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I took the pictures above in the front part of
the restaurant that onlookers can barely get a glimpse of because of the
low wall and plants that separate the garden from Soi 16. Then
there's that green awning decorating the restaurant inside that shields
the place from prying eyes, but I think it's a combination of the awning
and the outside wall that serves as an effective barrier to all that
noise that amazingly isn't really there. There really is nothing
like it anywhere on Soi 16, or when I really think about it, within a
kilometer away. The English translation for Le Jardin Suisse is
"Swiss Garden" but I think most of us think of Switzerland as a small
beautiful mountainous country where practically everyone speaks German.
But not here. Le Jardin Suisse is owned by Jimmy and Danielle who
come from the French speaking section of Switzerland so one can think of
Le Jardin Suisse as a French Oasis existing in the middle of Little
Germany.
At least that's the way I like to think about my
neighborhood. Naklua is after all predominantly German and it
seems that I now have more German friends than I have of any other
nationality. Which suits me just fine as I have a weakness for
German food. But when it comes to Le Jardin Suisse the ambience is
French with a certain French style pemeating the place. Which I
think is a great thing. For one thing I get to inflict my horrific
French language skills I learned in school fifty years ago on Jimmy and
Danielle and since the customer is always right, they have to just grin
and bear it. And now that I think about it, I bought my teak desk,
the coffee table in the living room, the desk my girlfriend uses, the
teak bed and chest of drawers in the small bedroom, and my latest book
shelves, from Nicholas over at the Decorum, which is a French owned
store that offers in my opinion the finest furniture in Pattaya that's
of a style that's different from what one can get anywhere else.
So I really must face the facts, in spite of all the good things that's
ever been produced by my German ancestors, the French do have a certain
style and flare. I like it here.
This second group of pictures show an even
larger garden behind the restaurant that practically no one knows
anything about. This is the 8 room guest house, and it's so new that
Danielle and Jimmy haven't quite gotten around to equipping its rooms
with television sets. But not to worry, they are coming very soon.
Now just take a look at the second picture below on the top row.
In the background you can see the Long Beach Hotel. That's the
building directly behind my condo buiidling. If you click on the
thumbnail you will get a bigger picture that will show the seven story
orange building where I'm living. Now, I'll wager that very few
people who actually live in my building are even aware that Jimmy and
Danielle now have an eight room guesthouse and that this guesthouse is a
part of Le Jardin Suisse. Believe me, this place is an oasis.
And when you consider that in the five or six hundred meters between the
restaurant and the end of Naklua Soi 16 that in the next four years
there will be over 2500 new condo units, this little area will become
even more heavily trafficked, and even more noisy than it is now.
But there it is--the pictures tell the real untold story of this little
secret gem that offers great ambience, French-Suisse cuisine and now a
quiet place to stay for just 800 baht a night.
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