The yellow, fluffy flower that we see blooming and blossoming in shops and shopping centres, especially on the morning of 8 March, is not bred in captivity within those businesses. Well, no. The mimosa also exists in nature and, moreover, usually blooms out of season - in relation to Women's Day - since mimosas can already be seen in the Italian countryside at the beginning of February.
And many more can be seen, as early as the end of January, along the Mimosa Route, a route of about 130 kilometres that runs through the south of France and ideally joins Bormes les Mimosas (the name is already a programme), passing through Rayol Canadel Sur Mer, Sainte Maxime, Saint Raphaël, Mandelieu La Napoule, Tanneron and Pégomas, with the town of Grasse, an ancient perfume-producing centre and tourist destination in the hinterland not far from Cannes.
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From the end of January until March in this area, the blue of the sky and sea mixes with the green and yellow of the mimosa hills. The eight towns touched by the route offer a journey through events and manifestations dedicated to this tree of the acacia family, native to tropical regions and imported to the Côte d'Azur by the English in the mid-19th century to decorate their gardens. It was in fact around 1880 that the mimosa, originally from Australia, first appeared on the slopes of the Croix des Gardes natural park, overlooking the Bay of Cannes and the mountains of the Estérel massif.
Another mimosa sanctuary is located 20 kilometres north of the Croix, on the Massif du Tanneron, where there is a forest of “Acacia dealbata” largest in Europe, within which themed excursions are organised under the yellow foliage laden with flowers.
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The mimosa is so present in the traditions of these areas that it has also been included in gastronomy. In fact, there is mimosa ice cream, chocolate flavoured with those flowers, the related cocktail, the yellow Madeleine and even Mimocello, made with vodka and fresh flowers.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
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