Notable gardens of France

The Notable Gardens of France is a list and description of the two hundred and some gardens classified as "Jardins Remarquable" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France. The complete list and the criteria for selection (in French) can be found on: [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr site of the Comité des Parcs et Jardins.] Other gardens not on the list can be found or added to the categories 'Gardens in France' and 'Gardens.'

Gardens of Alsace

Bas-Rhin

* Kintzheim - The Park of ruins of the Château de Kintzheim. In 1802 Matthieu de Favier, a future baron of the French Empire, bought a former feudal domain and a ruined 12th century castle on a mountain, and built a mansion in the new Directory style. In 1803–1807, he created a romantic landscape garden, or "jardin tableau", to highlight the view of the ruined castle, inspired by the paintings of Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorraine, and Hubert Robert. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/parc_des_ruines_du_ch_teau_de_kintzheim-781.html (See photos)]

* Kolbsheim - The Garden of the Château of Kolbsheim. Located 15 kilometers southwest of Strasbourg, overlooking the plain of Alsace. The chateau has two wings, the oldest built in 1703. The upper part of the garden is geometric French garden, decorated with ponds, fountains, hedges and sculpted trees. The lower part is an English park, with many hundred-year old trees. Much of the garden was destroyed in the First World War, but was restored by the Grunelius family, the present owners. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/parc_et_jardin_du_ch_teau_de_kolbsheim-349.html (See photos)]

* Ottrott - The Domaine of Windeck. The house was built by an Alsatian nobleman, Joseph Pescalis, in 1770. The park was begun by Armand Theodore de Partein in 1835. It built in the romantic style, with clusters of trees, ponds and views of the ruined castle of Ottrott. Later trees from America and Asia were added. It includes a beech tree 20 meters high, several sequoia trees fifty meters high and four meters in diameter; American oak trees; cryptomeria trees from Japan; and groves of bamboo. In spring the garden has colorful displays of rhododendrons. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/le_domaine_de_windeck-867.html (See photos) ]

* Plobsheim - The Garden of Marguerite. A small English "secret" garden created by Marguerite and Michel Goetz in 1990, in the heart of the Alsatian village of Plobsheim. The garden features a stream, bridge, fountain, 2000 varieties of plants, and 150 varieties of old roses. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/le_jardin_de_marguerite-370.html (See photos)]

* Saverne - The Botanical Garden of the Saverne Pass. An enclave in the Vosges Forest, featuring local trees, bushes and herbaceous plants in their natural setting. The garden is also known for its bracken, iris from Siberia, and its collection of carnivorous plants. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/jardin_botanique_du_col_de_saverne-412.html (See Photos)]

* Strasbourg - The Botanical Gardens of the Universite Louis-Pasteur were originally founded by the French Academy of Sciences in 1619, and were the second-oldest botantical gardens in France. During the French-German War of 1870, the gardens were turned into a cemetery and largely destroyed. The gardens were recreated between 1880 and 1884. Today the gardens, located on 3.5 hectares, have 6000 species of plants, including a collection of rare trees from around the world, including a giant sequoia from California a massive pecan tree, and a walnut tree from the Caucasus. Greenhouses shelter a remarkable collection of tropical plants, including giant waterlily ("Victoria regia") from the Amazon River basin. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/jardin_botanique_de_l_universitE_louis_pasteur-382.html (See photos of the garden)]

* Uttenhoffen - The Garden of La Ferme Bleue. A modern garden built around a farm from the time of the Thirty Years War in the 17th century, whose buildings, like those of other Protestant farmers of the time, were painted blue. The garden features sculpture, fruit trees and fountains, and colorful seasonal displays of flowers. The garden was created by landscape architect Jean-Louis Cura. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/bas_rhin/jardin_de_la_ferme_bleue-352.html (See photos)]

Haut-Rhin

* Guebwiller - The Park of the Marseillaise is a public botanical garden and arboretum in the center of the town of Guebwiller, created by landscape designer Edouard Andre between 1897 and 1899. It contains a large fountain, bandstand, a great variety of trees, rhododendrons and roses, and colorful seasonal flower beds of begonias, dahlias and iris. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/haut_rhin/parc_de_la_marseillaise-1125.html (See photos)]

* Husseren-Wesserling - Parc of Wesserling. Created beginning in 1699 at the site of a the hunting lodge of the prince-abbey of Murbach, the garden contains formal French gardens and an English park,as well as contemporary statues. Trees include a giant sequoia, Virginia tulip, red oak, cypress, linden and maple, plus acacia, plus many kinds of seasonal flowers. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/haut_rhin/parc_de_wesserling-420.html (see photos)]

* Mulhouse - The Zoo and Botanical Park of Mulhouse Sud-Alsace The park was created in 1868 as a romantic landscape garden, with a zoo whose collection included kangaroo, deer and birds. Today the zoo has more than 1200 animals, and is dedicated to preserving rare species of plants and animals. It contains many species of tropical birds and monkeys, 400 kinds of iris in spring and dahlias in summer, and trees shaped into fantastic forms. It also features a garden of the senses for the blind, with signs in braille and plants chosen for their smell and touch. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/haut_rhin/parc_zoologique_et_botanique_de_mulhouse-443.html (See photos)]

* Riedisheim - Park Alfred Wallach. Created in 1935 by Paris landscape architect Achille Duchesne, the Park has all the elements of a classic French garden; a large lawn; ornamental flower beds bordered by hedges; a rose garden with 136 varieties; a "salle de repos" (eng: place of repose) with statues and trees; a basin and fountain; a small labyrinth; stairways connecting the different parts of the garden; and tree-shaded alleys. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/alsace/haut_rhin/parc_alfred_wallach-414.html (See photos)]

Gardens of Aquitaine

Dordogne

* Domme - Park and Boxwood Garden of the Château of Caudon. A French garden and romantic English landscape park, created between 1808 and 1814 by the Marquis Jacques de Malville, one of the authors of the French Civil Code. Located on a hill above the left bank of the Dordogne River, the chateau dates to the Louis XVI-French Empire period. The garden features an alley of thirty-two plane trees, all nearly two hundred years old; a remarkable topiary garden of boxwood hedges, and labyrinth; A Cedar of Lebanon tree and a giant sequoia.

* Eymet - Park and Kitchen Garden of Pouthet. A small 18th century chateau in the valley of the Dropt River features an alley of cedar planted in 1860; cyclamen, crocus and jonquil in season; and a garden of vegetables and flowers grouped by color. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/pouthet-354.html (See pictures.)]

* Hautefort - Gardens of the Château de Hautefort. The chateau was reconstructed in the 17th century, and embellished with a garden in the French style. In 1853 the gardens were redone by the celebrated landscape architect the Count of Choulot, and the chateau, gardens and landscape were unified, with geometric flower gardens, topiary gardens imitating the domes of the chateau, and a long tunnel of greenery. Next to the formal gardens is a hill with an Italian garden with winding shaded paths. Notable trees in the park include a Magnolia Grandiflora and a Cedar of Lebanon. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/parc_et_jardin_du_ch_teau_de_hautefort-345.html (See pictures)]

* Le Buisson-de-Cadouin - Garden of Planbuisson. The garden presents two hundred and sixty four different types of bamboo, from dwarf bamboo to giant, as well as exotic trees, such as "Paulownia fortunei". The garden is particularly attractive at the end of summer, autumn and winter. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/jardin_de_planbuisson_parc_aux_bambous_du_pErigord-784.html (See photos)]

* Saint-Cybranet - Gardens of Albarede An unusual modern garden, created by landscape architect Serge Lapouge. The garden features one thousand species adapted to the dry and rigorous climate and poor soil of the region. It presents fruit trees, aromatic plants, a topiary garden, old types of vegetables and roses, as well as examples of the rural architecture of the Perigord region. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/les_jardins_de_l_albarede-1209.html (see photos)]

