The Jardins du Loriot, a vast Anglo-Chinese park, located IN Vendée, will host five monumental statues in May, inspired by the legend of Sun Wukong. Designed in China, the transport of these sculptures was eventful to say the least: they sailed for two and a half months, before arriving in France, in Le Havre.
In 2008, Monique and Jacques Chaplain, retired from Venansault, a Vendée town with more than 4,500 inhabitants, embarked on the creation of what would become a vast Anglo-Chinese park. Attended by 7,000 visitors last year, it remains unique in the department to this day.
Since then, this former banking executive and this former German teacher have dedicated their time and savings to this 5-hectare site, called Jardins du Loriot and populated with oriental temples and statuettes, taking care to add a touch of novelty.
An inspiration for Dragon Ball
“Last year, the site made its first profits. We wanted to invest, by creating a surprise,” explains the couple. In a few days, six characters from the book The Journey to the West written at the end of the 16the century by Wu Chen’en, will thus take over the place.
“ The creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama is inspired by the novel by Wu Cheng’en in its Japanese version . Under the guidance of Fairy Guanyin, a dragon horse transformed into an invincible steed, Longwan Sanjun. It is ridden by the monk Tripitaka. With his team, he will brave all the dangers on the road to India, to bring back sacred texts of Buddhism, so that they can be translated into Chinese. sums up the duo.
Among the five statues, fans of the world-famous comic strip will also recognize the immortal monkey Sun Wukong, the human-shaped pig Su Badje, armed with a nine-toothed rake, and Shaseng, force of nature and baggage carrier. The fairy Guanyin will take her place near the pond, a few meters from the stage, to watch over the pilgrims.
Read also: IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES. In Vendée, an oriental perfume at the Jardins du Loriot
At the foot of the Wall of China
A set of six tons, sculpted at the foot of the Wall of China, whose eventful journey has nothing to envy of that of the pilgrims. “The transport between the port of Tianjin, near Beijing, and the port of Le Havre took more than two and a half months,” explains Jacques Chaplain.
The explanation? “The war in Israel and the incessant Houthi attacks in the Red Sea”, which dissuaded the carrier, like many others, from using the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Result: embarked on the ship Rotterdam, the sculptures distributed in six crates transited through ten Chinese port facilities, before being transferred to a major port in South Korea, aboard the Al Zabura, a huge German container ship.
Read also: Venansault. A dragon-horse stationed at the Jardins du Loriot
A trip around Africa
After several stopovers in China, the ship finally headed towards Singapore, before heading towards the Cape of Good Hope, in order to circumnavigate Africa, as in the past.
“Then it passed through Southampton, England, before docking in Le Havre on April 22. The boxes were confined for seven days, for health reasons, and should arrive soon in Venansault,” specifies Jacques Chaplain.
Foundations were poured into the clay soil of the garden, currently waterlogged, to receive the assembly, the pieces of which will be hoisted using pulleys on the rocks, raised this winter by the team of volunteers.
“It will take almost 48 hours to install everything. But everything will depend on the weather! “, observes the couple. A result to be discovered in a few days.
Oriole Gardens: open Saturday May 4 and Sunday May 5, from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., on the occasion of Neurodon, a campaign to support research on the brain and neurological diseases, organized by the Federation for Brain Research (FRC ). In May and June: open on Sundays and public holidays, and other days by appointment (except Mondays). Address: 60, Chemin de la Tour, 85190 Venansault.
