Visitor Information
How to get there
The Jardin des Paradis are just below the hilltop village of Cordes-sur-Ciel, in the Tarn département of the Midi-Pyrénées region of south-western France. The gardens are signposted on the main approaches (via D600) to the village from Albi, Toulouse, etc.
Shaded public car parking spaces are nearby. Events are generally heavily-promoted, via banners and posters around Cordes, or ask at tourist offices for programme details.
Further information:
Le jardin des Paradis,
Place du Théron,
81170 Cordes-sur-Ciel,
Tel: 0033 (0)5 63 56 29 77
Paradise Found...
To prove that even the most innovative French gardeners still strive to
create a little piece of heaven here on Earth, we visit les Jardin des Paradis.
Formality
is all very well, but it's a pretty safe bet that for as long as there
have been gardeners there will also have been those with a desire to bend
the rules now and then. Others, of course, make a habit of it. Over the
years garden designers Eric Ossart and Arnaud Maurières have become
adept at doing just that, Eric having served a five-year stint as resident
designer for the Conservatoire de Chaumont-sur-Loire, home of the internationally-renowned
summer garden festivals. Arnaud, on the other hand, was serving his time
further south, most notably as founder (and subsequently Director) of the
Ecole Mediterranean des Jardins et du Paysage, in Grasse. The two creative
forces eventually teamed up to produce, among other things, the Jardin des
Cinq Sens for the city of Blois, a rose garden for the Parc Floral de la
Source, in Orléans plus the Jardin de l'Alchimiste in Eygalières. In 1997, in collaboration with
Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, they took the unusual step
of establishing an entirely new garden of their own, this time in the Midi-Pyrénées
region of South-western France. We recently decided to take a look at the
results.
Progress is then accompanied by water cascading through a succession of galvanised buckets, each fitted with a small copper spout and embellished with a bright seasonal blossom floating on the surface of the water. It's to be a recurring theme. Further down is a large citern which serves as a reservoir for the spring water used to irrigate the gardens, its dark, cool waters allowed a decorative role by the addition of more floating blossom, while trout glint and swirl among the shadows below. Opposite stands a dense plantation of tall, huge-leafed Musa basjoo banana plants, which, with its other tropical companions, create a dark sense of mystery and near-isolation. It's short-lived, however, as nearby lie areas carpeted with a blaze of annuals. Zinnias, verbenas, salvias and giant ageratum then give way to dahlias (both red and white), perillas and euphorbias. Just around the corner, though lies another of the garden's trademark features, a water garden featuring a huge rectangular pond bounded on one side by a walkway made from (French-grown) sequoia decking. At either end of the decking are large glazed pots of Thalia dealbata, underplanted with Phoenix canadensis, and Mandarinien underplanted with purple Plectranthus. The large expanse of water really allows the floating blossom theme full reign, voyaging in the breeze between the plate-like leaves of pink- and white-flowered water-lilies (whose resident frog population is clearly more preoccupied with the emperor dragonflies which skim the surface of the pond).
Beyond the pond are a breathtaking views of the hills across the valley,
uninterrupted except for the unmistakable outline of an Italian cypress spearing
up from the hill below. The effect is like having suddenly been transported
to Tuscany. After the cool grey crushed slate employed elsewhere for more
shaded areas, the fragments of terra-cotta surfacing the adjoining paths
sustains the warmer, more exotic mood around the pool.
After all these unashamedly exotic stylistic touches
the remaining, lower garden terraces (described as 'experimental') come
as something of a surprise to those unaware of what to expect. The initial
impression here is of a kitchen garden elevated to monumental proportions.
Closer inspection, reveals a disciplined and carefully considered planting
plan, with shaded, pergola-style walkways advancing between successive
beds of vegetables mulched, in time-honoured fashion, with straw. Not that
the potager theme is allowed to be too constraining; leeks, pumpkins and
tomatoes (over sixty varieties), are accompanied by mallow, chard, rare
vines, assorted fruits and no fewer than thirty types of pepper. Boosting
the visual impact still further are gladioli, salvias, assorted herbs and
various other species traditionally grown among vegetables in modest cottage
gardens. Overlooking it all are huge banks of lavenders, Lavender Dream
roses, potted lemon trees and lemon-scented pelargoniums, bathing the whole
scene in a rich, heavenly fragrance.
Add the garden's sensational elevated location, almost floating above the
surrounding landscapes, and it's hardly surprising that it inspires a tangible
mood of sanctuary and wellbeing. With this very much in mind, the hosts stage
an inspiring range of themed events throughout the summer season, while its
pavilion-style museum displays their creators' personal collection of ceramics
and Persian carpets. The gardens are a dream come true, and what's more,
each season brings new ideas and variations to surprise the growing numbers
of visitors who have come to share their creators' passion for them.
© Words and pictures Roger Moss
This feature first appeared in everything France
magazine Issue 11
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