Soon after moving to Dordogne in early 2023, Ava Kabouchy found herself intrigued by the Gardens of Marqueyssac, first as a visitor in awe of the clifftop estate, then as a photographer wishing to capture the impressive array of topiaries, the subtle shades of green, the long alleys, the wandering peacocks, the chapel beyond the iris bush, the gardeners at precision work, the employees informing and entertaining visitors, and more. From February through April, then again in December, she returned four more times to examine the abundant and eye-pleasing life of the 54-acre park with its more than 3½ miles of pathways.

I, Gary, also had the pleasure of strolling along the paths of Marqueyssac this year, on a bright September morning, and though writing is my primary tool rather than photography, I couldn’t help but want to record with my phone the views that I took in.

This photo reportage leans on Ava’s photographs, supported by my contributions and several photos provided by Marqueyssac itself. I organized the images into the eight strolls and wrote the descriptions and captions.

Where is Marqueyssac?

Located five miles from the well-preserved old town of Sarlat, Marqueyssac occupies a promontory 425 feet over the Dordogne River. Even without its gardens, Marqueyssac would be a worthy destination for its panoramic views out to the villages, chateaux, walnut orchards and winding river that make this such an alluring region. Add the gardens themselves—along with a small chateau, a café overlooking the valley, and numerous activities proposed to visitors—and you get a singular sight. While especially famous for its more than 150,000 boxwoods, Marqueyssac’s attraction extends well beyond them. The site lends itself to a variety of strolls: romantic, contemplative, family, boxwood-botanical, and more. Though the organized activities here slow down during the short cold days of late autumn and winter, Marqueyssac, open every day of the year, is truly a year-round destination.

The Boxwood or Botanical Stroll

European boxwoods are the defining greenery of Marqueyssac. There are some 150,000 in all, either trimmed or otherwise tamed, destructured or left to grow naturally. Ava was the first visitor on the morning she took the photo above, but the work-day of gardener Christophe Kursac, glimpsed trimming a topiary upper right, was already well underway. Christophe, the head gardener, is one of the six full-time gardeners, who, along with four seasonal gardeners, ensure that the site’s unique presentation of topiaries—all trimmed by hand twice annually—and the overall park remain in tip-top shape for the more than 200,000 visitors that come each year.

Though the noble history of Marqueyssac begins with a landscaping project of 1692, the estate’s boxwood connection dates to the late 19th century. In 1861, Julien de Cerval (1818-1893), a magistrate of nearby Sarlat, inherited the property. His passion—obsession—for boxwoods was sparked by his travels in Italy, as were the cypress and umbrella pine and various shrubs encountered along the garden paths. Boxwoods (buxus sempervirens) are well suited to the limestone soil of Marqueyssac. Successive owners, without the funds or passion to maintain de Cerval’s work, eventually allowed the bushes and trees to grow untamed and the garden paths to all but disappear.

Enter Kleber Rossillon, the driving force behind the estate’s restoration. His parents had purchased the fortress castle of Castelnaud on the opposite side of the Dordogne River, visible in this shot between boxwoods and pines.

At age 30, Rossillon took the reins of Castelnaud, which he developed into a major tourist attraction with its family-friendly museum about war in the Middle Ages. In 1996, he purchased the estate of Marqueyssac and set about a major restoration of de Cerval’s garden along with contemporary additions that now fit seamlessly into the overall gardenscape. The gardens reopened to the public in 1997.

On the strength of those experiences in Dordogne, Kleber Rossillon’s company has expanded to become a significant private player in the management of historical sites open to the public in France, including the Montmartre Museum in Paris, the Castle of Langeais in the Loire Valley, and the Cosquer Cave in Marseille, among others. His daughter Geneviève Rossillon is now the company’s managing director.

These boxwood topiary “bricks” appear as blocks rolling down the hill towards the château. Plumb lines ensure precision of the rectangular shapes, but the main tools are sharp shears and elbow grease. Not all of Marqueyssac’s boxwoods are topiaries. Many are also left untamed, where they can reach heights of up to 30 feet.

