Stopping to Smell the Roses

The weather was lovely on Tuesday, and Andrée Anne, our Découverte de la France teacher, suggested an impromptu gathering at one of the rose gardens in Parc Tête d’Or where the roses were in full bloom and their scent was at its peak.
(Side note - Parc Tête d’Or is a huge ~290 acre park right inside the city of Lyon and a short walk from our apartment.) 

 

Lovely arbor in the experimental garden

There are actually three rose gardens in the park, and we started with the experimental garden where new varieties are tried out in addition to the lovely mature rose bushes planted there.  Since we were there to enjoy to the scent of roses, we checked many of the varieties out and rated them by strength of fragrance.  It’s amazing how many varieties we saw and how different roses can look and smell! 




Front row L-R:  Anna, Andrée Anne,
Adriana & Elena, David's in the back

Grand piano in the park

After spending time in that rose garden and rating the different varieties, we strolled on around the lake, and past the various types of boats for rent, several statues, the man playing the grand piano, and lots of people enjoying a sunny morning in the park. 




Our destination was the larger rose garden with its fountain and arbor.  Needless to say the roses there were magnificent!  The grounds are meticulously groomed, and absolutely no insecticides are used!  They rely on ladybugs and wasps to keep the aphids and other nasty bugs under control.  Judging from the rose plants, their system works!


By the fountain in the main rose garden

Soon our morning escape to the park was over, and it was time to go our separate ways and get on with things.  We were all grateful that we had taken the time that morning to go to the park and check out the roses.  The roses were all at their peak, and their perfume was impressive.  We all thanked Andrée Anne for suggesting our little outing to “stop and smell the roses" and went our separate ways.


One last look before we went our separate ways

That night we were treated to a very impressive thunder storm and torrential down pour.  It’s a good thing we checked out the roses that morning before the storm!