Nature

After the impressive sight of one’s plane practically landing in the Mediterranean, a second surprise is waiting for travelers arriving in Nice…

By Marine Normand - Photos Zulaan - October 21, 2011

Once out of the airport, the voyager will encounter a new invitation to adventure, in the middle of the very modern Arenas district. The Parc Phoenix is an ode to nature, but also to animal life. Opened in 1990, it welcomes many plants across its seven hectares, some from remote areas, like the Araucarias, others from local regions, along the Mediterranean coastline.

Parc Pheonix includes about 20 different gardens, from a bamboo grove to a cucurbit patch, allowing you to wander through landscapes seemingly straight out of the National Geographic’s most

beautiful spreads. For the last few years, the Parc Phoenix in Nice has also taken in many exotic animals abandoned by their owners or seized by Customs, and reintroduced them to a familiar environment; 405 species wander through this spellbinding landscape, straight out of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Here, you might come across swans, pelicans or turtles in complete liberty.

But the main attraction of this green cocoon is a dome occupying the centre of the wild expanse. This construction, also nicknamed “the green diamond,” leaves its mark on the city: the

park’s greenhouse is one of the biggest in Europe. With 7,000 square meters and a ceiling culminating at 25 meters high, it recreates with a “touch of the jungle,” six tropical and sub-tropical climates, becoming the ideal setting for a splendid collection of orchids and bromeliads, but also giving life to special gardens straight out of Louisiana, Thailand, and the arid stretches of sub-Saharan Africa. Terrariums and aquariums are hidden in the basement, where you might even come face to face with an iguana. The entire world under a gigantic glass dome…

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Le Parc Phoenix
405, Promenade des Anglais
06000 NICE
www.parc-phoenix.org