* Saint-Germain-de-Belvès - Garden of Conty. A French hilltop garden in Perigord, inspired by the gardens of Tuscany. The garden features cypress trees from Italy, chestnut, plane trees, walnut and oak, a wide variety of fruit trees, and a Medieval kitchen garden. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/chartreuse_de_conty-871.html (See Photos)]

* Salignac-Eyvigues - Gardens of the manor of d'Eyrignac The gardens and forest. from the 18th century, surround a 17th century manor house on a hill, with water coming from seven springs. Only a pavilion, fountains and basins remain from the original 18th century garden. In the 1960s, the new owner. Giles Sermadiras de Cuzols de Lile, created a new garden, inspired by gardens from the Renaissance and Italian gardens to the end of the 18th century. The garden features topiary sculptures, vistas. fountains, statues, and an alley of vases. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/jardins_du_manoir_d_eyrignac-341.html (see photos)]

* Thonac - Gardens of the château de Losse. The pleasure garden of a Renaissance chateau next to the Vezere River, with gardens atop the walls overlooking the river, a tunnel of vines, a fine rose garden, a courtyard with squares planted with lavender, edged with romarin, and guarded by cypress trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_losse-1148.html (see photos)]

* Vézac - Gardens of Marqueyssac. Built in the 17th century by Bertrand Vernet, Counselor to the King. The original garden was created by a pupil of Le Notre, and featured gardens, terraces, and a kitchen garden surrounding the chateau. A grand promenade one hundred meters long was added at the end of the 18th century. Beginning in 1866, the new owner, Julien de Cerval, who was inspired by Italian gardens, built rustic structures, redesigned the parterres, laid out five kilometers of walks, and planted pines and cypress trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/jardins_de_marqueyssac-356.html (See Photos)]

* Terrasson-Lavilledieu - Gardens of the Imagination (fr: Jardins de l'Imaginaire). This contemporary garden, a public park of the town of Terrasson, was designed in 1996 by landscape architect Katheryn Gustafson to present thirteen tableaus of the myths and legends of the history of gardens. It uses simple natural elements; trees, flowers, water and stone to suggest the passage of mankind from nature to agriculture to the city. It uses a symbolic sacred wood, a rose garden, topiary art, and fountains to tell the story. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/les_jardins_de_l_imaginaire-365.html (See Pictures)]

* Vélines - Gardens of Sardy. A small garden from the 1950s built around a country house, with a shaded terrace for tea, and intimate landscapes and views inspired by English and Italian gardens.

* Issac - Gardens of the Château de Montréal. The Chateau was built in 1535, in the Renaissance style, on the site of a fortress dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. The gardens were built upton the ramparts of the fortress at the beginning of the 20th century by Achille Duchene. The lower garden is in the Italian style, and features hibiscus and yew trees, and walls covered with white roses and white clematis. The upper garden is in the French style, with ornamental flower beds and a topiary garden. The garden was badly damaged by a storm in 1999, and has been replanted. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/dordogne/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_montrEal-785.html (see pictures)]

* Urval - Gardens of la Bourlie. Originating as the gardens of the chateau of a noble family of Perigord in the 14th Century, the original 17th century gardens featured a kitchen garden and an early French ornamental garden surrounded by a wall. Later, in the 18th century, a grand axis between the village and the woods was created, along with an alley of linden trees, and a topiary alley of yew trees. In the 19th century a landscape garden was added, with coniferous trees and varied plants. The chateau also has fine collection of old roses and fruit trees.

Gironde

* Cussac-Fort-Médoc - Park of the Château Lanessan. The garden is surrounded by the vineyards of the Chateau, in the Medoc wine region of Bordeaux. The Chateau and gardens were built in 1878 by the architect Duphot. The gardens are in the English style, with alleys, lawns, and cedar, cypress and plane trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/recherche-criteres.php (see photos)]

* Portets - Gardens of the Château de Mongénan. The chateau was built in 1736 and the botantical gardens created in 1741 by the Baron de Gasq, inspired by his friend and music teacher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the theories of the botanist Linnaeus, who believed that all plants were valuable, whether they were ornamental, medicinal, wild, or for food. The garden was made to resemble the ideal pre-romantic garden Rousseau described in "La Nouvelle Heloise", full of aromas and colors. The current garden is kept as it was in the 18th century, with vegetables of the era, local varieties of fruit trees, 18th century varieties of roses, asters, iris, dahlias, aromatic plants, and plants used to make perfume. The tuberoses and jasmine fill the gardens with their aromas.

* Preignac - Gardens of the Château de Malle. These gardens, adjoining a chateau famous for its sauterne wines, were designed between 1717 and 1724 by Alexandre Eutrope de Lur Saluces, and are considered among the finest gardens of the French classical age. They were inspired by the gardens that he saw in Florence during his grand tour of Italy and his time spent at the court in Versailles. The park has a wide central axis and two terraces, with groups of statues and vases. The statues were done by Italian artists brought there for that purpose in the early part of the 18th century, and represent figures from Greek mythology: Cephale, Aurora, Cupid, Venus, Adonis, and Flore, the goddess of flowers and gardens. Other statues represent wine-making, the joys of the hunt and fishing, wine and intoxication. To the east of the first terrace is a small theater, decorated with figures from the Italian commedia dell'arte: Pantalon, Scaramouche and Arlequin. A stairway leads to a second terrace, where there are statues symbolizing of earth, wind, air and fire. [ Michel Racine, Jardins en France, pg. 42 ] [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/gironde/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_malle-695.html (see photos)]

* Vayres - Gardens of the Chäteau de Vayres. The chateau was built on a mound on the edge of the Dordogne River in the 15th century, then rebuilt in the Renaissance when it was given by King Henry IV to the Gourgues Family. It was rebuilt one more time at the end of the 17th century. The gardens were rebuilt in 1938 by the landscape architect Ferdinand Duprat. A monumental stairway leads from the chateau across the old moat to the French gardens by the river, where there are parterres bordered with hedges of yew, and boxwood trees sculpted into cone shapes. There is also a flower garden of medieval inspiration, and an English-style park, with cedar, oak, linden, hornbeam and copper beech trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/gironde/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_vayres-372.html (see photos)]

Landes

* Dax - Park of Sarrat. The park, formerly the home and garden of architect Rene Guichemerre, was created by him from the 1950s until his death in 1988. It contains his modern house, inspired by the architects Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright; an impressive alley of plane trees; A French garden with fountain and cascade; an extensive kitchen garden; and a botanical garden with 320 kinds of trees, many of them rare. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/landes/parc_du_sarrat-774.html (See photos)]

Lot-et-Garonne

* Le Temple-sur-Lot - The Gardens of Latour-Marliac, created in 1870 by Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac, are devoted entirely to different species of aquatic plants, particularly the water lily. The gardens feature a grotto, a cascade, thermal springs, a wide variety of tropical vegetation, and the oldest nursery for aquatic plants in the world. In 1894, The Gardens of Latour-Marliac furnished the water lilies for the garden of Claude Monet in Giverny. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/lot_et_garonne/latour_marliac-1206.html (see photos)]

Pyrénées-Atlantiques

* Cambo-les-Bains - Gardens of the villa Arnaga. These gardens were created beginning in 1903 by the French playwright Edmond Rostand, the author of "Cyrano de Bergerac", next to his home, which is now the Edmond Rostand Museum. The house, in the Basque style, looks out at the Pyrenees. To the east of the house is a formal geometric French garden, with fountains, statues, three basins, a topiary garden, an orangerie, a belvedere apergola, and a "poet's corner". The garden has colorful annual displays of rhododendron and azalea. Around the French garden is a wooded English landscape garden, with clusters of oak, maple, chestnut, walnut, linden, and fir trees. The park descends to banks of the River Arraga, where there is a picturesque water mill. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/pyrenees_atlantiques/les_jardins_d_arnaga-383.html (see photos)]

