Life, with the garden
Location: Clermont-Ferrand, France • • • Visit: October 2018
In October 2018, I had been accepted to present at a conference in San Sebastian, Spain. I took the train. My first stop on the way south: To visit David and Kriszti in Clermont-Ferrand, France. David was doing an exchange semester there.
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 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, it lightens up.
Flowerbeds hosting an assortment of colorful autumn blossoms, from nasturtiums to dahlias. In the furthest corner, a kitchen garden with a beautiful selection of tomatoes. We sat down on a bench under the plane 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 realized: Even though it looks neglected at first, there is a tranquility in the garden, and an order in the few flowerbeds. It is 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 only 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 