The captivating variety of shades of green catch the photographer’s eye. Keep Marqueyssac in mind if you’re looking for a place to mark World Topiary Day, the Sunday that follows May 12.

If you’ve ever tried your hand at a topiary, you know that creating and maintaining even a single one for just a year requires commitment. Imagine, on your boxwood stroll, the devotion that goes into maintaining thousands of them. Each topiary is hand-trimmed twice per year. When not too crowded, don’t hesitate to use your best French to mention your appreciation to the gardeners for their work and even ask a question or two about it. They may be happy for the opportunity to stretch their aching backs and respond.

Most of the boxwoods at Marqueyssac take their roots from those originally planted towards the end of the 19th-century by then-owner Julien de Cerval.

The Valley-View Stroll

When I compared my photos with Ava’s, I found that hers studiously looked inward and down green pathways in search of the beauty and geometric nuances of the gardens, while mine occasionally turned outward to the Dordogne Valley. Perhaps, in the case of this photo, because I’d just pointed out to my strolling companion that I would next be headed there, to the riverside village of La Roque-Gageac.

I’m a point-and-shoot kind of guy, hoping to come away a telling or memorable image. And I can’t resist a gentle point-and-sweep, though I’m never sure where the sweep should end and sometimes just go around in a full circle. But in the short video below, a garden fairy suddenly appeared indicating that it was time to hit “stop” and stroll on. She’s Stéphanie Angleys, Marqueyssac’s communications officer and my guide through the gardens.

I’d more or less completed our project when Ava returned on a December morning then sent several more photos, including this.

Perhaps it was the dampness of the day that turned her eye away from the garden path, beyond the geometry of the boxwoods and the leaflessness trees to the sodden winter landscape with the grey river running through. Still, you notice that her focus remained in the garden, unwilling to let go and reaffirming that the gardens of Marqueyssac are a year-round destination.

The valley-view stroller—in fact any stroller who makes it to the far end—is rewarded with a 360° view from the highest part of the gardens. This Cross marks the spot. We leave it to you to discover on your own the view that goes with it.

The Romantic Stroll

While you and your loved one will quickly be drawn into the meticulousness of the topiaries, romance thrives on the less planned as well. Beyond the precise trimming, Marqueyssac is home to enough unfocused fantasy—albeit intentionally unfocused fantasy—and dreamy points of view to allow for an exquisite romantic stroll as well.

Arrive early enough in the day and you might even feel that you have the place to yourselves.

The romantic stroll proceeds at a gentle pace. And a stroll wouldn’t be romantic if it didn’t also include a romantic sit, or several, to prolong the pleasure. The bench above, overlooking the valley, is perfectly suited for a starry-eyed conversation (oh, the places we’ve been)… while the one below is an even sweeter spot for a sun-dappled snuggle stop.

If, after a while, you get into one of those tiffs that even the best of travelers find themselves in with a loved one, turning a corner to find a peacock, the mascot of Marqueyssac, perched on a ledge will be a sign to return to each other’s hand.

The fellow below isn’t shy about unfurling his seductive plumage in a mating ritual despite human presence—and presumably because there’s a peahen around—so you needn’t either. Within limits of course, and with less of a squawk if possible.

Peering through the evergreen oaks to the village of La Roque Gageac may feel like your private discovery, something that only you and your love share.

If your love was reading a travel guide in bed last night, then he may take this opportunity to inform you that Dordogne, the “department” or sub-region, in which Marqueyssac is located, more or less follows the borders of the historic province of Périgord. So while Périgord no longer officially exists, he’ll explain, the two names are often used interchangeably. Périgord (Dordogne) is unofficially divided into four color-coded landscape-defined sections: Green Périgord, White Périgord, Purple Périgord, Black Périgord. White refers to the limestone soil and the white buildings constructed with it in and around Dordogne’s capital Perigueux. Green refers to the vegetation to the north. Purple refers to the wine growing region in the west (Bergerac and surroundings). Black refers to the dark leaves and shadows of evergreen oaks (quercus ilex) to this southwest quadrant of Dordogne/Périgord. That’s where Marqueyssac lies. Black Périgord is the quadrant with the most tourist appeal (Sarlat, the Dordogne and Vézère Valleys, Marqueyssac, Castelnaud, etc.). That’s fascinating, honey, you’ll reply. Let’s not read in bed tonight.

