TOULOUSE
This one-hour tour is a compendium of legends, philosophy and landscape art. Here, we gently introduce you to the world of Zen. Enjoy the sight of a line, a rock, and even the empty space where you can rest your eyes. The guide will whisper to you about the ancient origins of the symbols that are skilfully distilled into your gaze, through controlled vegetation in perfect harmony with the seasons. The dry garden, the bridge, the tea pavilion, the lanterns of the dead: the guide will also reveal the secrets of the different aesthetic codes that are brought together here over 7,000 m2.
This garden, created in 1981 in the heart of a completely new business district, is in itself food for thought. What’s more, it’s unique in that, while the landscape designers drew their inspiration from the garden at Katsura’s imperial villa in Kyoto, they took the liberty of incorporating the regional basalt of the Sidobre mountains. Indeed, in the pure tradition of Japanese gardens, no two should be alike. This particularity is perhaps what earned it the title of “Remarkable Garden” in 1993.
