A short drive from Geneva, Switzerland, is the small town of Jussy. Large, beautiful estates stretched far apart from each other, small roads, a bakery, a church and a few other interesting places dot the town. Oh, a castle too, of course. That's life in the Swiss countryside. Here is also the home of La Gara, an estate that has more than meets the eye. It is owned by a married pair of architects who are restoring the original buildings. They've added a winery, an impressive collection of gardens, a park, an orchard and a hedge maze. It is not quite a labyrinth but modeled somewhat on the English-style of tall hedge patterns, and classic European labyrinths.
It's a bit of a unique experience, to start at the entrance and follow a path - after some wrong turns - that eventually leads to a stone table in the center. There's a code to the maze which explains when to turn left or right, and it's an quaintly charming and quirky story to the code. I won't repeat it here since it's long and involved, but it's poetic, smart and French. The owners have incorporated the labyrinth design into their small winery as well, so we bought a bottle of good red vino and managed to get it home to the States. It was opened with friends a few weeks later and was a good reminder of a special garden visit. The photos below capture well the labryinth at La Gara.
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