* Momas - Garden of the Château de Momas. The chateau is surrounded by gardens inspired by medieval gardens; with sculptures, fountains, a kitchen garden and an aromatic garden; old varieties of fruits and vegetables, and two-hundred year old oak and fig trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/pyrenees_atlantiques/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_momas-760.html (see photos)]

* Viven - Gardens of the Château de Viven. The chateau was first mentioned in the 11th century; it was completely rebuilt in the 18th century. The gardens were redesigned after the original plan in 1988. The French garden features a colorful mosaic of 2500 begonias, and more than a thousand roses, adorned with hedges and topiary gardens, a fountain and a pavilion. There are annual displays of camelia, azaleas, rhododendron, hydrangea, and bougainvillia. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/aquitaine/pyrenees_atlantiques/les_jardins_du_ch_teau_de_viven-995.html (see pictures)]

= Gardens of the Auvergne =

Allier

* Villeneuve-sur-Allier - The Arboretum of Balaine is the oldest private botantical garden in France. It was begun in 1804, but largely was the creation of Aglaé Adanson, the daughter of French naturalist Michel Adanson, who was responsible for the Trianon botanical garden of Louis XV. She settled there in 1812, at the age of thirty, and established it as one of the earliest acclimatization gardens in France, designed to accustom exotic plants from France's colonies to the climate of France. Despite the blockade of Napoleon's Europe by the British fleet, Adanson was able to assemble a remarkable collection of plants from around the world. The garden features a romantic promenade around a pond, and more than twenty-five hundred specimens of trees and plants, including a giant sequoia tree from California six and half meters in diameter, a "taxodium distichum" thirty-five meters high, and an "abies pinsapo" planted before 1850. In spring the garden has colorful displays of camelia, rhododendron, magnolia, davidia, viburnum, and cornus. In the fall the garden is noted for its iris, old varieties of roses, and hydrangeas. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/auvergne/allier/arboretum_de_balaine-433.html (see photos)]

Puy-de-Dôme

* Issoire - The Gardens of the Château d'Hauterive were originally part of the domaine of the Abbey of Issoire, founded in the 10th century. The present buildings date to the late 17th century; documents and old watercolors show that the gardens existed in 1680–1691, with much the same plan as today. The gardens are a classical composition of lawns, alleys, eight parterre around a central basin, hedges, and small groves of trees. Flowers include peony, iris, lis, delphinium, sage, lupin and dahlia. The gardens were badly damaged in the storm of 1999- 500 to 700 trees were uprooted or broken. The gardens are being restored. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/auvergne/puy_de_dome/parc_et_jardins_du_ch_teau_d_hauterive-386.html (see photos)]

* Orcival - The Park and Gardens of the Château de Cordès. The chateau, dating to the 15th century, with an interior redone in the 17th and again in the 18th century, is located atop a hill nine hundred meters high in the Massif of Mont-Dore. The owner, the Marechal d'Allègre, commissioned the workshop of André le Nôtre to design the gardens in 1695. The gardens feature hedges of hornbeam five meters high; a labyrinth with the center filled with roses; and classical lawns, alleys, parterres and topiary shrubs and trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/auvergne/puy_de_dome/parc_et_jardin_du_ch_teau_de_cordEs-708.html (see photos)]

* Romagnat - Gardens of the Château d'Opme. The chateau was first built in the 11th century, and belonged to the Counts and then the Dauphins of Auvergne. It was rebuilt in the 17th century by Antoine de Ribeyre, treasurer to the King. The garden dates to 1617. The garden has two parts; a classical garden in the French style, with a circular basin, fountain, and lawns and tree-shaded alleys; and a lower Renaissance garden with fruit trees, flower beds and vegetable gardens laid out in geometric designs. The two parts of the garden are connected by an unusual stone stairway with two revolutions.. The fountain with two basins dates to 1617. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/auvergne/puy_de_dome/jardins_d_opme-403.html (see photos)]

= Gardens of Burgundy =

Côte D'or

* Arceau - Gardens of the Château d'Arcelot. The gardens, located on a gentle slope between the chateau and a large pond, were created in 1805 by architect Jean-Marie Morel. They feature a Chinese pavilion, old trees, including a giant bald cypress large enough to hold a man inside; and an orangerie, with vegetable gardens and an orchard. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/cote_d_or/chateau_d_arcelot-561.html (see photos)]

* Athie - The Mill of Athie. The mill was built in the 16th century and continued to operate until the early 20th century, when it was made into a cheese-dairy. The garden was created in the late 1970s. It contains a large variety of trees, including chestnut, maple, and sequoia; four hundred fifty varieties of rose, including three hundred old varieties; one hundred kinds of peony; a gloriette; a pond of water lily; and topiary shrubs. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/cote_d_or/le_moulin_d_athie-545.html (see photos)]

* Barbirey-sur-Ouche - Garden of the Château de Barbirey] . A 19th century English landscape garden surrounding an 18th century country house. The garden fatures terraces, kitchen gardens, an orchard, belvedere, and grotto. Trees inclue plane trees, cedar, maple, chestnut, and sequoia. The orchard contains pear, plum, apple, cherry, apricot, and quince trees. Seasonal flowers inlcude dahlia, peony, iris and tulip.

[http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/cote_d_or/les_jardins_du_ch_teau_de_barbirey-682.html (See photos)]

* Lantilly - Kitchen Garden of the Château de Lantilly. A garden from the mid-19th century which contains groves of century-old plane, cedar, sycamore and catalpa trees; yew trees carved into fantastic shapes; a large variety of rose, fruit trees, heliotrope, zinnia, peony, geranium, masterwort, and anemone from Japan. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/cote_d_or/parc_et_jardin_du_ch_teau_de_lantilly-804.html (see photos)]

* Saulieu - Park of Saint-Léger de Fourches. The park once surrounded a large 15th century chateau, which is now more modest in size. The present park, created in 1840 and enlarged since 1972, features many old local trees; oak, hornbeam, beech and copper beech; holly and larch; more exotic trees, such as sequoia, "tzugas canadensis" and "cladastris lutea"; and a spectacular display of rhododendron in bloom between May 15 and June 15. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/cote_d_or/parc_de_saint_lEger_de_fourches-592.html (see photos)]

* Talmay - Garden of the Château de Talmay. The Chateau is from the mid-18th century; the gardens date to 1752. The gardens have 280 applie and pear trees carved into the shape of bowls; a labyrinth of box trees; hedges of hornbeam; eight giant plane trees planted in 1752; and alleys of peony, iris and rose.

Nièvre

* Alligny-en-Morvan - Park and Garden of the Chateau de La Chaux. A pastoral garden created in the mid-19th century, around a small chateau and a hamlet of farm buildings. The garden features many trees planted in 1850, including a double alley of giant sequoia; a grove of Cedar of Lebanon; Copper beech, ash trees and tulip trees; as well as beds of glycine, rose, hortensia, alleys of pink peony and blue iris; lavender; a medicinal herb garden; magnolia, rhododendrons, and a carpet of heather. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/nievre/parc_et_jardin_de_la_chaux-671.html (See photos)]

* Châtillon-en-Bazois - Park and Garden of the Château de Châtillon-en-Bazois.An English landscape park, a classic French garden, and a modern garden of fountains and basins are placed between a medieval chateau and a busy canal. The garden has an Orangerie with rows of fruit trees and hedges beside the canal; a traditional kitchen garden; and boxwood hedges sculpted into shapes like flocks of sheep. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/nievre/parc_et_jardins_du_ch_teau_de_ch_tillon_en_bazois-439.html (see photos)]

* Coulanges-lès-Nevers - Gardens of Forgeneuve.A site of an old iron forge, dating from 1660 and 1820, beside the river Nievre, restored in 1981–1990 and turned into gardens. They feature an English landscape garden, a kitchen garden, flower beds, and many monumental old trees, including a plane tree two hundred and fifty years old.

