March, 1923 
THE GREATEST ROSE GARDEN 
IN THE 
Impressively Arranged J1ith True Gallic Enthusiasm lot Oidt) 
liness and Effectiveness, the Roserie of L Ilay Stands Unexcelled 
WORLD 
J. N. C. FORESTIER 
ROM the heart of Paris the shortest 
way to reach the beautiful rose gar¬ 
dens of L'Hay is to go through the 
Orleans Gate. The active and noisy quar-' 
ters of the Faubourg des Gobelins crossed 
and the city gate passed, you wind through 
the quaint streets of Montrouge till you 
reach the great paved highway linking the 
City of Light with Orleans and Toulouse. 
Soon the rumbling and dusty National 
Road is left behind and the trip con¬ 
tinues along a small road, planted with 
trees on both sides, which cuts the Bievre 
Valley and the ancient village of Arcueil— 
though now it seems much more a city than 
a village—to climb the \ illejuif Hill. 
At this point the surroundings present 
a somewhat rural aspect. Thanks to a 
military mandate—on account of the prox¬ 
imity of the Hautes Bruyeres fortifica¬ 
tions—the erection of country houses, which 
are usually built about large European 
cities, has been avoided. 
The roadway rounds the western moun¬ 
tainside and offers to the eye real country 
scenery, well cultivated lines spotted with 
groups of trees here and there. At the foot 
of the mountain, occupying a wide opening 
of the Bievre Valley, a few villas can be 
distinguished through the green forestry 
curtain, alternating with the well traced 
vegetable gardens of Arcueil, Cachan and 
Bagneux. Farther away, in the direction 
of Bourg-la-Reine, the landscape includes 
the town of Sceaux and the parks of its 
ancient royal chateau, with the sloped woods 
of Meudon and Verrieres in the background. 
To the right, a large portion of Paris is 
visible, and high above the distant per¬ 
spective of the Bois de Boulogne, which 
seems almost to touch the eminence of 
Saint-Germain, the Eiffel tower points to¬ 
wards the sky. 
This picturesque roadway runs along the 
Plateau of Villejuif, otherwise called the 
Plateau of Longboyau, for about a mile and 
a quarter, till you reach the village of L Hay. 
Two more turns of the road, cozily narrowed 
From the air the rose gardens of the Gravereaux estate lie spread out 
below like a segment of formally patterned tapestry. The richly 
planned area is triangular in shape, and the radial scheme of the de¬ 
sign centers upon the accurate reproduction of a typical half-timber 
cottage from Normandy which faces the grand parterre, set with a 
long pool and devoted to the finest roses of the great collection 
