Norton Simon Museum, a bubble of oxygen
Agri-food industrialist within the Hunt Foods and Industries company, also head of publishing companies, owner of the Canada Dry brand and the Avis car rental agency, Norton Simon was also a great collector of works of art exhibited since 1969 in a very rarely visited museum.
People come here especially for its spectacular garden where dozens of bronze sculptures of people or animals by Henry Moore, Aristide Maillol and Gwynn Murrill are erected around a water lily pond.
In the shade of the trees, some come to read, meditate or enjoy a quarter of an hour of peace and quiet.
Entrance ticket: €17.
400 W Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena.
nortonsimon.org.
To discover
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Good to know:
5 minutes by car, the hidden Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden offers an oasis of calm little known to Angelenos.
Entrance ticket: €11.
270 Arlington Drive, Pasadena.
japanesegardenpasadena.com
SRF Lake Shrine meditation gardens, to find peace
SRF Lake Shrine meditation gardens, to find peace.
Alexis Chenu / Le Figaro
To be sure not to meet anyone, you have to go to Mount Washington, on the
Eastside
of Los Angeles, a charming residential area where the Self Realization Lake Shrine, a spiritual temple having introduced, among others, Angelenos to art of yoga, was established in 1925 in place of an old abandoned hotel.
Open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday, the temple's meditation gardens offer rare visitors a space dedicated to relaxation and silence.
Between Japanese gardens, large lawns and fountains, there are some panoramic and breathtaking views of Downtown and the Los Angeles sky.
FREE ENTRANCE.
3880 San Rafael Avenue.
lakeshrine.org.
Good to know:
the temple has another site in Hollywood, at the time frequented by Elvis Presley or the actress Linda Evans, with a grandiose lake and meditation gardens.
17190 Sunset Boulevard.
Frogtown, and a river runs through it
Frogtown, and a river runs through it.
Alexis Chenu / Le Figaro
83 kilometers long, the LA River, almost dry all year round, and whose architecture has been the scene of numerous films – from
Grease
to
Terminator 2
or
Batman
– counts in the Frogtown sector, a particularly relaxing area.
The activist and poet Lewis MacAdams, who campaigned all his life for the protection of the fauna and flora of the river, there is a park in his name, a kayak club invites a few months of the year (usually d 'April to May) to sail, and the inauguration in 2022 of the all-orange Taylor Yard bridge adds an architectural and poetic imprint to the place.
On the banks of the LA river, between herons and ducks, lush nature can be seen, and the passage of cyclists on its dedicated paths gives the site a rediscovered countryside feel.
Good to know:
to be alone in the world, the Quantum Clinic, which runs along the river, offers floating sessions in the water in capsules equipped with chromotherapy technologies.
2828 Nevell Street.
quantumclinic.com.
The Huntington Library, gardens of inspiration
The Huntington Library, gardens of inspiration.
Alexis Chenu / Le Figaro
In Pasadena, the railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington built a Beaux-Arts style palace in 1919 to store his collection of paintings and sculptures, opened a library compiling more than 6 million manuscripts, and several galleries of exhibition, and built marvelous botanical gardens.
Over more than 60 hectares, there is a succession of Japanese Zen gardens, avenues of roses, palm groves, a cactus garden and a tropical greenhouse, where you can wander for hours among mausoleums and sculptures.
The tea room with terrace makes the perfect final stop.
Entrance ticket: $25.
1151 Oxford Road, Pasadena.
huntington.org.
Good to know:
to be alone in the world, come when the doors open at 10 a.m., or arm yourself with the
contributor
pass (€230) which allows access to the gardens from 8 a.m., without any tourists in sight.
Watts Tower, the unusual walk
Watts Tower, the unusual walk.
Alexis Chenu / Le Figaro
Between 1921 and 1954, Simon Rodia, an Italian immigrant who came to work as a mason in California, began building nine towers, each 20 to 30 meters high, all made up of thousands of mosaic fragments, pieces of glass, shells and materials from soda cans or dishes.
Located south of Los Angeles, the site, unknown to most Angelenos, allows you to stroll, as if in a nave, in the aisles of a picturesque open-air cathedral, and surprisingly well preserved.
Entrance ticket: €6.50.
1727 E 107th Street.
wattstowers.org.
Good to know:
the Watts Tower Center, which manages tours of the towers, offers a permanent exhibition which tells in detail the entire history of the creator and the towers.
Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, self-reflection
Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, self-reflection.
Alexis Chenu / Le Figaro
Open by appointment only, this Renaissance-style residence built by a wealthy vineyard owner in 1910, passed through the hands of several Hollywood producers, was converted into a retirement home before being acquired by a spiritual movement inspired by the New Age in the 1970s. If the visit to the house and its water basin is done under the escort of a guide, the free walk around the site reveals gardens decorated with gleaming fountains, lawns and flowers, and walk through a spiral labyrinth floor inspired by the model of Chartres Cathedral, and 800 meters long.
Ideal for disconnecting from the bustling city.
Entrance ticket: €6.
3500 West Adams Boulevard.
peacelabyrinth.org.
Good to know:
regularly throughout the year, the site organizes sound bath sessions and tea ceremonies.