Visit to the Bambouseraie and some boules in Venasque

On Sunday of the long weekend we drove over to see the quite incredible Bambouseraie d'Anduze which is a botanical garden planted over several acres with many varieties of bamboo and even some sequoias and oaks in the Parc National des Cévennes. This amazing garden was started by the French botanist Eugene Mazel in 1856 and became a public park in the 1950's.

We stopped en route alongside a vineyard for our picnic lunch.

We could see Mont Ventoux far in the distance as we enjoyed the shade and the calm along with some delicious sandwiches and cheese and a bit of relaxing fun.

The Cévennes region is not far from Vaucluse but it really very different looking with its low vegetation and grey cliffs.

The park is located near the town of Anduze. I took this from the car window since there is nowhere to stop and get out of the car on the narrow road.

The entry to the gardens is really quite impressive as you step under the bridge.

There are so many interesting varieties of bamboo.

Throughout the park there were many exhibits and the one that really caught my eye was the garden with dye plants (jardin de plantes tinctoriales) and the displays of the various colors from plants.

The breeze through the bamboo made these fabrics float so beautifully!

There was a special installation called In situ Patrimoine et Art Contemporain using bamboo for a contemporary sculpture set in the middle of a grove of trees.

The artist showed her inspiration for the installation which was based on what bamboo looks like with all the leafy parts cut off and she had set up a little basket nearby for comments from visitors.

In another spot was this "sculpture" of bamboo floating among live plants. I'm sorry if it is hard too see but the breeze moved it back and forth. It has a rather ghostly air about it.

When you step into the Japanese garden a delicious scent of lotus blossoms floats across the path.

There was quite a lot to see and we all took a short break on the path to the giant bamboo.

We could only admire the giant bamboo from a distance and then Anton did some family photos and he and Maya went to the bamboo maze.

The rest of us headed to the café via the bamboo boutique for a cold drink and a short rest.

Then the drive home through some really pretty countryside. Perfect way to spend the day!

The long weekend was finished off by some chores like painting the front gate.

And then on Tuesday evening we went up to Venasque to join the group playing boules.

It was Maya's first time and she was amazing!!!

Following in the footsteps of her Tonton, Papet and Papa!!

Try some of this yourselves...I even played but I don't exactly have the genes for the game!!

A bientôt!