Beautiful photo. It looks familiar, somehow, and I'd guess it is a modern variety but I can't put a name to it.

I think your best bet is to contact the church and see if someone there knows which variety was planted outside.

I don't know the name of your rose but I wish I did. It's exquisite!

Can you tell more about the height of the rose - was it fragrant?

These eye-catching blooms were growing rose trees about three feet above the ground on either side of the path into the church at Rueil-Malmaison. Its fragrance will remain a mystery until I discover its name.

Well, Hawkeye, the rose in your photo reminds me a lot of a cultivar I grow, called André le Nôtre. It's a hybrid tea by Meilland and is marketed as Betty White in the US. The only thing that gives me pause is that you saw this rose in June 2001, presumably well established, and it seems Meilland introduced this variety in France in the same year, 2001. However, it is extremely vigorous in the French climate, so it is possible. Here in SW France it has grown to over 6 feet high in 3 years.

The photos on Help Me Find are fairly representative, as the blooms sometimes have a touch of apricot blush in the middle, while more often the petals are of the finest clear pink, fading to cream. The roses on my plant are very large, luminous and, best of all, exude the sweetest, strongest fragrance of any of my roses, at all times! I found a couple of my photos, you be the judge. And good luck with the book, sounds enchanting.

MayBee

Do you have more photos?
Have you tried posting to the antique rose forum?

It looks familiar, somehow, and I'd guess it is a modern variety but I can't put a name to it.

Our Lady of Guadelupe maybe? That's what it reminds me of.

The other question I forgot..
do you know the name of the church?

The church in Rueil Malmaison is Eglise St Pierre St Paul.
At the moment, I am inclined to identify this beautiful rose as 'Johann Strauss', introduced in 1994 by Meilland, because 'André le Nôtre' was introduced in 2001.