Jardin du Carrousel is the official name for the space around the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, built to celebrate Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz (a carrousel is a horse parade). Jacques Wirtz was landscape architect for the space around the arch. It looks entirely appropriate on plan but is less successful on the ground. Strips of stone paving radiate from the triumphal arch. Westward, they meet grass and become clumpy hedges. The best feature of the scheme is the 18 statues by Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) placed between the hedges; the problem with the paving is that the surrounding gravel makes it always chalk-smeared; the problem with the hedges is their poor maintenance and relative lack of dignity.
