Menton Week Part 4: Clos du Peyronnet and Fontana Rosa Gardens

Clos du Perronet Garden is a private garden on an estate on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean. I found a telephone number to call and left a message asking if I could come see the garden. I didn’t hear back from anybody and was disappointed. I mentioned it to Jilly and she said that Sandrine, a horticultural student that helped her with her garden, was doing a an internship at Clos du Perronet  tending the garden. Jilly was kind enough to call Sandrine and ask her if it was all right if I came by the garden next time she was working there. Sandrine said she was going to be there the next day and would be happy to let me in. I was thrilled.

 The best thing about the Hotel Napoleon I stayed at was it was walking distance to just about all the gardens I visited. Clos du Perronet was a pleasant 15-minute walk along the waterfront. It's the last garden owned by the same family, the Waterfield's, since 1915. The gardens are more like an arts and crafts garden and wilder than the gardens I visited the other days. Set on successive levels and the last one opening on to the Mediterranean, I explored all the nooks and crannies, stumbling on inviting ponds and pools, odd statues and ceramic urns, rows of terra-cotta flowerpots, and a whimsical mural of naked nymphs. My favorite setting was the goldfish pond surrounded by cut grass strewn with green glass vases.

 On my last day I went to Ventimiglia, the first stop on the Italian border on the train. On Friday's they have a great outdoor market and I got a fab pair of brown suede shoes for 60 euros and a three-ply black cashmere zippered cardigan made in Italy for 55 euros.

For my final hours in Menton, I went to the Fontana Rosa Garden. Created by Spanish screenwriter and novelist Blasco Ivanez in the 1920s, Fontana Rosa is a Valencia style ceramic garden dedicated to the inspiration of writers. It was classified as an historical monument in 1990 and dedicated to the great writers of the world including Balzac, Flaubert, Dickens, and Cervantes.

The gardens are only open on Monday and Friday, and I arrived about 2PM on Friday but was told it was only open in the morning. Crushed, I pouted like a child, and I opened my puppy dog brown eyes as wide as I could and begged the gardener to let me just peek inside. I guess he couldn't resist my puppy dog eyes and he said I could come in just for a few minutes. Trying to take in the magnificence of the garden and snapping photos as fast and furious as I could was a balancing act. I got it all in and was able to relax in the grandeur of my surroundings for a little while without getting chased out. The glazed tile work on the stairs, fountains and adorning the stucco walls was stunning and the colors and patterns on the tile benches were breathtaking.

 I left happy as a clam that day on the 5PM train and dreamed about the past sunny days of splendor I just spent in Menton all the way home.

Appointments can be made to see Clos du Perronet Garden. Click here for more info.

Below are photos from Fontana Rosa Gardens

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Comments

[Rosemary]

very very beautiful.

[Jane]

I loved your whole series on Menton and surrounding area. I am ready to go on the coast and explore those small towns!

[Laurie]

GREAT ONE!

[Paula]

The trip to Menton was fabulous. The pictures are spectacular. Thank you for posting these and for talking your way into the funny garden of the ceramic tiles. So quirky and yet so Spanish. I hope you get to return to Menton for more pictures at a later date and for more terrific shopping as a reward for a job well done.

[Lynn]

Thanks for all these fantastic photos. Though I haven't been to Menton yet. I always thought it looked wonderful from the train. I didn't know about all the gardens

[Leslie]

I just wanted to let you know how much we are enjoying your photos from Menton. What a great daily reminder of the amazing beauty in the world. Clos du Peyronnet & Fontana Rosa are incredible. Fontana Rosa reminds me of the incredible ceramics in Frida Kahlo’s 17th century home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Her kitchen was featured in Casa Mexicana, photos by Tim Street-Porter.

We are sitting in ice cold New York, wishing we were walking through those beautiful gardens.