The Contemplative Stroll

Come alone, walk with a thought-provoking friend, or temporarily lose your loved ones or friends along the way and those same romantic paths and views appear refreshingly contemplative. That snuggle bench above then becomes a seat for private reverie or to write a vignette … as long as you resist taking out your phone to check for messages and news.

Though visitors inevitably remember, photograph and return to the rounded or straight-edge topiaries, the overall park has a rich vegetation that lends itself to contemplation of this good and suffering Earth.

The vegetation on the southern side leans to the Mediterranean with cypresses, umbrella pines, evergreen oaks, and more. Its northern side leans more to the Atlantic with locust trees added to the mix.

Through Ava’s damp lens, the scene by the entrance, which looked so promising in the opening shot, now holds an eerie, contemplative fascination in the photo below.

The topiaries no longer appear as the achievement of creative landscapers and hard-laboring gardeners but seem to be caused by something boiling or furrowing underground. Are we safer here or in the disorderly landscape that lies beyond and below. Are the tile rooftops hints of refuge or danger?

Ava found a wistful contemplative moment from inside the chateau, between the parted curtains, looking out to the topiaries and the naked trees on a visitor-less late winter’s morning.

And she found it again with a feeling of quiet and peace beneath the dripping cascade in a shallow pond known as “the Zen.”

The limestone cliffs that surround Marqueyssac don’t contain any water source other than rain, and there is no spring within the gardens, so Kléber Rossillon added a silent pump to create the waterfall on a closed circuit. But no need to focus on the mechanics in that dreamy corner of the park.

Contemplation may not best describe one’s reaction to the creature below, but if nothing else, the sight of this 150-million-year-old skeleton of an allosaurus, visible from a garden path, will get you wondering what the heck it’s doing here.

This Jurassic-era dinosaur—about 75% original remnant, measuring 24.6 feet long by 8.2 feet high—was found in Wyoming and purchased by Kléber Rossillon in 2016.

The Cliffhanger’s Stroll

Not only do the gardeners and the boxwoods cling to the cliffs, but so can visitors on a climb-stroll above the greenery along the limestone walls of Marqueyssac.

The cliffside strollway, its Via Ferrata, is punctuated with metal steps and rings and fixed safety cables. Fitted with a harness, lanyard and helmet and attached to the course-long lifeline, visitors 8 years old and over and taller than 1.3 meters (a tad over 4-foot 3 inches) can securely take this 220-yard climb-stroll.

Ava came across this adventurous family as they prepared for final instruction before going on the Via Ferrata.

Cliff-strolling not your thing? You can nevertheless step into the trees on this elevated path beyond the creepy rock-head sculptures facing up from the ground.

The Family and/or Activities Stroll

Making the most of Marqueyssac doesn’t require joining on a planned tour or activity, especially for romantic or contemplative strollers, but for a family stroll or simply to punctuate your visit, check out the calendar of activities in advance. If interested in the cliff-stroll above, you should time your visit according. There are also nature workshops, a wood turner, yoga classes, and a playground for sliding and climbing.

You might begin with a guided explanation about the garden before venturing off on your own.

“Curious about nature” arts and crafts workshops, particularly aimed at children, are held spring to fall.

The Chateau Stroll

Though the gardens are the primary interest of Marqueyssac, a visit ends with a brief stroll through the chateau, a late-19th-century residence. A vast restoration of the chateau was completed in 2017. Though called a château, the main residence of the estate appears more as a manor house compared with the massive stone medieval and Renaissance chateaux (Castelnaud, Beynac, Les Milandes, etc.) that can be visited in the region. What’s most impressive about the chateau is its stone-tiled roof. Placed without mortar, the hand-cut limestone slabs (lauzes) have a combined weight of over 500 tons.

Several rooms can be visited inside.

