Parc de Bagatelle

Parc de Bagatelle

It's part of the Bois de Bologne in Neuilly. You can get there directly by taking the #43 bus from Gare St. Lazare and then walk tout droit/straight ahead. Do not wander into the boulangerie on the corner for an ice cream as I did. The woman gave me the wrong directions. The Bagatelle is down on your left once you've entered the gardens. Really you can't miss it though I've managed to with all my previous visits to Paris. My big mistake.

There are gardens within gardens. I missed seeing the roses in full bloom and should have come earlier in June. They have many events throughout the summer. Just check www.paris.fr.

Empress Eugenie's kiosk set up on the hill overlooking the Roseraie.

Stop in the small boutique to the right of the entrance and buy a map for all of 20 centimes and in English too.

This reader was having nothing to do with the peacock and kept shooing it away. I should be so lucky as to have a peacock hanging about while I draw...

My favorite was a small rectangular garden off to the left of the Roseraie, called les jardins des Presentateurs with seasonal changing blooms and vegetation, even corn.

A series of pergolas...

Each one different in design and shape.

A pure visual delight

Just breathtaking

At 5 pm I had it all to myself. The gardens are open from 9:30 till 6:30

Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier (1861-1930) is the landscape architect of this garden as well as the Champs de Mar near the Eiffel Tower. He was influenced by both the Impressionists and the Neoclassical.

 

There is an exhibition on of historic landscape drawings of all the gardens of Paris at the chateau within the park. I haven't even shown you the lily pond and so many other areas but I'll be returning. I'm completely enjoying all the nature Paris has to offer. Something I rarely did in New York.

Of course Marie-Antoinette had a hand in these gardens but that's another story. Are these white flowers pom-poms?

Ironically a woman on the 43 bus had a huge bouquet of these. I'm off to visit goats and cows tomorrow near Nantes at the ferme of fromager Pascale Beillevaire. More adventures to come!