Written in October 2018
Situated on the same street as the Michelin head office in an otherwise sleepy residential area of brutalist apartment complexes in suburban Clermont-Ferrand, the tiny Jardin botanique de la Charme is easy to miss. It is small, and at a first glance it looks neglected and forgotten, full of empty flowerbeds and big trees hanging low over them, making everything a bit gloomy.
But once you get a little bit further in, the garden lightens up. The flowerbeds host an assortment of colorful autumn blossoms, from nasturtiums to dahlias. In the furthest corner, there is a beautiful selection of tomatoes, from tiny berry-like things to one big and dark maroon, almost black.
We sat down on a bench under the platanus trees, David, Kriszti and I, and ate our harvest from the bakery up the street: a local potato quiche (they seem to have a thing for potatoes here in Auberge) and imaginative pastries. And I realise: Even though it looks neglected at first, there is a tranquility here, and an order in the few flowerbeds that actually do have plants in them. It is really nice for a stroll, or for a little impromptu picnic.
Later, David looks up the garden online. He tells us that in the closed-off part of the garden is the nursery for all the plants that are planted in the flowerbeds in the parks of Clermont-Ferrand. So this botanic garden is not neglected, it just actually has a purpose, more than just being a nice public park. And maybe we just happened upon it at an unfortunate time: Right before the start of winter hibernation.
The botanical garden in Clermont-Ferrand does not brag. But I liked the visit, in all its modesty.
Katja Malmborg 