* Limanton - Garden of the Château de Limanton.The original gardens had been completely abandoned, and were recreated beginning in 1994 following the inspiration of the 17th century and 18th century gardens of the school of Le Notre. The garden is laid out in three terraces; the first terrace contains two lawns with sculpted yew trees at the angles; the second has a secret garden, with boxwood hedges, old roses, and a palisaded fig tree; and the third is divided into flower beds and lawns separated by pallisades and rows of fruit trees.

Saône-et-Loire

* Anglure-sous-Dun - The Garden of the Zéphyr.A private garden of one hectare in the English and contemporary styles, created beginning in 2000 by a couple passionate about gardening, which takes perfect advantage of its hilly site. The wooded portions contain twenty varieties of maple, 10 varieties of birch, and oak, conifers, beech, and hornbeam. Bushes and flowers include hyrdangea, cornus, dahlias and three hundred varieties of rose. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/saone_et_loire/le_jardin_du_zEphyr-745.html (see photos)]

* Curbigny -Gardens of the Château de Drée.

The chateau was built in the 17th century, rebuilt in the 19th century, then restored in the 20th century to the way it looked in the 18th century. The gardens, in the French style, feature squares of white and pink roses and lavender; large terraces of flower beds; A fountain with statues by Jean de Bologne from the fountain of Neptune in Florence; a long perspective; a folly called "The Tower of the Demoiselles"; and an elliptical rose garden, with over 1300 rose bushes in pastel colors around a basin.

* Oyé -Gardens of the Château de Chaumont .

The present chateau and gardens in the French style were created in the 18th century, and restored in the 20th century. Parts of chateau date to the 16th century. The principal feature of the garden is a grand alley from the gate to the chateau lined by yew trees shaped into cones, alternating with statues and vases. There are two secondary alleys of double rows of linden trees. The gardens also feature a large rectangle of chestnut trees providing shade, and alleys of hornbeam hedges 350 meters long on the west and south.

* Palinges -Gardens of the Château de Digoine The 18th century chateau is set in a French garden and a 35 hectare English landscape park, designed by the architect Veringuet. A notable feature is the neo-classical greenhouse, built in the 1830s. The French garden has boxed palm trees and orange trees carved into the shape of half-domes and columbiers, copying the shape of the domes of the chateau. The English landscape park has four kilometers of alleys, a variety of forest trees and exotic ornamental trees, a lake, river and grotto. The flower garden next to the greenhouse was redesigned in the 1920s by landscape architect Achille Duchene, and the kitchen garden occupies the place of the former cemetery of convent of the Brothers of Picpus, from the 18th century.

*Sully -Park and Kitchen Gardens of the Chateau de Sully.

The chateau and gardens date to the 18th and 19th century, and combine elements of an English park (forested alleys and giant sequoia, with a classical 18th century French garden (a kitchen garden, fruit trees, a grand alley approaching the house, an ornamental forecourt and flower beds.)

* Varenne-l'Arconce - The Romanesque Gardens (fr: Jardins Romans)

A contemporary botanical garden with five themes; an ethnobotanic garden, with historical plants useful to mankind; the Garden of Charlemagne, with plants which the Emperor Charlemagne decreed be planted at every monastery in the Empire, as well as plants imported from the Americas (corn, tomatoes, potatoes); The garden of acclimatization, with new, unusual and forgotten kinds of plants; the garden of scents, with wide variety of aromatic plants, and a tunnel of roses, jasmine and clematis; and an aquatic garden, with both local aquatic plants and exotic water plants, such as water-lily, lotus and papyrus of the Nile.

Yonne

* Thorigny-sur-Oreuse - Park of the Château de Thorigny.The park was originally the domaine of the Jean-Baptiste Lambert, the treasurer of the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, who built a chateau there around 1641, and who commissioned Le Notre to design the gardens. The chateau was destroyed during the French Revolution. The park was purchased in 1843 by Pierre Carlier, the Chief of the French Police from 1849–1851, who helped organize of the Coup d'état of Emperor Louis Napoleon in 1852. He re-created the garden as it is today, with canals, a stream and cascade, hedges, roses, plane trees, fruit trees and flower beds.

[http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bourgogne/yonne/parc_de_thorigny_sur_oreuse-636.html (see pictures)]

Gardens of Brittany

Côtes-d'Armor

* Ploëzal - Garden of the château de la Roche-Jagu.

A comtemporary garden, inspired by medieval gardens, overlooking the estuary of the Trieux River. The centerpiece is a great oak, 350 years old, in the couryard of the chateau. The garden features a medieval kitchen garden; a medicinal garden, a medieval flower garden; an alley of camelia, with one thousand plants of 350 varieties; palm trees; a rose garden; jasmine, glycine, grapevines, and an alley of pergolas with honeysuckle. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/cotes_d_armor/domaine_dEpartemental_de_la_roche_jagu-530.html (see photos)]
* Trédarzec - Garden of Kerdalo.

A romantic English garden and botantical garden, created in 1965. It includes basins, cascades and a water staircase; Italian terraces; and a fine collection of magnolia, camelia, rhodedendron, and plants of Australia, New Zealand and the Mediterranean. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/cotes_d_armor/les_jardins_de_kerdalo-98.html (see photos)]

Finistère

* Batz - Garden of George Delasselle. Windswept sand dunes on the Breton coast were transformed into a subtropical oasis and garden in 1897, with many varieties of cactus, palm and other plants from the northern and southern hemispheres. The garden was abandoned for thirty years, then restored beginning in 1987. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/jardin_georges_delaselle-534.html (see photos)]

* Combrit - The Botanical Garden of Cornouaille. A private botanical garden created in 1983, with more than two thousand varieties of trees, bushes and plants from around the world. The garden features a large water garden with many varieties of aquatic plants. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/parc_botanique_de_cornouaille-374.html (see photos)]

* Huelgoat - The Arboretum of Poërop. The arboretum was begun in 1993, in a hilly setting in the interior of Brittany. The most unusual feature is a garden of medicinal plants from Nepal and from the Yunnan Province in China, which recreates a valley in the Himalaya mountains. It also includes Eucalyptus trees and plants from Australia; a water garden with ducks and other water birds; sixty kinds of bamboo; and a rose garden. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/arboretum_du_poErop-479.html (see photos)]

* Quimper - Garden of the Château de Lanniron. The Chateau de Lanniron was the former palace of the bishop of Quimper. The gardens were created in the 17th century by Monseigneur de Coëtlogon between 1668-170. They lie next to the River Odet, and retain their original 17th century layout- three terraces, including one for flowers and one for vegetables, descending to the river; several basins, fountains and a canal. The gardens now include an arboretum, with an exceptional assortment of trees, including a Magnolia Grandiflora, Ginko biloba, Cryptomeria Japonica and a giant Sequoia. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/parc_du_ch_teau_de_lanniron-85.html (see photos)]

* Roscoff - The Exotic Garden of Roscoff. The exotic garden of the town of Roscoff was created beginning in 1986, around a massive rock eighteen meters high. It is dedicated to subtropical and exotic plants, and contains over three thousand different plants from Africa,Asia, the Americas and Australia, including many rare and endangered plants. The trees include one hundred eucalyptus from Australia. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/jardin_exotique_de_roscoff-94.html (See photos)]

* Saint-Goazec - Park of the Château de Trevarez. The Chateau of red brick and gardens were created between 1894 and 1906 by the industrialist James Montjarret de Kerjégu. During World War II the chateau was requisitioned by the German U-boat fleet. It was bombed by the RAF in 1944, and the holes in the roof were not restored until the 1990s. The chateau is best known for its flower gardens, on the esplendade by the chateau and the stables. It also has an English park, fountains, sculpture and a cascade, all recently restored. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/finistere/domaine_de_trEvarez-86.html (see photos)]

