Deshaies ~ Our Favorite Little French Village.

Disclaimer: There are probably too many pictures in this post!

Somehow this small village on the western coast of Guadeloupe has captured our hearts. We have been here four times in the last year, as a destination, a resting point, a respite from seas and just because we like it.

Each time we stay in Deshaies, we find something new to like. This trip it was Au Jardin Botanique; the Botanical Gardens.  The gardens are a steep uphill walk on the road to the right of the dinghy dock for about 1.5 kilometers.  It is well worth the arduous walk as the presentation of the plants is fabulous.

Looking back toward the entrance after the ticket gate.

I wish I could tell you about all the plants we saw in the pictures I will post below but, my knowledge is sorely lacking and ALL of the printed information was in French. I SO WISHED my sister-in-law, Emily Stich, was with us. Emily is an accomplished florist and she is fluent in French. Tell me this isn’t the perfect place for Em to visit with us?!

So pretty it looks fake!

We readily admit, our high school French is insufficient, but we managed to read bits and pieces of the posted signs or perhaps we just made up what we thought the signs said. Regardless, we spent a solid 3.5 hours wandering the grounds and admiring the beauty and variety of plants represented.

Frank closely examined the plants!

Each of the signs told the indigenous country of the fauna and the number of countries represented was huge. We didn’t see many from the good old U.S., although our friends on Escape Claws and Sail Pending said they saw several in the desert section. By the time we got to the desert, we had absorbed all we could and we were ready to walk back to LIB.

This photo is for my MIL, Jackie, who loves Bougainvillea!

In addition to flowers, trees and water features, the gardens had a few birds.  These flamingos were the only thing in the whole place that I thought needed something…. perhaps a bit of shrimp or algae to add some pink?

Most captive flamingos need a little pinking.

Somehow these birds made me think of Mission Impossible.

I have posted all these photos to demonstrate the variety of colors, the vibrancy of the blooms and some unique leaves in the gardens.  I hope you enjoy the pictures even without documentation.

One of my favorite scents – Plumeria

BLUE flowers?!

Isn’t this cool?!

This plant is a little “twisted!”

Pictures of the individual species are beautiful, but they were even more stunning in the gardens because the plants were arranged to accentuate the colors, textures, similarities and differences of one another so well. If you stop in Deshaies, a visit the botanical gardens is worth the effort.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  It is light on facts but long on beauty.