France Guide
The Loire
Prieuré de St-Cosme
Opening time: Mid-March to April & Sept to mid-Oct daily 10am–6pm; May– Aug daily 10am–7pm; mid-Oct to mid-March daily except Tues 10am–12.30pm & 2–5pm
Price: €5
In May, when the roses are in full bloom, the Prieuré de St-Cosme, 3km west of the centre, is one of the most appealing sights in the area even if it is hemmed in by suburbs and barred off from the nearby Loire by a trunk road. Once an island priory, now a semi-ruin, it was here that Pierre de Ronsard, France's greatest Renaissance poet, lived as prior from 1565 until his death in 1585. Vestiges of many monastic buildings survive but the most affecting sight is the lovingly tended garden of roses, which has some two thousand rose bushes, and 250 varieties – including the tightly rounded, pink rose called "Pierre de Ronsard". To get there by public transport, take bus #7 from immediately outside the Palais de Justice, on place Jean-Jaurès, towards La Riche-Petit Plessis, getting off at the La Pléiade stop.