Ille-et-Vilaine

* Antrain - The Park of the Château de Bonnefontaine is a large English garden surrounding an restored 15th-16th century chateau in the Breton Renaissance style. The garden was created beginning in 1860, when the chateau was restored. The garden and chateau are presently owned by the Count Merendec de Rohan Chabot. The 25-hectare garden consists of large natural spaces with perspectives and groves of trees, both local and exotic. The trees in the park include Sequoia, bald cypress, magnolia, cedars, palms, some three-hundred year old chestnut and plane trees, fuschia, roses, hortensia, and rhododendron. The park is known for the chestnut tree of Duchess Anne of Brittany, the last Duchess of the region, who used to sit under the tree. The tree was uprooted by a storm in 1987. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/ille_et_vilaine/ch_teau_de_bonnefontaine-848.html (see photos)]

* Bazouges-la-Pérouse - Garden of the Château de la Ballue. An unusual Italian garden in the mannerist style, created in 1973 by the futurist architects Paul Maymont and Francois-Hebert Stevens. The chateau dates to the 17th and 18th centuries, and originally had a French garden on the south terrace, which was later destroyed and made into a potato field. The garden today features an alley of Wistaria supported by yew trees, and a picturesque winding labyrinth. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/ille_et_vilaine/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_la_ballue-9.html (see photos)]

* Bécherel - Park of the château de Caradeuc. The chateau was built around 1723 by the father of the Procureur of Brittany, Louis-René Caradeuc de la Chatolais (1701-1785) in the classical regency style, and it was originally surrounded by a French-style formal garden. When the Marquis de Caradeuc returned from England, where he had fled during the French Revolution, he added an English landscape park. At the end of the 19th century, the new owner, Count René de Kernier, ancestor of the present owner, asked the famed landscape architect Edouard André, best-known for the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in Paris, to design the garden you see today. In the 20th century, many pieces of sculpture were added to the garden, including a rare statue of Louis XVI of France by the sculptor Molchenet and many figures from mythology, placed on the lawns and in niches in the boxwood hedges. The garden has long perpectives, lawns, alleys, a pavilion, kiosks and a grotto, as well as many fine stands of old trees, including linden and American red oak, and parterres of red and white roses. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/ille_et_vilaine/parc_du_ch_teau_de_caradeuc-373.html (see photos)]

* Bréal-sous-Montfort - Gardens of Broceliande Created in 1995, this 24-hectare park contains French, English, botanical, flower and kitchen gardens. Highlights include 1000 varieties of iris, 400 kinds of lilac; 150 old apple trees; 60 types of hortensia; 150 kinds of dahlia; and 150 oak and maple trees.

* Le Châtellier - The Floral Gardens of Upper Brittany. The Manor of Foltiere, which stood in the gardens, was the headquarters of an uprising against the government of the French Republic in 1796 led by the Comte de Puisaye. When the uprising was suppressed, the manor was badly damaged. In 1830, the land surrounding the pond in the park was redesigned as an English romantic landscape garden, with winding alleys that followed the terrain, and a perspective from the lawn in front of the manor to the church tower of the village.

The present garden was created in 1995. It consists of sixteen different gardens, each with a different theme: it includes a Persian garden, devoted to the senses; an alley of old roses; an antique Mediterranean garden; and a labyrinth of camelia THe gardens have over seven thousand varieties of plants, particularly those that grow well in a acid soil, including camelia, magnolia, rhododendron and hydrangea. The four hundred camelias reach their peak around march 20, while the azaleas flower in April. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/ille_et_vilaine/parc_floral_de_haute_bretagne-307.html (see photos)]

* Pleurtuit - Gardens of Montmarin. A manor in the picturesque St. Malo style was built in 1760 by the Aaaron Pierre Magon, Seigneur de Bosc, then sold to shipbuilder Benjamin Dubois in 1782. The original garden had four terraces of French gardens descending to the Rance. In 1885, the lower two terraces were turned into romantic gardens with many exotic plants, including palms and a 250-year old magnolia. The garden was badly damaged by a storm in 1987, but has been restored. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/ille_et_vilaine/jardins_du_montmarin-457.html (see photos)]

Morbihan

* Landaul - Gardens of the Château de Kerambar’h. The chateau dates to the Middle Ages, when Brittany was an independent state. The gardens were recreated from medieval manuscripts to the way they were between the 14th century and 16th century, laid out in a symmetrical pattern inspired by the Cross of St. George and the Cross of St. Andrew. The vegetable garden allowed the chateau to be independent. The liturgical garden provided flowers for the altar of the chapel. The Garden of the Third Flower was a reminder that flowers were a medieval symbol of virtue. The Capitulary Garden contained medicinal plants as well as edible plants. The Garden of Courtly Pleasures was designed to elevate the spirit. The garden contains old roses and a number of oak trees more than three hundred years old. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/morbihan/les_jardins_du_ch_teau_de_kerambar_h-376.html (see pictures)]

* Lorient - Park Victor Chevassu. This English and botanical garden is on the site of former quarry and the early 20th century estate of Lorient businessman Victor Chevassu. It was bought by the city of Lorient in 1973 for development, but after protests it was turned into a park and the old house and garden restored. Today it features a stream which flows into two ponds; a collection of exotic tropical ferns and giant bamboo; collections of camelia and rhododendron; an animal park for children; large old oak trees; and colorful seasonal flowers in spring and summer. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/bretagne/morbihan/jardin_victor_chevassu-1198.html (see pictures)]

= Gardens of the Centre =

Cher

* Ainay-le-Vieil - Gardens of the Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil. The gardens feature a large collection of roses, a one-hectare island garden, a meditation garden, and a topiary garden of trees and shrubs carved into ornamental shapes.

* Apremont-sur-Allier - Flower gardens of Apremont.

* Bourges - Garden of Prés Fichaux.

* Chassy - Gardens of the Château de Villiers. The Chateau dates to the 17th and 18th century, and originally had a formal French floral garden laid out in parterres. The chateau and gardens were abandoned after the French Revolution, and restored beginning in 1985. Features include the floral gardens, roses, and a lake with wild heron.

* Maisonnais - Gardens of the Priory of Notre-Dame-d'Orsan. The Priory was built in the 12th century, and rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries, then abandoned after the French Revolution. It was bought by two architects in 1992, who recreated the gardens in a modern form following the inspiration of medieval monasteries. It features a labyrinth of fruit trees, a pergola, and a cloister garden with a fountain symbolizing the source of the four rivers of Paradise.

* Loye-sur-Arnon - The Gardens of Drulon. The 15-hectare park is composed of six gardens on different themes, ornamented with modern sculpture. Features include the secret garden of the chateau, five hundred different kinds of roses, and a marsh surrounded by paths and natural labyrinths created by grazing sheep.

Eure-et-Loir

* Illiers-Combray - The Pré Catelan. The forested park along the Loire River was created in the nineteenth century by Jules Amiot, the uncle of author Marcel Proust. Proust played there as a child - in Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time, the park is called The Parc de Swann. The lower part of the park has several small exotic ornamental structures, recalling Algeria, where Amiot spent part of his life.

Indre

* Bouges-le-Château - Gardens of the Château de Bouges. The chateau was built in 1765 on lands acquired by Charles-François Leblanc de Manarval, the master of the royal forges and the director of the royal manufacturer of cloth in in Châteauroux, and was modeled after the Petit Trianon Palace in Versailles. After the French Revolution, The chateau became the property of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the Foreign Minister of Napoleon Bonaparte. Talleyrand put it at the disposition of Dorothée de Courlande (1793-1862), a wealthy heiress who had been Talleyrand's mistress. and married Talleyrand's nephew. In 1917 the château was purchased by the industrialist Henry Viguier and his wife, Renée Normant, who restored it, decorated and refurnished it. The Viguiers, who had no children, left the house and its furniture to the French state.

The chateau has a park of eighty hectares, which include a landscape garden, an arboretum, large greenhouses, and a formal French garden. The château and the park were used as sets for scenes of the film Colonel Chabert with Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/centre/indre/parc_et_jardins_de_bouges-208.html (see photos)]

* Nohant - The Garden of the House of George Sand. The home and garden of writer George Sand, purchased by the French State in 1961 and carefully restored to the way it was during the writer's life, when she hosted Frederic Chopin, Delacroix, Balzac, and other important writers and artists of her time. It combines features of a utopian 18th century French garden and a romantic English garden. It has a court of honor under a large yew tree; an alley that crosses the wooded park to a lake; a garden of aromatic plants; a garden of cedar trees; and a garden of climbing roses.

