Menton, my city is a garden, Paradeisos in Greek. A small piece of Paradise, the pearl of France, so many descriptions to define this city located at the very end of France, beyond lies Italy.
Mr. Jean Claude Guibal, Member of Parliament and Mayor of Menton, becomes a poet, philosopher, or at least wise: “I know nothing more beautiful than a garden with artfully arranged freedom to the point that one no longer knows whether the genius of nature or the gardener’s skill has prevailed over the other.”
The numerous gardens of this city, known worldwide for its ‘Citrons’ – both the citrus fruit, said to have been brought by Eve, and the Biovès gardens’ designs – are assets to Menton’s credit. The balance between nature’s thirst for freedom and its arrangement was the challenge for the garden of the Carnolès Palace.
Since 2011, it has been the setting for the Princes’ vegetable garden. It is a large-scale achievement, a beautiful success. The visitor finds themselves alternately in a vegetable garden, an orchard, and even under tropical conditions. Paths made from Mulches (pruning residues) allow for a poetic walk among lavenders, lemon trees, grapefruit trees, and other riches of the flora.
Colette was not mistaken when she spoke of Menton: “….Yesterday, in the middle of the gardens, I listened as the birds awoke. The dawn wind rustled the palm trees….Under my window, an oblong bed of violets, untouched by the sun, turned blue in the dew, under mimosa of chick-yellow color.” The garden of the Carnolès Palace is a shelter for very rare plant species.
We conclude with Victor Hugo: “I look at a rose and I am at peace.”
With the author of Les Contemplations and the mother of Claudine as advocates, Menton should retain its four flowers and even be prescribed to all stressed people trapped in the relentless pace of society.
Come to Menton, forget about time and the worries of daily life. Menton and its gardens are the Paradeisos of the Riviera. It’s no coincidence that Adam and Eve ended up there after being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Menton, its gardens, and France’s floral balcony.
Thierry Jan
