Parks & Gardens

Whatever age you live in and whatever your line of work, it rarely pays to upstage the boss. Ask anyone in Bourges, third largest town in the Centre region and a great base for exploring the south-east corner of the ancient...

When you think of Normandy, do you think of the D-Day landing beaches and Mont Saint Michel? Or perhaps Rouen’s gothic cathedral, the Bayeux tapestry, Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny and the picturesque port...

The French Riviera is a garden-lover’s paradise, a sun-soaked horticultural heaven lined on its southern edge by the twinkling Mediterranean. From Antibes to Cagnes-sur-Mer, Gourdon to Grasse and Nice to Beaulieu there are some 80 gardens and parks open to...

In the springtime, the fields of the Deux-Sèvres in western France are a dazzling patchwork of lush green and brilliant yellow colza. Follow a narrow country lane over a bridge—this little Sevreau stream actually...

By 1763, the French had lost the Seven Years’ War, and it was time for the British to make their territorial claims in the New World. They had two real options: they could claim Canada, where France still ruled vast...

A unique opportunity to enjoy local culture, arts, editions & nature in the south of the Ardèche. Gallery [email protected] was created in 2013 with the intention to shed more light on local artists and authors. A must-visit...

This lavish 194-page tome details the work of celebrated landscape architect Jean Mus, a graduate of the École Nationale Superiéure du Paysage in Versailles. For the last three decades Mus has been creating parks and gardens...

Le Parc de Joséphine Baker is a peaceful oasis in the Dordogne designed and built by the legendary Joséphine Baker and Jo Bouillon. In this park, world peace conferences were organized; it is a place...

Even without taking its overseas territories into account, France has a number of interesting islands that are well worth venturing out to. Tristan Rutherford sets sail… Parisian Island: Île aux Cygnes Imagine a graceful tree-lined alley planted in the middle of...

Vast, ominous clouds linger stubbornly in the sky, but Valentin, the hulking, tattooed captain aboard our chaland (a flat-bottomed, wooden boat) keeps his sunglasses on as he guides us through the picturesque Brière wetlands. Exploring a labyrinth of sprawling marshes...