Indre-et-Loire

* Azay-le-Rideau - The Gardens of la Chatonnière are located three kilometers from the Château of Azay-le-Rideau. They were created beginning in 1993 around the restored medieval Chateau de la Chatonniere by gardener Ahmed Azeroual, who was head gardener at the Chateau de Villandry for twenty years. They are composed of ten gardens, each with a different theme: Silence, the Senses, Fragrance, Intelligence, Elegance, Abundance, Water, Wonder, Luxuriance, and Romance. Features include a pergola covered with roses, and an abundance of clematis and wisteria.

* Chenonceaux - Park and Gardens of the Château de Chenonceau. The Chateau has two carefully restored Renaissance gardens; that of Diane de Poitier (1499-1566), which still has its original fountain, and that of Catherine de Médicis (1519-1589). It also possesses a labyrinth one hectare in area, created with two thousand yew trees a meter and thirty centimeters high, with a gloriette in the middle, so those who reach the center can see the entire labyrinth.

* Chancay - The Park and Gardens of the Chateau de Valmer belong to a domaine which produces the local Vouvray wine. The gardens, in the French and Italian style, feature a colorful mixture of fruit trees, vegetable gardens and floral displays, ornamented with ballustrades and fountains and a labyrinth. From August to October visitors can find a garden filled with giant squash. There is also a troglodyte chapel dating from 1524 in the garden. [http://wwww.parcsetjardins.fr/centre/indre_et_loire/parc_et_jardins_du_ch_teau_de_valmer-223.html (see photos)]

* La Riche - The Gardens of the Priory of Saint-Cosme.

* Lémeré - The Gardens of the Château du Rivau surround a restored white stone castle built from the 13th century to the 15th century. they are composed of twelve different gardens, and feature a 16th century fountain, modern sculpture, and a labyrinth. Six thousand iris are in bloom in May, four hundred types of roses in June, and poppy and other flowers cover the fields around the chateau in summer.

* Tours - The Prébendes d’Oë is a municipal landscape park and arboretum in the city of Tours. It was created by the Bühler brothers in 1874. It features a group of bald cypress, statues, and a bandstand.

* Villandry - The gardens of the Château de Villandry. One of the grandest and most-visited of French gardens. The Chateau was built in 1536 by Jean de Breton, Minister of Finance of Francois I of France. It was modified in the 18th century, then purchased in 1906 by Joachim Coarvallo and his descendants, who devoted their attention lavishly to the gardens over the last century. They are laid out on three terraces, and feature a water garden, an ornamental kitchen garden, and a salons of ornamental plants, as well as a laybyrinth and forest. Nine gardeners work full-time on the 1200 linden trees, nine hectares of garden, and fity-two kilometers of hedges. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/centre/indre_et_loire/jardins_du_ch_teau_de_villandry-100.html (See photos)]

Loir-et-Cher

* Blois - Rose gardens and terraces of the bishop's residence.

* Cellettes - Château de Beauregard. The Renaissance chateau features a Gallery of the Illustrious, 327 portraits of important personalities over three centuries. The contemporary garden, created by landscape architect Gilles Clement, is inspired by the gallery, and presents the colors, plant varieties and symbols of three centuries of gardens, in twelve different chambers of the garden.

* Sasnières - Garden of Plessis Sasnières. A private botantical and English garden in a small valley, around a pond. The flower gardens are organized on the theme of colors. Other features include , basins full of trout, Japanese primrose, and colorful bushes in bloom in the spring.

* Talcy - The Château de Talcy. Talcy is not a grand chateau, but a Renaissance country house of the type typical to the Loire Valley. The garden is a recreation of an 18th century fruit orchard, largely of pear and apple trees, including many old varieties, with the trees cultivated in a variety of ornamental shapes and forms.

Loiret

* Ingrannes - Arboretum of Les Grands Bruyères. A contemporary arboretum of 12 hectares created within the forest of Orléans in 1968, inspired by the work of British landscape architect Gertrude Jekyll. The park features a topiary garden and a classic garden a la Francaise; tunnels covered with rose and climatis; and 4500 plants from the temperate zones of Europe, North America and Asia.
* La Bussière - Garden of the Château de la Bussière. The garden adjoins a brick chateau built in the 17th century. The park was originally designed by André Le Nôtre, and restored in about 1911 by the landscape architect Edouard André. The park features a recreation of an 18th century kitchen garden, enclosed by walls, with old varieties of vegetables and fruit; and a large English-style park, with a promenade beside a lake, and groves of old cedar, oak, linden and pourpres.
* Meung-sur-Loire - The Arboretum Des Prés-Culands, also called the Conservatoire National d'Ilex, is a two-hectare landscape garden created in 1987 in a marsh along the Loire River between Orléans and Blois. It is composed of small islands connected by wooden bridges, featuring trees, bushes, flowers, and aquatic and semi-aquatic plants from Europe, China and Japan. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/centre/loiret/arboretum_des_prEs_des_culands_conservatoire_national_d_ilex-204.html See Photos]
* Nogent-sur-Vernisson - The Arboretum National Des Barres. Formerly the domain of the Vilmarin family, the Arboretum has 35 hectares containing 2700 species of trees, bushes and plants, including a 46-meter high giant sequoia and 70 varieties of oak and other venerable trees.
* Triguères - Gardens of the Manor of Grand Courtoiseau. Six hectares of French, Italian and exotic gardens surround the 17th century manor of Grand Courtoiseau. Features include old varieties of roses, a topiary garden, and an avenue of three-century-old linden trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/centre/loiret/jardins_du_manoir_le_grand_courtoiseau-215.html See photos]

Gardens of Champagne-Ardenne

Aube

* Barberey-Saint-Sulpice - Park and Garden of the Château de Barbery. The chateau was built in 1626 by Jean Ier de Mairat, in the Louis XIII of France style. The gardens were restored in 1965, and feature a French garden with hedges and topiary trees and hedges, and an English park with Italian poplar, linden, blue cedar, American oak, and Virginia tulip trees. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/champagne_ardenne/aube/parc_et_jardin_de_barberey_saint_sulpice-429.html (See photos)]

Marne

* Nanteuil-la-Forêt - Botanical Garden of la Presle. A private botanical garden of two hectares created in 1998, featuring five hundred kinds of roses, and plants from North America, Europe and Asia. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/champagne_ardenne/marne/jardin_botanique_de_la_presle-483.html (See photos)]

* Sezanne - Entre Cour et Jardin. A private garden surrounding an 18th century residence in the vinyards of Champagne which once belonged to the Marquise de la Forge. The garden in the French classic style features sculpted hedges and bushes, fountains, and a colorful variety of seasonal flowers. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/champagne_ardenne/marne/entre_cour_et_jardin-754.html (see Photos)]

Haute-Marne

* Joinville - Les Jardins de Mon Moulin. Located next to an old mill, this one-hectare garden features a rose garden with 500 rosebushes; a water garden; a garden of white flowers; and a recreation of a medieval garden. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/champagne_ardenne/haute_marne/les_jardins_de_mon_moulin-690.html (See Photos)]

Gardens of Franche-Comté

Jura

* Arlay - The Park and the "Garden of Games" of the château d'Arlay. The pre-romantic park was created in 1780, around the ruins of a chateau which had belonged to the lords of Chalon-Arlay, princes of the House of Orange. An alley of linden trees leads to a hill where the ruins of the chateau overlook the vinyards. In 1996 the Garden of Games was created beside the chateau, with a bowling green , cascades of plants and flower gardens illustrating the theme of amusement.