The Candlelit Stroll

Thursday evenings in July and August, Marqueyssac’s Soirées aux Chandelles give the opportunity for visitors to take a candlelit stroll as the day recedes and sunset, twilight then night envelop the Dordogne Valley. The garden paths are lit by 2000 candles and hundreds of other elements of soft lighting, a pianist plays in one corner, there’s a brass quartet in another, perhaps an acoustic guitarist somewhere, and the occasional fairy winging by. The estate is open from 7PM to midnight on those special evenings, but if you don’t plan on spending more than two hours, then arrive at 8/8:30 in order to best experience a leisurely and enchantment stroll through sunset and twilight.

So what’ll it be, daytime or evening, romantic or contemplative or botanical? Will you find yourself more drawn to staring out across the valley or peering down a dimly lit alley? It’s up to you. Marqueyssac offers the opportunity for you to create your own remarkable stroll.

Marqueyssac, 24200 Vezac, Dordogne. See here for seasonal opening times and admission prices and here for the calendar of activities and events. Online reservation is required to attend a Candlelit Evening.

Photos, where indicated, © 2023 by Ava Kabouchy, first published on France Revisited.
Other photos, where indicated, video, and all text © 2023 by Gary Lee Kraut.
Additional photos, where indicated, © Laugery-Les Jardins de Marqueyssac-Dordogne.

The post 8 Remarkable Strolls in the Gardens of Marqueyssac (Dordogne) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Harvest Festival? Yes, there’s a vineyard here. It’s a nod to the centuries when the village of Montmartre overlooked fields and vineyards to the north of the capital. Yet the festival, held over five days leading up to and including the second weekend in October, celebrates far more than grapes and even more that Montmartre itself. It’s a colorful, get silly, raise a glass, fun for the whole family, express your individuality, honor community, share in the joie de vivre district-wide celebration of the 18th arrondissement.

Ava Kabouchy, an American photographer and travel writer living in Perpignan, “rose” to the capital to drink in the pleasures of this year’s festival and capture its colors for this photo reportage for France Revisited.

Photo above and at top of page. One week prior to the festival, children in schools of the 18th arrondissement, supervised by their art teachers, along with the French artist known as OJAN, painted stairs to the top of Montmartre to announce the year’s theme: egalité (equality).

Having climbed the stairs with an upward view to Sacré Coeur, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which looms over Montmartre like the top of a wedding cake, visitors crowd along the steps to take in the view of the city below.

Entrance to Clos Montmartre, the vineyard at the origin of the celebration. The Clos Montmartre (a clos is a walled vineyard) was created in 1933 on the steep northern slope of Montmartre to stem the disappearance of green space in the area. The fields and vineyards that once dominated the landscape had all but disappeared since the city’s annexation of the village of Montmartre in 1860 and the urban developments that followed. To preserve the space from building, this parcel at the corners of Rue Saint-Vincent and Rue des Saules was planted with vines.

The annual harvest festivities began one year later, in 1934. This photo is from the festival of 1939 (Wikipedia Commons). France was at war at the time, a “drôle de guerre” (phony war) indeed, but for just a few more months.

Clos Montmartre now contains about 1700 vines, with 30 different grape varieties present. The wines are blended in the basement of the District Hall of the 18th arrondissement. The vineyard belongs to the City of Paris and is managed by the local non-profit Comité des Fêtes et d’Actions Sociales de Montmartre (or du 18ième arrondissement de Paris). All proceeds are donated to local charities providing assistance to children and the elderly.

Clos Montmartre produces red and rosé wines. During the festival they can be bought by the glass (7.50€). Bottles—the current vintage is sold in 50 cl bottles at €30 for the rosé and €35 for the red—are available at the Musée de Montmartre, which overlooks the vineyard at 12 rue Cortot, and online here for delivery in France. But when first released, the price is limited only by participants’ generosity at the invitation-only auction that’s organized by the Comité des Fêtes in October. Jean-Manuel Gabert, left, historian and lecturer, recounts the history of Montmartre and its vineyard.

Dozens of musical, artistic, theatrical, culinary, wine and costume events, large and small, take place over the course of the 5-day Harvest Festival. There are concerts, street theater, a tasting trail of food and drink, a ceremony where couples come together to say “non” to marriage, brass bands, a Freddie Mercury look-alike concert, and much more more. One of the major events is the Grande Défilé, the Grand Parade, when more than fifty groups show off their finest attire. Among them is the La Confrérie des Chapeaux Fous, The Brotherhood of Crazy Hats.

