The secret garden on a roof in Paris

High above the large showcases of Hermès elegant boutique, located at 24 rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré 24, where in 1880 Charles-Émile Hermès relocated his father's harness workshop and began to retail saddlery for the first time, there is na exquisite little-known paradise overlooking the rooftops of central Paris.

Every spring, this oasis of greenery gathers the bees in the city with its scents and blossoms, contrasting with the gray Parisian roofs and the Eiffel Tower. The traffic noise below is somewhere far away, replaced by the songs of a pair of songbirds nesting in the apple tree in the garden in the summer.

"Jardin sur le toit" (simply a roof garden) is the sophisticated private paradise of the Hermès family and the creative team that works in the company's old ateliers located beneath it.

"The garden just above my study is the place where I go to read or take a break in the summer, it's where I can find myself again," says Jean-Claude Elena, a perfumerist at Hèrmes.

And of course, jardin sur le toit is a pleasure for all senses, with its pastel-pink and white roses, sage, rosemary, hibiscus, hawthorn, magnolia, lily, and apple tree, all cultivated with love by Yasmin, the gardener of Hermes. "This garden is my life, my calling," she says, who is fortunate to find the best job in Paris when she has arrived in the company more than 20 years ago.

The garden itself, however, was there long before Jasmine appeared. It has been created with far more modest goals than the pleasant breaks of the company's creative team. Like most French families during the Second World War, the Hermes family began to rely on the products they obtained by processing their own land. After the liberation of France, the rooftop garden gradually becomes a cozy and pleasant place to rest as it is today.

Jardin sur le toit is so dear to Hèrmes that in 2011 the company creates a special perfume dedicated to its unique Parisian paradise. Appropriately called "Un Jardin sur le Toit", the perfume does not only recreate the scent of pink buds, green apple, damp soil and magnolia, but also the joyful atmosphere of a garden party. Like the one the nose behind the fragrance, Jean-Claude Elena, organizes on the same roof garden on the occasion of the launch of the fragrance.

Alas, the secrets of this garden have been witnessed personally only by just a few selected people. For us Jardin sur le toit remains a source of inspiration and a dream place to visit ... One day.