Parc de Bagatelle - again and again.

This is the fifth time I talk about the “Parc de Bagatelle” in the outskirts of the “Bois de Boulogne”, so I’m not going to once more refer to the history of the place. (See previous posts here, here, here and here.) The park may be particularly known for its rose garden, but when I went few days ago, the rose bushes were tired… or perhaps preparing a last blossoming. There is an annual “rose contest” - also this year’s winner was taking a rest… but there were of course some flowers on other bushes.

Just as a reminder, here is a photo from a previous post with some more roses.

The gardeners were quite busy.

Some other views of the little castle, which was built in two months after a bet between Marie-Antoinette and her husband’s brother, the future Charles X…

… the gardens…

… the peacocks (they are all over)…

… and some other birds. They all walk (swim and fly) around freely in the park.

One special mention for this tree, planted here in 1907 (the park had become public in 1905),  which I wanted to photograph on behalf of a Chilean who is preparing a book about this very special species with origins on the Chilean Andes slopes, but today under threat of disappearing there. It is the “national tree” of Chile. Its Latin name is “Aracuaria aracuana”. It was later planted in Europe with better success. There are no monkeys in the Chilean Andes, but because of its very hard trunk, lack of lower branches and sharp-edged leaves it became in Europe referred to as the “Monkey Puzzle” (“Désespoir des Singes”…). I once photographed (see here) another little Paris “Aracuaria aracuana”, planted 100 years later – in 2007 in presence of the Paris Mayor and a former Chilean Minister – and to be found in a little square, split in two, with the names “Santiago-di-Chile” and “Salvador Allende”.