The three-kilometre-long exuberant Boulevard de Garavan, lined with fragrant trees and hanging from the cliffs, takes a contoured and panoramic route from Menton Old Town to the border with Italy at Pont Saint-Louis. .
Sylvain Jaffret was the architect of the Boulevard de Garavan, where the mountains meet the sea. Construction started in 1882, completed in 1888. The people of Menton soon nicknamed it the “Babylonian dream”. The Boulevard de Garavan continues to attract the world’s elite to its heavenly setting with mild winters
Beautiful villas, in eclectic styles and with names evocative of faraway destinations, adorn both banks of this bucolic cornice: La Vista, where the Duke of Aumale stayed; Isfahan; Bella Vista, the residence of the Duke of Sutherland; Himalayas, owned by the American Carroll of Carrollton family; Lou Paradou...
Tropical flora is widely represented in this microclimate, plants introduced in the 19th century by collectors and amateur horticulturists who created exotic gardens. The Boulevard de Garavan is lined with Faux-poivrier (Peruvian pepper, Schinus molle) and Caroubier (Carob, Ceratonia siliqua) trees. The gardens have become less extensive as more and more residences have squeezed on to the hillside with varieties of architecture ousting the exotic gardens.
