Visit to the Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Perched at 1,000 meters above sea level and overlooking a small natural valley in the hinterland of Grasse, the Vallon du Brec botanical garden offers visitors a series of plant discoveries: pond and aquatic plants, topiary landscape, small walled gardens , cacti and large aloes ... The visitor walks by borrowing walkways and stairs essential to circulate in this garden in uneven, these structures offering moreover perspectives and varied points of view on the surrounding landscape. Because if the garden owes a lot to the talents of its former owners - botanists, artists and builders -, its success also depends on a careful reading of the environment, followed by an interpretation of the place. This is the role of buildings - staircases, walkways, gazebos, etc. - which fit into the landscape by coming, as the case may be, in contrast or in harmony with the plant sphere. Now make way to discover this artists' garden!

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot This pretty painted wooden pavilion was the first construction in the garden. Perched on a rock more than 8 meters high, it is a place dedicated to rest and contemplation, that of the surrounding landscape of course, but also that more intimate of the carp pool located below.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot Perfectly integrated into the environment, the house offers a palette in harmony with that of the surrounding plants.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot A garden is not only a place for plant experimentation or dialogue with the landscape. It is also a setting in which the moments of life are inscribed and which the informed eye of the photographer can capture.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot Plants form a palette that varies with the seasons and the enrichment of new collections.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot The Vallon du Brec is punctuated by several painted wooden structures which are sculptures designed to animate the environment while adapting to the topological constraints of the place (folds of the land, landscape lines, etc.).

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot Stairs and walkways allow you to circulate between the different spaces in the garden.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot The situation of the garden means that it is subject both to marine influences from the East and, from the West, to those harsher - bringing hail and snow - coming from the neighboring mountain.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot In spring, the hill is brightened up by the flowering of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot Some buildings open on the sides are home to large cacti and aloes.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot At the end of a last flight of steps, the visitor arrives on a platform protected by the foliage of large oaks and overlooking a landscape of topiaries.

Vallon du Brec botanical garden

Yanyvone Broudic-Grisot All the structures - pavilions, walkways, stairs - were carefully designed by the former owners. They give the Vallon du Brec a dimension of architectural as well as botanical work.