Parc de Champagne

Le Parc de Champagne, Le Jardin d’Horticulture and La Patte d’Oie of Reims all obtained the «Remarkable Gardens of France» label in 2014. What makes these three gardens distinctive?
The «Remarkable Gardens» label is granted by the Minister of Culture to the gardens which present cultural, aesthetic, historical or botanical interest. The gardens must be well-kept and open to the public. With their histories and individual characteristics, the three gardens all meet with all these criteria.

What famous landscape architect native to Reims designed Le Parc de Champagne, and in what year? What was it designed for?
Le Parc de Champagne was built beginning in 1907 by Edouard Redont, a landscape architect native to Reims. It was commissioned by Melchior de Polignac, the head of the Pommery cellars at the time. The park was principally designed to offer a
relaxation and leisure space to employees. In addition to this, following an encounter with Lieutenant Georges Hébert, the spot very quickly became a sports venue: a number of athletic structures were built here, including the «school of athletes».
The other remarkable garden is the Jardin d’Horticulture. What can visitors discover in this garden of nearly two hectares?
Le Jardin d’Horticulture Pierre Schneiter is divided into two sections. The first is an English-style garden with paths that wind around a water feature and a rock garden river. It includes a number of remarkable species, including a beautiful Fau
de Verzy, or dwarf beech tree. The other, French-style, garden includes a small neoclassical pavilion which is headquarters to the Horticultural Society of the Reims area. Each summer, the garden hosts a floral exhibition on a different theme.

Le Parc de la Patte d’Oie, next to the Jardin d’Horticulture, is one of the residents’ favourite places to stroll along the waterside among majestic trees. Can you tell us a b it
of its history?
These two gardens were originally parts of the same garden. They were separated when Boulevard du Chemin de Fer became Boulevard Roederer in 1841. With its elms planted in 1748, Le Parc de la Patte d’Oie was transformed into an English-style garden by Jean-Pierre Durand in 1884. In 1994, when the conference centre was built, the park was modernised and transformed into a «water garden» based on a sketch by the landscape architect Alain Marguerit.