La Roseraie

I’d seen in the ‘Agenda’ (our new local guide to what’s on) that there was an open garden event happening in Essoyes. It was the first year they had run it, and it had been organised by the Renoir Association to help reveal some of the hidden beauty of the village where Renoir had made his home. It was completely free, as they wanted to use the opportunity to raise awareness of a competition they are running for artists. The prize is a three month stay in Essoyes, to be inspired to paint a picture to be displayed in the manoir of Devaux, a local Champagne house. Devaux are one of the sponsors of the event.

I was excited about the open garden event, as in the centre of Essoyes there is a beautiful old house called La Roseraie, which looks so lovely from the outside, and and I’d always wondered what was behind the big iron gates, and it just so happened that it was one of the gardens open to the public. We tentatively walked in, not really knowing what to expect, but we were immediately welcomed by one of the owners, who invited us to wander around freely.

The garden was split into three areas, which subtly blended into one another. The first featured very modern square, brick, raised beds, which were quite out of character for the building. So to help soften the edges they had filled them with plants which were lush and naturally overflowing around the edges. To add additional interest they had crafted a little stream, cascading over a bed of slates, with an old, rusty water pump adding a touch of contrast. This theme continued through the flower beds as they were bordered with rusting iron work, that brought height and structure to the overflowing groupings of plants.

As we ventured through this area, we also followed the edge of the river that runs through Essoyes. Such a beautiful setting, dappled with little seating areas to enjoy your morning coffee or evening apéro, a real area of calm. Renoir loved to paint along this river.

At the end of this area of the garden was a rather large, metal pergola, about 6 metres in height and about 10 metres wide. It looked very elegant, reaching to the sky and twisting itself up out of the plants.

We then wandered into the third area behind the main house. There are actually two houses, which I’d never really noticed before, and they framed this part of the garden. Music was playing lightly in the background, which we heard first as we walked through the second area of the garden, a slim walkway filled with an array of potted succulents.

I loved all the old, salvaged ironwork they had used to pot the succulents in, something I’d like to recreate in our garden.

As the garden opened out again, you gained a beautiful vista of the main house, and it’s smaller twin, with their soft green paintwork and roses around the doors and windows.

We spent a while just enjoying the space and admiring all the little details, from the beautifully planted shade beneath a tree to a lily pad covered pond. You can tell it had been created with lots of thought and hard work. Simply beautiful.