* Dole - The Garden of la Faulx. A contemporary private garden of one hectare, begun in 1983, devoted to the harmony of textures, colors, and compositions of both native and rare flowers, trees and bushes. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/champagne_ardenne/marne/entre_cour_et_jardin-754.html (see pictures)]

Haute-Saône

* Battrans - Parc de L'Etang. A private arboretum of three hectares beside a pond, with 350 varieties of trees, bushes and flowers, created beginning in 1972. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/franche_comte/haute_saone/parc_de_l_etang-440.html (see photos)]

Territoire-de-Belfort

* Anjoutey - Roseraie du Châtelet. A private contemporary arboretum begun in 1990, located in an old glacial valley, featuring six hundred varieties of roses and a water garden with sixty-five types of bamboo. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/franche_comte/territoire_de_belfort/parc_de_la_roseraie_du_ch_telet-10.html (See Pictures)]

=Gardens of the Île-de-France=

Paris

* Paris - The Garden of the Palais-Royal. The Palais-Royal was the residence of Cardinal Richelieu in the 17th century until his death in 1642. It was then the resdeince of the young King Louis XIV and his brother, then of the Orleans family, until the French Revolution, when it became the property of the state. The garden was created in 1731 by the architect Victor Louis. The garden was renovated in 1992 by landscape architect Mark Rudkin, who added new promenades and spaces for contemplation. The courtyard of columns designed by Daniel Buren was installed in 1986. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/ile_de_france/paris/jardin_du_palais_royal-811.html (see photos)]

eine-et-Marne

* Champs-sur-Marne - Garden of the Château de Champs-sur-Marne. The chateau and gardens were created in 1703, in the reign of Louis XIV, by a businessman, Monsieur Bourvallais, who commissioned Claude Desgots, grand-nephew of André Le Notre, to design a classical garden with a grand perspective of the Marne Valley. In 1739 it became the property of the Duke de La Valliére, who had the garden modified by Garnier d'Isle. During the French Revolution the garden was abandoned and used to grow food. In 1801, the park was inherited by the Duke de Levis, who combined it with the park of a neighboring estate and laid out an English park, with meadows, groves of trees and winding alleys. In 1895 it was purchased by the Count Louis Cahen d'Anvers, who commissioned landscape architects Achille Duchêne and Henri Duchêne to recreate the original garden a la Française. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/ile_de_france/seine_et_marne/ch_teau_de_champs_sur_marne-852.html (see photos)] .
* Fontainebleau - Gardens of the Château de Fontainebleau. The park of the royal residence, covering 130 hectares, is one of the largest and most famous landscape gardens in France. East of the palace is the forest and a 1200 meter long canal created by Henry IV of France. Near the palace is the Grand Parterre, a garden a la française created for Louis XIV, decorated with two large basins, one square and the other circular. Nearby is the Garden of Diane, which was the garden of the Queen, with the fountain of Diane in the center; a pavilion created for King Louis XV of France by the architect Louis Le Vau; and the English park, created at the time of Napoleon I, crossed by a river, with a large pond and a collection of ornamental sculpture. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/ile_de_france/seine_et_marne/ch_teau_de_fontainebleau-446.html (See photos)]

* Maincy - The Park of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte was the garden that inspired the Gardens of Versailles. The 40 hectares of terraces and fountains were created by André Le Nôtre, working with Louis Le Vau, the architect of the chateau, for Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680), the surintendant of finances of Louis XIV of France. The distance from the gate to the statue of Hercules is 1500 meters, and the carefully-ordered perspective from the house is three kilometers long. The magnificence of the gardens and their opening festivities inspired the envy and anger of Louis XIV, who fifteen days later had Fouquet arrested and imprisoned for the rest of his life. [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/ile_de_france/seine_et_marne/parc_et_jardin_du_ch_teau_de_vaux_le_vicomte-445.html (see photos)]

Yvelines

* Choisel - Park of the Château de Breteuil
* Rambouillet - Domaine national
* Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Domaine national of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
* Versailles - Gardens of Versailles
* Versailles - Vegetable Garden of the King
* Thoiry - Château de Thoiry

Essonne

* Chamarande - The Park of Chamarande.
* Courances - The Park of the Château de Courances.
* Courson-Monteloup - The Park of Courson.
* Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard - The Park of the Château.

Hauts-de-Seine

* Châtenay-Malabry - The Valley of the Wolves/ house of Chateaubriand / arboretum.
* Rueil-Malmaison - Domaine of Malmaison.
* Saint-Cloud - Domaine national.
* Sceaux - Park of the domaine of Sceaux.

Val d' Oise

* Château d'Ambleville - Domaine of Ambleville.
* Asnières-sur-Oise - Park of the Royaumont Abbey.
* Chaussy - Domaine of Villarceaux.

Gardens of Languedoc-Roussillon

Gard

* Concoules - The Garden of Tomple.
* Générargues - The Bamboo Garden of Prafrance.
* Nîmes - The Garden of la Fontaine.
* Ponteils-et-Brésis - The Garden of the mas de l'Abri.
* Saint-André-de-Majencoules - The Garden of Sambucs.

Hérault

* Margon - The Park and Garden of the Château de Margon.
* Montpellier - Flaugergues.
* Servian - Saint-Adrien.

= Gardens of Limousin=

Corrèze

* Voutezac - Saillant.

Creuse

* Crozant - La Sédelle.
* Crozant - La Forge.

Haute-Vienne

* Ambazac : The Garden of the Château de Montméry.
* Saint-Laurent-sur-Gorre : The Garden of Liliane.

= Gardens of Lorraine=

Meurthe-et-Moselle

* Fléville-devant-Nancy, The Park of the château (XVI°-XVIII°)
* Gerbéviller The romantic and art nouveau park of the château
* Villers-lès-Nancy - The Botanical Garden of du Montet

Meuse

* Ville-sur-Saulx - Park of G. de Tréves.
* Haironville - Park of la Varenne.

Moselle

* Pange, parc du château

Vosges

* Ban-de-Sapt - Garden of Callunes.
* Xonrupt-Longemer - Mountain garden of Haut-Chitelet

Gardens of the Midi-Pyrénées

Ariège

* Lapenne - Broques - Park of Bamboo.

Aveyron

* Salles-la-Source - Garden of Eden of the Château du Colombier [http://colombier.thoiry.net/]

Haute-Garonne

* Larra - Garden and park of the château de Larra.
* Loubens-Lauragais - Garden and park of the Château de Loubens.
* Bagnères-de-Luchon - Hot springs park of Quinquonces.
* Bagnères-de-Luchon - Park of the Casino.
* Merville - Park of the Château.
* Montréjeau - Gardens and park of the Château de Valmirande.
* Toulouse - The Royal Garden.
* Toulouse - Parc de la Reynerie
* Toulouse - The Japanese Garden in Compans-Caffarelli.

Gers

* Bétous - Palm garden of Sarthou.
* La Romieu - Garden and aboretum of Coursiana.

Lot

* Cahors - The Secret Gardens.

Haute-Pyrénées

* Tarbes - Jardin Massey.

Tarn

* Castres - Garden of the Bishop.
* Cordes-sur-Ciel - Garden of Paradise.
* Giroussens - Garden of Martels.

Gardens of the Nord-Pas de Calais

Nord

* Cassel - The Farm of Mont des Récollets.
* Halluin - The Garden of the Manoir aux Loups.
* Maroilles - The garden of Sylvie Fontaine.

Pas-de-Calais

* Chériennes - The garden of Lianes.
* Séricourt - Park of the Château de Sericourt.

=Gardens of Lower Normandy =

Calvados

* Cambremer - Gardens of the Pays d’Auge.
* Castillon - Plantbessin.
* Mézidon-Canon - Canon.
* Ouilly-le-Vicomte - Boutemont.
* Saint-Gabriel-Brécy - Gardensof the Château de Brécy.
* Vendeuvre - Gardens of the Château de Vendeuvre

Manche

* Cherbourg-Octeville - Park Emmanuel Liais.
* Martinvast - Château of Beaurepaire.
* Saint-Germain-des-Vaux - Garden Jacques Prévert.
* Saussey - Argences
* Tourlaville - Château des Ravalet
* Urville-Nacqueville - Château de Nacqueville
* Vauville - Château of Vauville

Orne

* Le Champ-de-la-Pierre - Parc du Domaine.
* La Rouge - Parc du Château de Lorière.
* Préaux-du-Perche - Le Jardin François.
* Rémalard - Jardin de ma petite Rochelle.
* Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolet - Sassy.

