In June 1729, French settlers Pierre Belmont and Yves Guincamp became next door neighbours when they received land concessions in the Pamplemousses area.
In 1735, Governor Nicolas de Maupin purchased the concession from Pierre Belmont and in turn sold the plot to Governor Mahé de Labourdonnais in 1736. Labourdonnais named his newly acquired estate Mon Plaisir.
On the other hand, Yves Guincamp sold his concession to Francois Toussait Céré who named his estate “Belle Eau”. In 1737; Jean Nicolas Céré was born in Belle Eau estate.
In 1757, Céré came back from his studies in France and his service in the navy, to reside in Belle Eau. Through his friendship with botanist Joseph Charpentier de Cossigny, Nicolas Céré was introduced to Intendant Pierre Poivre who purchased Mon Plaisir in 1768.
Céré helped his neighbour Pierre Poivre in the creation of “Le Jardin de Mon Plaisir “
When In 1772, before Pierre Poivre left Isle de France, he left a plan and an inventory of the plants of the garden to Céré.
However, in 1773; newly appointed, Intendant Maillart-Dumesle divided Mon Plaisir estate into two lots namely Mon Plaisir and Le Jardin du Roy. In fact, the garden’s size was reduced to about 30 acres of which 10 acres were waterlogged.
In 1775, Jean Nicolas Céré was appointed the Director of Le Jardin de Roy but found himself limited in his activities with the amputation of the original Mon Plaisir estate. He therefore expanded the remaining 20 acres of Le Jardin du Roy by using 50 acres of Belle Eau to carry out his botanical enterprise.
After various land transactions, Belle Eau became part of Mon Rocher estate owned by Belle Vue Harel Ltd.
A portion of Belle Eau serves nowadays as a ‘Plant Genetic Resources Corner behind the Château Mon Plaisir. Established in 2000 on the site of the former Experimental Station run by the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, a nursery has also been created to help raise rare endemic and indigenous plants threatened by extinction. The ‘Plant Genetic Resources Corner works in close collaboration with the Plant Genetic Resources Unit and other Institutions of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security.