including that specific green.
The chair that is available for purchase is a light aluminum and comes in many colors (including green, but NOT that green!) which are stackable. Fifty percent of Fermob’s orders are shipped outside of France, everyone wants a piece of Paris in their garden!
So, next time you’re in Paris, you’ll sit on one of these iconic chairs and perhaps for a moment think about the joie de vivre they’ve provided to so many for so long - myself included.
Don’t miss Part 5/12 of this series: Bordeaux and beyond
We were determined to take the path less travelled and we discover stunning rural vistas, super friendly locals, and a vibrant food and wine culture in France, way beyond our expectations.” said Contributor Craig Healey. Discover more…
“When Spring arrived in Provence, I remember being very excited one day as I passed my first Poppy field. It was the month of May. I gasped when I came across this field of red that appeared before me” said contributor Suzanne Vidal. Discover more…
“Merci mille fois... for reading ‘le Bulletin’ …I'm grateful that you’re here - I really enjoy writing for you each week...” Judy MacMahon
Thank you for your messages, suggestions, creative ideas, collaborations, & opposing viewsare all welcome. Send me a message À Bientôt, Judy x
PS: this week’s paid ‘le Bulletin’ - 13.33.a - Paris metro stations: beauty, design, quirky, phantom & extraordinary images - is in your inbox. Check-out the preview & consider upgrading if you enjoy it.
PPS:Bookclub EVENTS for ‘My Cousin Maria Schneider’ by Vanessa Schneider in a few days… #Bookchat
i) Our French Book Club #Bookchat has two text CHAT channels OPEN (one in our private Facebook group #Bookchat (join via our private Community group and ask to join #bookchat once you’re in), and one on ‘le Bulletin’ on Substackhere). (ii)EVENT dates & times have been confirmed for TWO online Zoom EVENTS on 21 and 22 August ‘23 to accommodate bookclub readers in FIVE timezones. More places are available. (iii) Emails with the EVENT Zoom link have been sent to those who have already RSVPd. If you’d like to attend the RSVPs are still open and here is the RSVP Form.
I love those chairs!
Now I have a plan for how to visit Bordeaux.