Walls in France: The bambouseraie

In one of Peter Mayle's books, he writes about some of his favorite Provencal places and things, many of which are unique or off the beaten path. One of those places is the Bambouseraie de Prafance. Bucky has wanted to visit the Bambouseraie for some time now, so we decided to make the trek last weekend. We travelled a round-about route so that we could enjoy lunch at Pizza Pino in Montpellier and it was well worth the detour. We then relied on Tomtom to get us to our destination and she did not disappoint - after many twists and turns, we arrived at the site.

We weren't sure what to expect of the Bambouseraie...and we were dazzled! A Frenchman started this sanctuary in the mid 1800's and the bamboo has been growing ever since. There are fields of huge green and yellow stalks and walking through the bamboo forests fooled us into thinking we had left France. The place smelled tropical and made me think often of Hawaii. It also reminded me a lot of Seattle because we had a love/hate relationship with bamboo in one of our yards there.

The park is wonderfully organized with signs for all of the places to see, plus guides posted throughout in case you have questions. We visited the 'village' where they had built houses and buildings out of bamboo as they do in Asia. We also went to the Valley of the Dragon, a waterway that is pristinely maintained with beautiful Asian trees on its shores. The aquatic garden was decorated with numerous flowers and waterlilies and lots of koi! And of course, there was a labyrinth made from bamboo so we figured it out as a family so no one would get lost!

The Bambouseraie is a beautiful garden and a real oasis within Provence. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon there and agree with Peter Mayle that is "unique and extraordinary."