Sisterhood, too, of course. As well as childhood.

Samantha Quentin, left, the Ambassador of Paris 2022, and her glamorous companions. Samantha was also chosen as Miss Cinema for the Cannes Film Festival this year. Celya Vlieghe, fourth on line, is this year’s Miss Songeons (Songeons is a village in the department of Oise). On the right is Ava Wlady, Miss Montmartre 2022.

Members of the Jardins Familiaux de Stains, the Family Gardens of Stains display communally grown produce and flowers. Stains is a northern suburb of Paris.

During the 1920s, as the uncontrolled development of the industrial revolution was taking place along with the loss of farmland and rural life, two architects, Eugène Gonnot and Georges Albenque, set about designing affordable housing and space for “workers’” gardens in the Paris Region. In Stains, 600 such gardens continue to thrive. They serve as cultivated spaces in a dense suburb as well as a gathering place for the community.

Parody, silliness and humor guide the Commune Libre de Montmartre, a non-profit association founded in 1920 by artists of Montmartre to maintain a festive, village spirit in the district. Their slogan: Pour ce qui est contre… contre ce qui est pour, For what is against… against what is for.

The Republic of Montmartre was founded in 1921 by a group of artists with less silliness in mind since its goals were and remain both cultural and charitable. Cultural in its desire to maintain and promote Montmartre traditions while keeping a wary eye toward modernism. Charitable in its support of causes benefiting disadvantaged children and others in need. Together, through culture and charity, along with a good dose of festivity, the members/citizens of the Republic of Montmartre foster a sense of community centered around solidarity, friendship and mutual assistance. The Republic’s motto: Faire le bien dans la joie! Do good in joy! The members dress in the style of Aristide Bruant, a singer at the Chat Noir, a cabaret in Montmartre frequented by Toulouse-Lautrec, who created the famous poster featuring Bruant sporting a red scarf and a black cape.

Within the festival’s theme of equality and its salute to individuality, there’s certainly place in the parade for a zebra. Meanwhile, this accordionist entertains passerby with his music and his cat.

While the Montmartre Harvest Festival naturally celebrates the wine from Clos Montmartre, the abundant wines of Beaujolais are also often associated with festivities in Montmartre. Brouilly (gamay), the largest and best-known of the 10 Beaujolais crus, is one of the wines most at home in Paris bistros and brasseries, so it’s not out of place here, as these cask-carrying fellows can attest.

Just up the street from the vineyard, La Bonne Franquette is one of Montmartre’s most noteworthy hilltop restaurants. It maintains a tradition of cheerfulness, conviviality, good bistro fare and an easy-going tour de France of wines, staying faithful to its motto Aimer, Manger, Boire & Chanter (Love, Eat, Drink and Sing), as this group of celebrants was doing during the festival. The restaurant, a gathering place for the Montmartre elite and local non-profits as well as for tourists, has belonged to the Fracheboud family since 1971. A book about the La Bonne Franquette‘s place in the history of Montmartre by Gérard Letailleur, a specialist on the history of eating and drinking establishments in Paris, has just been published in French.  A la bonne franquette, by the way, is an expression used to apply to meals that are informal, unceremonious and without any fuss or pretension.

The weather may cool at night but the atmosphere heats up in one of Montmartre’s most famous cabarets, Au Lapin Agile, a hovel of a hotspot located across the street from Clos Montmartre. Presenting talent old and new, through song, literature and poetry, Au Lapin Agile keeps alive the Montmartre cabaret spirit of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Well after night falls, while inside Sacré Coeur the Benedictine nuns who live in the priory next door help maintain the basilica’s mission of continuous adoration of the Eucharist, the crowd outside enjoys earthly delights as they continue to gather on the steps overlooking the city of Paris.

Photos © 2022 (Ava Kabouchy with the exception of the photo from 1939). Captions by Ava Kabouchy and Gary Lee Kraut.

The post The Montmartre Harvest Festival, a Photo Reportage appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.