=Gardens of Upper Normandy =

Eure

* Giverny - The Gardens of Claude Monet.
* Harcourt - Arboretum of Harcourt.
* Le Neubourg - Gardens of the château du Champ-de-Bataille.
* Miserey - The Gardens of the château de Miserey.
* Saint-Just - The Gardens of the Château de Saint-Just.
* Vandrimare - Gardens of the château de Vandrimare.

eine-Maritime

* Auffay - Gardens of Bosmelet.
* Auzouville-sur-Ry - Jardin Plume.
* Beaumont-le-Hareng - Garden of Bellevue.
* Doudeville - Park of Galleville.
* Normanville - Garden of art and essays
* Tourville-sur-Arques - Garden of Miromesnil.
* Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville - Abbey Saint-Georges.
* Varengeville-sur-Mer - The Bois de Moutiers.
* Étaimpuis - The Clos du Coudray.

=Gardens of the Loire Valley =

Loire-Atlantique

* Nantes : Garden of Plants.

Maine-et-Loire

* Maulévrier : Oriental Park
* Breil - Park de Lathan.
* Champtocé-sur-Loire - Pine Gardens.

Mayenne

* Craon : Park and Gardens of the château de Craon
* La Pellerine : Gardens of la Pellerine
* Mailland - Park and Garden of Clivoy.

Sarthe

* Crannes-en-Champagne - Gardens of Mirail
* Poncé-sur-le-Loir - Gardens of the château de Poncé
* Le Lude - Park and Gardens of the château du Lude
* Louplande - Garden of the château de Vilaines
* Saint-Christophe-en-Champagne - Gardens of la Massonnière

Vendée

* Thiré - Gardens of Bâtiment

=Gardens of Picardy=

Aisne

* Bosmont-sur-Serre - Garden of Bosmont-sur-Serre.
* Largny-sur-Automne - Garden of the château de la Muette.
* Orgeval - Le Vendangeoir.
* Puisieux-et-Clanlieu - gardens of the château.
* Viels-Maisons - Gardens of Viels-Maisons.

Oise

* Chantilly - Park and château of Chantilly
* Chantilly - Potager des Princes
* Compiègne - Park and château of Compiègne
* Fontaine-Chaalis - Rose garden of the Abbey of Chaalis
* Senlis - Park of the château de Valgenceuse
* Vez - Garden of the castle-keep of Vez

Somme

* Abbeville - Gardens of the Château de Bagatelle
* Argoules Gardens of Valloires
* Maizicourt - Garden of the château de Maizicourt
* Morvillers-Saint-Saturnin - Park of the Château de Digeon
* Rambures – Park and rose garden of the château
* Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme - Herbarium of the ramparts

Gardens of Poitou-Charentes

Charente

* Mouthiers-sur-Boëme : Logis de Forge
* Tusson : The Medieval Monastic Garden.

Charente-Maritime

* Saint-Porchaire : La Roche Courbon
* Saint-Dizant-du-Gua : Parks and Gardens of the château de Beaulon
* Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron : Gardens of la Boirie

Deux-Sevres

* Beaulieu-sous-Parthenay : La Guyonnière

Vienne

* Aslonnes : Laverré
* Bonnes : Touffou

Gardens of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

* Mane : Gardens of the Priory of Salagon
* Mane : Gardens of the château de Sauvan
* Valensole : Clos de Villeneuve

Hautes-Alpes

* Gap : Domaine of Charance
* Villar-d'Arêne : Alpine Garden of Lautaret

Alpes-Maritimes

* Mandelieu-la-Napoule : Park of the château de la Napoule
* Menton : Garden of the palais Carnolès
* Menton : Greenhouse of la Madone
* Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat : Gardens of the Villa Ephrussi

Bouches-du-Rhône

* La Ciotat : Parc du Mugel is the municipal garden of La Ciotat. The park is located on the edge of a calanque, or rocky inlet of the Mediterranean, at the foot of a massive rock 155 meters high, which shelters the park from the wind, and creates a microclimate ideal for both local plants and tropical plants. The park was created beginning in 1927 by Marseille coal merchant Louis Fouquet,and became a public park in 1982. It is composed of a tropical garden, with bamboo, bougainvillia, palms and other exotic plants; an aromatic garden; and a large hillside natural preserve with the native plants of Provence.
* Eguilles : Garden of Eguilles
* Eygalières : Garden of the Alchemist
* Marseille : Park Borély
* Marseille : Park Longchamp
* Marseille : Garden of la Magalone
* Marseille : Park of the 26 centuries

Var

* La Londe-les-Maures : Garden of Tropical Birds
* Le Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer : Domaine of Rayol
* Saint-Zacharie : Park of the Moulin Blanc
* La Valette-du-Var : Domaine d'Orvès
* Hyeres : Park of the Castel Sainte-Claire. Located on the site of the Convent of Sainte-Claire, founded in the seventeenth century, and destroyed during the French Revolution, the garden includes parts of the old walls and towers of Hyères, dating to the 12th century. The land was bought and the house was built by Olivier Voutier, a French naval officer who discovered the statue of the Venus de Milo in Greece and brought it to France. His grave is located in the garden. The American author Edith Wharton bought the estate in 1927 and began planting subtropical plants from Australia and South America. The garden also features an assortment of cactus and other exotic plants, trees and flowers. The house now is the headquarters of the National Park of Port-Cros and the Botantical Reserve of Porquerolles Island, while the garden is maintained by the city of Hyères, and is open to the public.
* Hyères : Parc Saint-Bernard. The Parc Saint-Bernard was created by the Vicomte de Noailles, a 20th century art patron, next to his summer house, the Villa Noailles, (1923-1926). which was one of the first modernist houses in France. The villa features a small triangular modern garden by Guevrekian. The main garden, now a public park, is a series of tree-shaded terraces and paths overlooking the Mediterranean, devoted to the native plants of the Mediterranean, both common a and rare, including a garden of romarin and other aromatic plants.

* Hyères : Parc Olbius Riquier

Vaucluse

* Pertuis : Garden of the château de Val Joanis
* Sorgues : Garden of the Château de Brantes

Gardens of the Rhône-Alpes

Drôme

* Beaumont-Monteux : Gardens of Erik Borja
* La Garde-Adhémar - Herb Garden.
* Valence : Park Jouvet

Isère

* La Tronche : Garden of the Museum Hébert d'Uckerman
* Le Touvet : Gardens of the Château du Touvet
* Vizille : Park of the Château de Vizille

Loire

* Usson-en-Forez - Garden of the EcoMuseum.

Rhône

* Saint-Georges-de-Reneins : Park of the château de Laye.
* Lyon - Park of the Tête d'Or.
* Lyon - Park de Gerland.

Savoie

* Le Bourget-du-Lac - The Gardens of the Priory.

Haute-Savoie

* Evian : Water Garden of the Pré Curieux
* Samoëns : Alpine botanical garden of La Jaÿsinia
* Yvoire : The Labyrinth, the Garden of the Five Senses

= Gardens of DOM-TOM =

Guadeloupe

* Sainte-Rose - The Jardin Créole.
* Petit-Canal - The Landscape Park.
* Petit-Bourg - The Domaine of Vallombreuse.
* Deshaies - The Botanical Gardens..

Bibliography

* Michel Racine, "Jardins en France — Guide illustré,", Actes Sud, 1999.
* Lucia Impelluso, "Jardins, potagers et labyrinthes", Éditions Hazan, Paris, 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/ Searchable list of all the gardens on the list, on the website of the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France] fr icon