William Christie's imaginary woods

William Christie invites you to enter his garden, imagined and created from scratch by himself around his house in Thiré, in the Vendée. Here, the Cour d'Honneur, through which the visitor enters the premises...

Trees came into William Christie's life very early on, ever since his American childhood in the State of New York...

It was first within the family circle that the young William Christie discovered the passion for gardening and more especially, for planting trees.

How did a young American fall in love with an art coming from the other side of the Atlantic - the Baroque art?

In 1987, William Christie's two passions, music and trees, were symbolically intertwined in what will remain one of the great turning points of his career as a musician: the recreation of Lully's opera "Atys" at the Opéra Comique in Paris.

In 1985, the conductor embarked on one of the greatest adventures of his life, buying a late 16th century building surrounded by farmland. With a clear project: to create from scratch his dream garden.

For those who love trees, the adventure is sometimes strewn with pitfalls, as William Christie had the painful experience...

Every summer since 2012, William Christie has organized a music festival in his garden. Indeed, there is no lack of echoes between nature and music! And this since the antiquity, until the period of predilection of the conductor: the baroque period.

What is William Christie's daily life like, when he walks alone in his garden?

What if the walk was also a journey, from one season to another, from memory to the present?

William Christie planted many trees in his garden. But not just any trees! These are typical ones of the Vendée region and of the West of France.

What is a topiary, the technique behind the fantastically shaped trees that inhabit William Christie's gardens?

At seventy-six, William Christie never stops planting new trees in his garden. His latest project: a planted driveway leading to the gates of his house.