HYDE PARK

Hyde Park, London's green lung, is the largest and best known park in the capital. It is also the favourite of Londoners who come here to jog or simply walk, especially on Sundays. Unlike many French parks, you can do almost anything in Hyde Park: cycling, rollerblading, rowing, horse riding, picnicking... Historically, it was Henri VIII who acquired this land from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536. It will serve as a hunting ground until James I accedes to the throne and authorizes access to it. The site had several uses: an important gathering place under Charles II, it hosted the Universal Exhibition in 1851 and was transformed into a potato field during the Second World War. In winter it hosts the Winter Wonderland, a Christmas village, and in summer we like to come for a picnic like the real English.

Diana Memorial Fountain. Open from April to August from 10am to 8pm, in September from 10am to 7pm, from March to October from 10am to 6pm and from November to February from 10am to 4pm. The memorial is generally closed once a year, at the end of October-early November, for maintenance purposes. The memorial was inaugurated on July 6, 2004. It represents a fountain with contemporary forms whose design, created by the American architect Kathryn Gustafson, is a metaphor that reflects Diana's life with two waves separating, one of which forms a waterfall, eddies, bubbles and eventually joins the other in a quiet pool. Water is constantly renewed, drawn directly from the city's drinking water reserves.

Marble Arch. At the northern corner of Hyde Park, Marble Arch is a vast white Carrara marble monument built in 1928 by architect John Nash. Marble Arch is inspired by Constantine's Arc de Triomphe in Rome. It was originally located in the Mall and served as a doorway to Buckingham Palace, but was moved in 1851 during the extensive development of Buckingham Palace by Queen Victoria to its present location.

Speaker's Corner. Speakers' Corner is a public area where it is possible to speak freely. At this place, everyone is allowed to speak as long as what they say is not in violation of the law. The police rarely intervene, usually when listeners complain or when the language is really vulgar. This is where fundamentalists of all stripes come to shout out their convictions. The comments are most often political or religious.