La Louve, Mediterranean garden in Bonnieux, France

La Louve is a 1,600 m² garden on a steep slope at the lower edge of Bonnieux, held by stone retaining walls that form terraces. Its poor, stony ground carries box, laurel, thyme, rosemary, myrtle, arbutus and cistus, with cypress, santolina, lavender, iris and hollyhock. Stone balls, troughs, opus incertum walls and stairs are part of the design.

Nicole de Vésian retired from Hermès in 1985 at 69 and bought La Louve in 1986, creating her first garden on a steep, stony plot below the village of Bonnieux. She sold it in 1996, the year she died, to art collector Judith Pillsbury, who kept the original design for 18 years. In November 2014 Sylvie Verger-Lanel bought it and maintains the garden with her husband.

Nicole de Vésian shaped each shrub into a ball, and the French garden writer Louisa Jones later called the result "japonisant", though de Vésian herself never used the term. The clipped box, laurel and myrtle echo the rounded hills of the Luberon. De Vésian, who had worked at Hermès, went on to design gardens for clients including Jack Lang and Ridley Scott.

Visits are possible on select afternoons from May through July, with groups of ten or more needing to book ahead. Individual visitors should check conditions beforehand as the garden operates on a limited schedule.

The garden incorporates stones from the nearby Durance River, woven into its structure and pathways. Custom wooden benches are deliberately placed in quieter spots to invite visitors to pause and sit.