Nature & gardens in France

Ten or so gardens in one: the five perspective squares facing the Gallery of Evolution, the School of Botany with nearly 2,500 species planted by classification, the Alpine Garden with more than 2,000 species of extreme climates, and a rose garden of 300 varieties.

Lakes, streams and a cascade 14 metres high dug under Napoleon III, boating on the Lac Inférieur, 28 km of bridle paths, a cycle loop round the Longchamp racecourse, and the Jardin d'Acclimatation.

Four lakes linked by streams through the woods, Daumesnil with two islands reached by bridges and the Minimes with three, the royal avenues that tie the wood to the château, and four outdoor fitness trails.

A tropical rainforest of banana trees, lianas, ferns and orchids, with a rock to climb for a view over the glasshouse, then a long gallery of desert plants from the United States, Mexico, the Sahara and Australia, from living stones to cacti.

Formal French geometry at the centre and west, the rugged relief and denser planting of an English landscape park to the east, and 130 vents in the ground that air the station and car park below.

An amusement park of 45 rides and 18 hectares of walks, with some 450 animals: alpacas, lorikeets, dwarf goats, Ouessant sheep, peacocks and the exotic birds of the Grande Volière.

A white garden and a black garden, a great lawn with a canal, glasshouses and themed gardens on metamorphosis, movement, the planets and metals, floating gardens on rafts, and geysers leading to a cascade.

Three themes, the seasons, sport and water: a rail garden in memory of the site, a walk of magnolias, a biotope pond, a garden of flowering prunus on small mounds, and a skate park.

The Willy Ronis viewpoint, nearly 1,200 trees and shrubs with climbing plants and roses, a great cascading fountain, and a vine the City still tends where Belleville once grew its piquette.

A vineyard of 400 vines harvested each year, a rose garden, a maze, bulb and scent gardens, then a romantic garden of duck ponds and water lilies and a small lake with an island and the Maison du Lac.

Notable trees, among them a paper mulberry, a Siberian elm, a tulip tree and a giant sequoia, several viewpoints, and Eve, Raymond Couvègnes's fountain with cascading basins.

Some twenty meadows and gardens, the experimental kitchen garden of the Jardins passagers and a farm with animals, a 15,000 m² hall of iron and glass, and exhibitions, dance, circus, theatre and magic.

Some 25 hectares that recreate the landscapes of France, from the cliffs of Étretat to alpine meadows and Mediterranean groves, with a biodiversity trail of 28 points of interest.

Themed gardens, collections of irises, camellias, dahlias, rhododendrons and bonsai, the Chemin de l'Évolution, and the Théâtre Astral's shows for children.

A scent garden and a garden of aromatic and medicinal plants labelled in Braille, a pinot noir vineyard, beehives, a rose garden, and pony rides, a carousel and a Polichinelle theatre for children.

Small antique and Gothic temples by Carmontelle, the listed columns of the Naumachie, the Chartres rotunda, and trees such as an Oriental plane planted in 1814 and a sycamore of 1853.

A lake with a ginkgo on its shore, a giant sequoia and an Oriental plane above it, and a collection of bronze and stone statues, from Jules Coutan's Colonne de la Paix armée to Antoine Étex's Naufragés.